Naver Webtoon and Kakao Entertainment have shut down overseas websites illegally distributing webtoons in Spanish, working together with the Copyright Overseas Promotion Association (COA) and major domestic webtoon platform operators.
Naver Webtoon and Kakao Entertainment announced on the 27th that they achieved the outcome alongside COA member companies including Lezhin Entertainment, Ridi, Kidari Studio, Toomics and Topco Media. The action, taken by Spanish judicial authorities, marks the first case in which webtoon rights holders directly responded under local law overseas to achieve results. Naver Webtoon, Kakao Entertainment and the COA member companies identified the local Spanish operators through their own investigations, while the COA cooperated with local investigative agencies and courts.
The site that was shut down was a large Spanish-language illegal website operating multiple services. According to investigations by the rights holders, monthly visits reached approximately 86 million as of March last year. The content industry estimates that damages caused by the sites over several years amount to tens of billions of won or more. The case is currently awaiting the start of a formal criminal trial. A search and seizure warrant for the site was issued by the court, leading to its closure.
Meanwhile, Naver Webtoon is carrying out multi-pronged activities to protect its works from illegal webtoon distribution. The company has advanced "ToonRadar," an AI-based technology for blocking illegal distribution, to preemptively block pirated copies and delay the timing of leaks, while also pursuing a "global simultaneous serialization" strategy that eliminates the time gap between Korean and global service releases. Kakao Entertainment, which serves as the chair company of the COA, has established the industry's first organization dedicated to addressing global illegal distribution, carrying out systematic responses to global copyright infringement.
"As the association's chair company and an IP rights holder, Kakao Entertainment is working to achieve the goal of copyright protection at home and abroad and to bring together the strength and wisdom of the industry," said Lee Ho-jun, head of legal affairs at Kakao Entertainment. "We will continue to strengthen private-sector-led efforts to address copyright infringement both domestically and internationally, and will do our best to ensure seamless public-private cooperation."
