KLRI : KOREA LEGISLATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE

 

 

Korea Legislation Research Institute (KLRI, President Kye-Hong Kim) held ‘The 9th 2021 Regulatory Innovation Legislation Forum’ on July 13 (Tue) under the theme of ‘Metaverse, The Rise of the Expanded Virtual World and Challenges.’ The event was held virtually and broadcast live to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It was held amid keen interest from participants with real-time question and answer session.

 

Keynote Speaker Jung-Sam Kim, Software Policy Director at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said in his speech under the title of ‘Trend of Metaverse Industry and Policy Direction’, “The number of metaverse platform users is in rapid rise as the increse of non-contact activities caused by the pandemic. Meterverse is a place where users communicate and hang out in a virtual world.” He also emphasized the trend of the metaverse market, saying, “Metaverse is created by game companies, invested by venture companies, and expanded by global big-tech companies.” He further introduced a range of policy that facilitates the growth of metaverse companies and the creation of new markets. 

 

In the first session under the topic of ‘Progress of Virtual Convergence and Institutional Tasks,’ Jin-Ho Park, a cultural digital restorer, presented under the title of ‘Artificial Intelligence Cultural Content in the Metaverse Era’, and Seung-Min Lee, a law professor at Sungkyunkwan University, presented under the title of ‘Legal Issues by Areas of Use of Virtual Convergence Technology.’

 

In the second session under the topic of ‘Issues of Legal System in Metaverse Era,’ Seung-Woo Sohn, a professor of Dept. of Industrial Security at Chung-Ang University, presented under the title of ‘The Rise of Another World ‘Metaverse’ and Its Legal and Policy Challenges,’ and Won-Joon Jeong, KLRI Research Fellow presented under the title of ‘Copyright Issues and Challenges in the Metaverse Era.’

 

The last speaker, Won-Joon Jeong, KLRI Research Fellow pointed out the followings as the issues related to the realization of metaverse: ▲ Issues related to the governing laws and jurisdiction of litigation ▲ The need to redefine its concept under the copyright law ▲ The subject and scope of copyright protection: its background ▲ Characteristics of Avatar as subject to copyright and copyright infringement ▲ Data extraction and deformation from augmented reality (AR) and copyright infringement. He also stressed out the followings as the legal and policy-wise tasks to counter the issues: 

▲ Preparing measures to use micro contents ▲ Preparing interpretation guideline for legal stability ▲ Expansion of interpretation of the legal principle of fair use and development of new legal principles. 

 

The following general discussion session was moderated by Byung-Chul Oh, professor of law at Yonsei University School of Law. Discussants who participated actively included Jae-Wan Park, CEO of Mexst, Cheol-Ho Hwang, Director of the Korea VR· AR Industry Association, Chang-Hwa Kim, professor at Hanbat National University, Ki-Dong Bae, KT Managing Director, Joon-Mo Kang, Senior Research Fellow of Korea Information Society Development Institute, Wook Hur, Facebook Korea Managing Director, Myung-Ah Kim, KLRI Senior Research Fellow, and Dong-Hyun Kim, Chairman of Virtual Reality Contest Industry Association. 

 

Meanwhile, KLRI has held Regulatory Innovation Legislation Forum since 2019 as part of its research project on regulatory innovation legislation. KLRI plans to hold the 10th Forum to discuss achievements of the Korean-style regulatory special system and future tasks. 

 

 

 

Date: July 13, 2021

Venue: Online broadcasting