Republic of Korea: Amendment to the Copyright Act including user and subject rights was introduced to National Assembly

On 10 December 2025, the Partial Amendment to the Copyright Act was introduced to the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea. The Amendment would apply to online service providers and telecommunications business operators. Regarding the rights of infringement victims, Article 125 would permit courts to award compensation of up to 5 times the recognised loss in cases of intentional infringement, with courts required to consider factors including the degree of intent, the scale of damage, the economic benefits obtained by the infringer, and any criminal penalties already imposed. Regarding the rights of businesses subject to enforcement action, Article 133 would require public officials to carry and present identification before entering locations to inspect documents, with this power limited to cases where it is necessary for the discovery of illegal copies. Regarding the rights of parties subject to emergency blocking, the new Article 133-4 would enable the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism to order immediate blocking of access to illegal copies without prior Committee deliberation. A party whose content is blocked would be entitled to file an objection within 5 days, upon which the Minister would be required to lift the block immediately. The Copyright Protection Deliberative Committee would then assess within 5 days whether the measure should be confirmed or removed, and where the blocking is found to be unjustified, affected parties would be entitled to claim compensation under the National Compensation Act. If adopted, most provisions would enter into force on 11 August 2026, while provisions on access blocking would enter into force on 10 May 2026.