The Ministry of Intellectual Property issued corrective orders to companies that produced and sold merchandise using idol groups' names and likenesses without permission. This is the first time authorities have issued corrective orders over the sale of products infringing the right of publicity.
The Ministry of Intellectual Property said on the 5th it took administrative action after detecting four companies that illegally distributed idol group merchandise.
A Ministry of Intellectual Property unfair competition act Researcher conducted an investigation from November last year to recently into four offline retailers in Sejong, Siheung, Bucheon, and Gimhae, as well as online platforms. As a result, it confirmed that products were distributed that unlawfully used the stage names and likenesses of 41 artists belonging to six idol groups, including SEVENTEEN, BOYNEXTDOOR, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, aespa, IVE, and RIIZE.
The detected companies promised the victims in April last year to stop infringing acts on the right of publicity, but was found to have continued selling related products afterward. The problematic products are five types in total, including photo cards, student ID-style cards, and stickers.
The right of publicity refers to the right that protects the economic value of personal identifiers such as the name, likeness, and image of an individual, especially a public figure.
The corrective orders call for the immediate suspension of sales of the illegal products, disposal of related products kept for sale, prohibition of future sales in the same or similar manner, and completion of training to prevent recurrence. If the corrective orders are not carried out, fines of up to 20 million won may be imposed.
Kim Yong-hun, director general of the Intellectual Property Protection and Cooperation Bureau at the Ministry of Intellectual Property, said, "For the growth of K-POP and other K-culture industries, it is essential to protect intellectual property rights, including artists' rights of publicity," and added, "We will continue cracking down on the sale of merchandise that infringes idol groups' rights of publicity and damages their reputation and trust."