Registration

The copyright registration is a public notification system in which certain information on works (name of author, the initial year, month and date of creation and publication) and information on the change in copyright (assignments, restriction on disposal, establishment of the right of pledge, etc.) are registered in the official register. These sorts of information are open to the public for reading.

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Effects of Copyright Registration

1. Legal Presumption

A person whose real name is registered as the author of a registered work shall be presumed as the author of the work.
A work for which its date of creation or the initial date of disclosure is registered shall be presumed to have been created or made public on the registered date. However, if a work is registered more than one year after its creation, it shall not be presumed to have been created on the date registered. In addition, when a registered work is infringed upon, it shall be presumed that the infringement has occurred due to negligence at least.

2. Priority of Rights between Conflicting Parties

In case a party is assigned with economic rights or the right to publication is established and these rights are registered, the registered assignee or the registered owner of the publication rights shall prevail over the duplicate assignee or the duplicate publication right holder.

Copyright Registration Procedures

Copyright registration has 4 steps to file a copyright: preparation, submission of application, examination and request to complement, approval and issuance of a certificate of registration.

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4
▪ Identifying the subject, the type of registration, and the applicant’s eligibility before processing the application ▪ Submission of Application ▪ Examination and request to complement ▪ Approval and issuance of a certificate of registration

(1) Step 1: Preparation

- identifying the subject, the type of registration and the applicant’s eligibility before processing the application.

You may be sure about copyrightability of your work and relevant type of copyright (e.g. literature, music) for successful application. It is required to claim one registration for single work and category by the principle for registration, “one registration for one work” Additionally, only an obligee or obligor of registration can apply.

▷ Subject of Registration - works(literary, musical, theatrical, artistic, architecture, photographic, audiovisual, diagrammatic, computer programs, etc) - neighboring rights(performances, broadcasts, sound recordings) and database.

▷ Types of Copyright Registration - Registration of rights(copyrights, neighboring rights, rights of database producers) - Registration for alteration of rights(transfer by assignment, restrictions on the disposal of copyright and establishment of the pledge right./establishment of publication right and exclusive publication right.) - Registration for modification(Correction, modification, erasure or recovery of erased registration)


(2) Step 2: Submission of Application

You may visit the Copyright Registration Team at the Korea Copyright Commission and submit the application, required documents, deposit copies of your work and registration fee. * Registration fee (computer programs: 60,000 Korean Won (KRW) / Other works: 30,000 KRW (registration tax excluded))

(3) Step 3: Examination and Request to complement

Copyright examiners examine the application submitted for registration whether it qualifies all the requirements. You will be requested to submit amendments if it does not.

(4) Step 4: Approval and Issuance of a certificate of registration

When application is qualified, registration is approved and a certificate of registration is issued.