By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that it will tighten the copyright protection in using illegal downloaded files and promote the print-based media industry through paid services.
In its report submitted to President Lee Myung-bak, the ministry said that it will push ahead with a revision of the related law in November 2010 to illegalize the download of copyrighted files even if it is for individual use.
"Under the current law, downloads have been regarded as acceptable for private use and the regulation on it has been vague. So the ministry will seek a revision of the bill," a ministerial official said.
If the law is revised, copyright holders will be able to file complaints against individuals copying copyrighted content without consent, whether they had commercial intentions or not.
Also, the government will make more efforts to pave the way to promote paid services for using news content to reinvigorate the ailing newspaper industry.
As the media industry environment is changing fast, it is becoming important to develop a new business model for the print media.
The ministry will set a pricing model for news content. It estimates that if the central governments pay the fees for the news content, the purchases will increase from the current 290 million won to 4.6 billion won.
"It will raise the awareness of Internet users about paid services for the protection of the news content copyrights if we start a system to pay for the services at governmental level first. We are expecting the efforts to protect the news content to be extended to the private sectors," Kwak Young-jin, director of the planning and coordination office for the ministry, said.
The government will establish more cultural venues that represent the national symbols as many other advanced countries use cultural venues as tourism resources.
It will construct the Hangeul Museum at a cost of 32.5 billion won at the site of the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan by 2012.
The museum will consist of the world letters hall, hangeul (Korean alphabet) hall, education hall and hangeul-inspired products hall spanning the 12,000-square-meter spot at the complex of the National Museum to promote history and the excellence of hangeul.
The government will start the project next year and finish construction by 2012, which is expected to function as a cultural complex in connection with the National Museum and nearby Yongsan Park.
It will also create the National History Museum by 2012 costing 48.4 billion won to shed light on the country's overall history by remodeling the ministry's complex in Gwanghwamun alongside the plans to open the Seoul annex of the National Museum of Contemporary Art.
The Seoul annex is expected to emerge as the "art belt," connecting other neighboring museums and the Gyeongbok Palace.
"We've had plans to construct these museums but next year we will actually gain the momentum to embody the projects in real terms," said Kwak.