The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 12th that it has closed the country's largest sharing room, 'Yubin Archive,' which illegally shared paid learning materials such as workbooks and lecture videos on Telegram, and apprehended the operator. An investigation is also underway for accomplices who participated in or aided the operation.
'Yubin Archive' is a Telegram channel that has illegally reproduced and shared expensive learning materials such as paid workbooks from large academies, video lectures, mock exam materials, and law school textbooks targeting students preparing for college entrance exams since July 2023. It is accused of infringing on the rights of copyright holders by illegally sharing over 16,000 learning materials with approximately 330,000 participants.
The core operator of 'Yubin Archive,' who was apprehended, has been confirmed to have created a separate paid sharing room to generate revenue. Furthermore, it has been revealed that the operator was aware that their actions were illegal. Nevertheless, through anonymous media interviews, they promoted the illegal sharing of learning materials as a righteous act that addresses educational inequality.
To evade law enforcement, the operators organized themselves into a thoroughly anonymous network, creating sharing rooms in seasons 1, 2, and 3 since 2023, and frequently recruiting additional members in a systematic and organized manner. In response, the copyright crime investigation team of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism identified the core operator through digital forensic investigations and secured evidence of criminal activities on Telegram through simultaneous searches at their residences.
In addition to the apprehended operators, investigations into students who uploaded learning materials to the 'Yubin Archive' reporting room will be expanded based on the scale and degree of their involvement. For simple distributors, measures to improve copyright awareness have been implemented by posting guidance messages in the respective sharing rooms.
Jeong Hyang-mi, director of the copyright division of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, "Acts of copyright infringement in online spaces undermine the efforts of creators and constitute serious crimes that destroy healthy content industry ecosystems." She added, "The Ministry will continue to track and respond rigorously to illegal activities that exploit anonymous channels like Telegram to protect the rights and interests of creators."