The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism building. /Courtesy of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

Our country has ranked 7th in the world in the copyright sector of the international intellectual property index for four consecutive years.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism noted that South Korea has ranked 7th in the copyright sector for four consecutive years in the international intellectual property index (IP Index) published this year by the Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) under the American Chamber of Commerce.

Since 2013, GIPC has published the international intellectual property index annually, targeting the top 55 countries that account for 90% of the global gross domestic product (GDP) based on World Bank standards.

This year, our country recorded an overall ranking of 10th across 10 fields. In the system efficiency sector, it maintained the sole 1st place for three consecutive years, and ranked 7th in the copyright sector for four consecutive years.

Looking at the copyright sector rankings, the United States (1st), Singapore (2nd), the United Kingdom (3rd), France (4th), Germany (5th), and Sweden (6th) ranked ahead of South Korea, while the Netherlands shared 7th place with us, followed by Australia (9th) and Japan (10th).

South Korea received high evaluations in seven detailed evaluation indicators in the copyright sector, including legislation related to digital environment rights and responses to online infringements.

The international intellectual property index report cited the 'Guidelines for AI Copyright' published and distributed worldwide by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2023 as a factor for South Korea's high ranking in the copyright sector. It assessed the statement in the guidelines that 'AI developers must respect copyright' as a significant point.

Jeong Hyang-mi, director of the copyright department at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said, 'The foundation for our content's entry and success in the global market has been the government's continuous and diverse policy efforts for copyright protection,' adding, 'We will continue to faithfully fulfill our role as a leading copyright nation in the international community.'