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Photo = Yonhap news |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] NCSoft has won a lawsuit against Webzen, claiming that Webzen infringed on the copyright of its MMORPG Lineage M. While the court did not acknowledge copyright infringement, it recognized a violation of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act and ordered Webzen to pay approximately 16.9 billion KRW in damages.
On Thursday, the Seoul High Court's 5-1 Civil Division ruled in favor of NCSoft in the lawsuit against Webzen for copyright infringement and damage compensation. The court ordered Webzen to stop providing, promoting, reproducing, distributing, or transmitting the game R2M under the name R2M to general users.
While the court did not accept NCSoft's claim that Webzen's R2M infringed upon Lineage M's copyright, it acknowledged that Webzen's actions violated the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. The court explained that although Webzen had made some modifications to the game after its release, the actions still constituted unfair competition.
The court ordered Webzen to pay NCSoft 16.9 billion KRW in damages, which is approximately 28% of NCSoft's initial claim for 60.1 billion KRW in compensation. This amount represents the highest confirmed damages awarded in a copyright-related lawsuit in the domestic gaming industry.
The court specified that 10 billion KRW of the total amount should be paid with an annual interest rate of 12% from February 29, 2021, until full payment, while the remaining 15.9 billion KRW should be paid with an annual interest rate of 5% from September 13, 2024, to March 27, 2025, and then 12% thereafter until full payment.
Previously, NCSoft filed a lawsuit against Webzen in 2021, claiming that Webzen's R2M, launched in August 2020, blatantly copied Lineage M and infringed on its copyright.
In the first trial in August 2023, the court sided with NCSoft's claim of unfair competition and ruled in its favor. The court ordered Webzen to cease the R2M service and pay 1.1 billion KRW in damages to NCSoft. However, Webzen's request to suspend the forced execution of the R2M injunction was granted, and the service resumed. NCSoft appealed, increasing the original 1.1 billion KRW in damages to 60.1 billion KRW.
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
