Writers of web novels who need treatment or rest due to accidents or illnesses will be guaranteed the right to take a break from serialization.
If a contractor does not notify the termination of the contract and the contract is automatically extended, the copyright holder can notify the contractor of the termination at any time. It also includes a mandatory provision stating that the contractor must inform the copyright holder in advance that ‘if there is no notice of contract termination, the contract will be extended.’
On the 20th, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced three types of 'standard contracts for the web novel sector' that include these provisions.
The newly established standard contracts are 'Publishing Rights Contract,' 'Exclusive Publication Rights Contract for Electronic Publishing,' and 'Serialization Contract.'
This includes provisions to ensure that the revenue statement includes total sales, unit price per episode, taxes and fees, net sales, actual payments, etc., and to require separate contracts for the use of rights for derivative works or agency brokerage.
The Ministry plans to distribute a 'Standard Contracts Explanation for the Web Novel Sector' to explain the meaning of the revised provisions during the second half of the year. A bill to prohibit the practice of unfairly passing on sales promotion costs or price discount costs to web novel copyright holders will also be submitted to the National Assembly soon.
Minister Yoo In-chon said, 'I will do my best for the healthy and sustainable development of the Korean web novel industry reaching out to the world.'