KS Park, Executive Director of Open Net Korea and professor at Korea University, submitted an amicus brief in a copyright lawsuit filed by freelance photographer A against “Newspotter,” an independent media channel run by journalist Hye-ri Shin on YouTube. Open Net is supporting Shin, who is being sued for showing a foreign news article—containing A’s photo—while critiquing international reporting.
In the brief, Park argues that Shin’s work is media criticism, a widely practiced cultural activity, and that such criticism requires some level of unlicensed use of journalistic works. He notes that under Article 35-5 of the Copyright Act, unauthorized use should be allowed when it does not conflict with the normal exploitation of the work or unfairly harm the copyright holder’s interests. Park explains that Shin used the image for a new purpose (to illustrate foreign coverage), used only what was necessary, the photo is largely factual rather than purely creative, and showing an entire news page for criticism is an established practice that does not harm the photo’s market value.
Open Net warns that excessive copyright enforcement threatens the public’s right to know, especially as Korean media outlets increasingly face lawsuits for referencing foreign news reports containing images. When a photo is used not decoratively but to visually demonstrate that foreign media covered an issue, such use should be recognized as fair use.
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