Who Owns the Content?

1. The Default Rule: Copyright Belongs to the Creator

Under Korea’s Copyright Act (저작권법), copyright vests automatically in the person who actually creates a work—the author—at the moment of creation. No registration is required. No notice is required. The right exists from the instant the work is fixed in an original form.

This means that if you hire a freelance scriptwriter to write a drama pilot, the writer owns the copyright in that script by default. Your payment for the work gives you nothing more than the right to use it in whatever way you contracted for—unless your contract explicitly says otherwise.

For foreign founders accustomed to U.S. “work-for-hire” doctrine, this can be a significant and costly surprise.

2. The Work-for-Hire Exception: Narrow and Conditional

Korea does recognize a work-made-for-hire (업무상저작물) doctrine, but it applies only when all four of the following conditions are met:

When all four conditions are satisfied, the employer (the company) is deemed the legal author and owns the copyright from inception. This is the cleanest ownership position for a content business, but it only covers salaried employees—not the freelancers, contractors, and collaborators that most Korean content productions rely on heavily.

3. Collaborative Works and Joint Authorship

Many content works—dramas, films, webtoons—involve multiple creative contributors. Korean copyright law distinguishes between two types:

Joint Works (공동저작물)

A work created by two or more persons whose contributions cannot be separated into independently usable parts. A drama script co-written by two authors such that neither portion stands alone is a classic example. Joint authors hold copyright together, and no single co-author may exploit the work commercially without the consent of all co-authors.

Collective Works / Compilation Works (결합저작물 / 편집저작물)

Where contributions are separable—a magazine containing articles by different writers, or an anthology album—each contributor holds copyright in their own piece, and the compiler holds a separate copyright in the selection and arrangement.

For production companies, the joint authorship framework is particularly important: if a director and a screenwriter are both “authors” of a film, neither can license the work without the other’s agreement. Documenting roles and allocating rights by contract before production begins is essential.

4. The “Moral Rights” Dimension: Rights That Cannot Be Transferred

Korean copyright law contains a category of rights that cannot be waived or transferred: 著作人格權 (著작인격권, moral rights). These include:

5. Copyright in Films: The Special Regime

Films (영상저작물) receive a tailored treatment under the Korean Copyright Act (Articles 99–101). The key rules:

• The film producer (영상제작자) is presumed to hold the rights necessary to produce and exploit the film—even if underlying rights (script, music, performance) belong to others—provided the contributors have agreed to participate in the production.
• Performers who appear in a film are presumed to have licensed their performance rights to the producer, again absent contrary agreement.
• This is a statutory presumption, not an absolute rule. Contracts that depart from it—including producer agreements, talent agreements, and music sync licenses—can vary the result.

The practical effect is that a well-drafted production agreement can give a Korean film or drama producer a consolidated rights package. The risk arises when agreements are absent, ambiguous, or use templates not adapted to Korean law.

6. Copyright Registration: Not Required, But Useful

Korea operates a copyright registration system administered by the Korea Copyright Commission (한국저작권위원회). Registration is not a prerequisite for copyright to exist, but it creates a legal presumption in favor of the registrant that can be valuable in disputes.

Registration is particularly useful when:

• You need to establish a priority date for licensing or investment negotiations
• You are entering a cross-border deal and want documentary evidence of ownership
• The work will be registered in China (Korean registration simplifies the Chinese process)
• You are filing a customs recordal to intercept infringing goods

7. Practical Checklist for Content Founders