The Korean Music Copyright Association (KOMCA) has announced its intention to tackle AI copyright issues in the era of generative artificial intelligence.
On October 3, KOMCA revealed the formation of the 'K-Music Rights Organizations Coexistence Committee,' which includes six music rights organizations. This committee, initially launched on February 26, comprises KOMCA, the Korea Music Industry Association, the Korea Entertainment Producers Association, the Together Music Copyright Association, the Korea Music Performers Association, and the Korea Music Content Association.
In his first official act as chairman, KOMCA's president, Lee Si-ha, proposed an emergency meeting of music rights organizations. He expressed his commitment to designing a new music copyright order as the committee's chairman.
The committee has identified the current situation as a crisis, marked by the spread of generative AI, blockchain-based decentralization, the outflow of K-pop profits overseas, and the restructuring of the platform market. In response, the committee proposed a strategy to build a 'blockchain-based integrated infrastructure' to consolidate dispersed rights data.
The committee plans to secure core technology that links four major codes—works, recordings, YouTube, and national identification systems—into a single data structure. To gain a foothold in the copyright market, the six organizations agreed to form an AI joint response task force, establish a unified negotiation channel, and create a joint fund to present a consistent voice.
During the launch ceremony, the heads of the six organizations participated in a signing ceremony for the 'Coexistence Committee Declaration.' The declaration includes demands for new standards in the AI era, such as prohibiting unauthorized AI learning without creators' consent, mandating transparency in AI generation processes, and institutionalizing clear distinctions between human creations and AI-generated works.
Chairman Lee stated, “The next two years are a golden time for the survival of the Korean music industry,” and added, “We will establish our copyright management system as a global standard, enabling Korea to lead the global copyright order.”
Meanwhile, the Coexistence Committee will begin regular meetings and embark on tasks related to integrated platform design and institutional improvement following this launch.
By Soo-min Lee, TenAsia Reporter danbilee19@tenasia.co.kr