South Korean publishing sector faces market risks from lagging AI copyright laws

Publishers in South Korea have warned that the domestic book market could be flooded with artificial intelligence content while national copyright rules lag behind those in Europe and Japan, Seoul Economic Daily reported. The warning comes as usage of conversational tools increases rapidly across the country. [1]

Data from Korean tracking firm IGAWorks showed that OpenAI's ChatGPT recorded 17,993,884 monthly active users in South Korea during September, representing a 40.6 percent increase from the same period last year, according to Seoul Economic Daily. Anthropic's Claude reached 1,708,413 users in the same month, which represents a 1,211.3 percent rise from 130,286 users a year earlier. [1]

Figures from research firm Sensor Tower indicate that South Korea generated 5.4 percent of global ChatGPT revenue, ranking second worldwide behind the United States at 35.4 percent, Seoul Economic Daily reported. South Korea has a total population of approximately 52 million people, with half residing in the Seoul metropolitan area. [1][3]

Although the South Korean AI Framework Act took effect in January, critics stated that the legal structure remains underdeveloped and lacks clear protections regarding AI training and published content, Seoul Economic Daily reported. [1]