The Prospect for ISPs Liability in UGC-Related Cases in Korea

Abstract

User Generated Content (UGC), also known as Consumer Generated Media

(CGM) or User Created Content (UCC),1) refers to various kinds of media content, publicly available, that are produced by end-users.2) In reality, the concept of UGC can include not only pure creative works and parody, but also mere compilations or collective works based on others copyrighted materials, and reproductions of others works. Needless to say, such compilations or collective works or mere reproductions should be controlled by copyright owners and are illegal without the copyright owners permission, while creative works or parodies have to be protected. The

problem at this point is that UGC in many practical cases mostly seem to be illegal usage of copyrighted material, automatically raising concern about the secondary liability of Internet Service Providers (ISP). The issue of the degree of liability to be assumed by an ISP when its users infringe on copyright —through activities such as the illegal posting and sharing of video clips using services delivered by an ISP, for instance —has already become a heated social issue in the US. Viacom v. YouTube is a good example.3)