□ A group of delegates from Malaysia including the Minister of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives, and Consumerism, Y.B. DATO’ SRI ISMAIL SABRI BIN YAAKOB, visited the Korea Copyright Commission (Chairman: Lee Bo-Kyoung) in the morning of May 14. Consisting of 13 leaders in various sectors of Malaysia including the Minister and the delegates leading the financial industry and various cooperatives, the delegation visited Korea from May 12 to 15 for meetings with the Korea Copyright Commission as well as the Korea Fair Trade Commission.

 

□ While meeting with the Minister of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives, and Consumerism of Malaysia, Chairman Lee Bo-kyoung of the Korea Copyright Commission explained to the minister the major functions of the Commission, trends in copyright-related legal systems, and industry status in Korea and stressed the importance of a cooperative relationship between Malaysia and Korea for the development of the regional culture of Asia.

 

□ In his welcome address during the briefing session that followed the meeting, Chairman Lee Bo-Kyoung emphasized the importance of the copyright industry while noting that the "copyright industry" was recognized as a core industry of the 21st Century’s economy of creativity. Responding favorably, the Minister commented that Malaysia needed to learn more about Korea’s legal systems concerning copyright since Malaysia was in the process of revising laws related to intellectual property right such as the copyright act, etc.

 

□ The Korea Copyright Commission briefed the delegation on the copyright systems of Korea, and all the delegates expressed deep interest in how online copyright infringements are dealt with, such as the "three-strikes" rule as well as how system of collective management organizations are operated in Korea.

 

□ The Minister commented that this visit to Korea Copyright Commission "would serve as a good opportunity to promote and encourage mutual interchange and cooperation continuously instead of being a one-time event." Both parties hoped that similar occasions could be arranged continuously in the future.

 

□ Even though it was a very short visit, the Commission took the visit as an opportunity to promote cooperation in the copyright sector between the two nations by providing information related to the copyright industry in Korea and holding discussions on the copyright-related issues of both countries.