Reflecting "Anyone can become famous"... Stipulation of 'Right of Publicity'

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Even if you are not a celebrity, there will be a law that recognizes property rights to personal features such as face, name, and voice.

It is also known as 'Publicity Rights', and in Korean, it is 'Personality Rights for Profitability'.

This is the first time we are trying to stipulate a part that was not in our law. First, let's look at reporter Ha Jeong-yeon's report.

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In 2006, broadcaster Jung Jun-ha filed a lawsuit against a content company that produced and sold his name and face as characters without his consent.

At the time, the court ruled that the company had infringed on the 'Right of Publicity', which is the right to commercially use a person's name, portrait, voice, etc., and awarded 5 million won in damages.

However, in 2014, in the case of 35 celebrities, including actors Jang Dong-gun and Song Hye-kyo, a plastic surgeon lost a lawsuit claiming that they posted posts with their names and photos on their blog without permission.

The judge said, "There is a need to recognize the new concept of publicity right," but said, "There is no rule of law and there is no Supreme Court precedent."

In this way, mixed judgments were made by each court, and the Ministry of Justice announced a legislative proposal to establish a new right in the Civil Act by naming the right of publicity in Korean as the 'profit right to mark personality'.

The law protects the right of all individuals, not just celebrities, to use their personal characteristics, such as their name, face, and voice, for commercial purposes.

[Jeong Jae-min / Justice Attorney General of the Ministry of Justice: Anyone can become famous through appearances on Instagram and YouTube, and it has become an era where such famous personality markers can be used commercially.

In order to reflect these social changes, it is intended to be stipulated in the Basic Law, the Civil Law.]

Emphasis was placed on the right as a property, allowing others to use it for profit if the person concerned permits it.

In addition, when the person concerned dies, it is inherited like other property rights, and the right is recognized for up to 30 years after inheritance.

(Video editing: Yoon Tae-ho)

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<Anchor>

Let's find out more with reporter Ha Jeong-yeon of the legal team.

[Reporter Ha Jung-yeon: For example, if you do marketing under the name of a celebrity without permission, such as 'Song Hye-kyo earrings' or 'Suji hat', you will be subject to compensation for damages.

In addition, even if the face, name, and voice of a YouTuber or influencer are used without permission, the damage must be paid even if they are used for commercial purposes without permission.]

[Reporter Ha Jung-yeon: Copyright and 'profit right to mark personality' are completely separate concepts.

This copyright usually refers to the rights to a work created by a person, such as a song, poem, or novel, but the right to mark a person's personality gives the right to a person's personal characteristics, such as a person's face or voice, itself.

In addition, the right to mark the personality also includes the right to portrait, and it seems that the nature of property rights will be more emphasized than now.

In the previous lawsuits for infringement of portrait rights, only alimony for mental damage was partially recognized, but in the future, property damage can also be acknowledged, so the amount of compensation can go up.]

[Reporter Ha Jeong-yeon: In this amendment, there is a provision that allows those with 'legitimate interests' to use it for profit without the permission of the right holder.

The Ministry of Justice explains that there will be no problem with inevitably being used, such as cases in which the faces of spectators appear on the screen during live sports broadcasts or citizen interviews are used in the media.]

[Reporter Ha Jeong-yeon: It is true that there are concerns about whether freedom of expression is being infringed

. Seems to.

It's a very 'gray zone'.

I think that discussions should be carried out in detail.]

[Reporter Ha Jeong-yeon: It means that satire or humorous expressions such as parodies that twist existing things or so-called 'memes', which are a recent phenomenon in popular culture, can be severely atrophied.

Until February 6 of next year is the legislative announcement period, and after that, it seems necessary to collect various opinions as the legislative discussion process of the National Assembly is required.]

(Video coverage: Seol Min-hwan, Video editing: Yoon Tae-ho)