The city of Seoul is facing controversy after imposing a copyright fee exceeding 12 million won on an English catalog produced by the Cheon Kyung-ja Foundation to promote the late artist's work both domestically and internationally.
According to reports from Yonhap News and others on July 12, the foundation, led by Cheon Kyung-ja's daughter Kim Jeong-hee (also known as Sumita Kim), created a bilingual catalog featuring over 160 of the artist's works last year for distribution in Korea and abroad. The Italian art publishing house Skira was commissioned to produce the English version, with the foundation covering the costs.
The project received 50 million won in support from the Arts Management Support Center under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. However, the city of Seoul has notified the foundation that it must pay a total of 12.1 million won in copyright fees for the works included in the catalog. Cheon Kyung-ja transferred all copyright of her works to the city in 1998, and the city currently holds those rights.
At that time, Cheon expressed her hope that her paintings would remain accessible to the public, donating 57 colored paintings, 39 drawings, and her painting tools to the Seoul Museum of Art, along with all related copyrights.
The foundation argues that charging copyright fees for a non-profit initiative aimed at promoting Korean art abroad is unjust. They have donated or distributed many copies of the catalog to art museums and libraries, and any profits from general sales go to the publisher, not the foundation.
The foundation contends that the public copyright usage regulations allow for fee reductions for projects with public interest purposes, asserting that this project should qualify for such an exemption. They also pointed out that no copyright fees were charged for a special exhibition celebrating Cheon Kyung-ja's 100th birthday held in Goheung County in 2024, raising concerns about fairness.
In contrast, the city of Seoul maintains that the copyright fees were imposed in accordance with relevant regulations. Although the foundation initially applied for permission to use the copyright for 2,000 copies as a non-profit item, it was later discovered that the publisher sold 1,000 of those copies to the public, leading to the imposition of fees only for that quantity.
While the Goheung exhibition was a non-profit event organized by a local government, the catalog is a commercial publication sold to the public, making it difficult to apply the same standards. The city also noted that the foundation did not fully comply with the condition to credit the city as the copyright holder in the catalog.
According to reports from Yonhap News and others on July 12, the foundation, led by Cheon Kyung-ja's daughter Kim Jeong-hee (also known as Sumita Kim), created a bilingual catalog featuring over 160 of the artist's works last year for distribution in Korea and abroad. The Italian art publishing house Skira was commissioned to produce the English version, with the foundation covering the costs.
The project received 50 million won in support from the Arts Management Support Center under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. However, the city of Seoul has notified the foundation that it must pay a total of 12.1 million won in copyright fees for the works included in the catalog. Cheon Kyung-ja transferred all copyright of her works to the city in 1998, and the city currently holds those rights.
At that time, Cheon expressed her hope that her paintings would remain accessible to the public, donating 57 colored paintings, 39 drawings, and her painting tools to the Seoul Museum of Art, along with all related copyrights.
The foundation argues that charging copyright fees for a non-profit initiative aimed at promoting Korean art abroad is unjust. They have donated or distributed many copies of the catalog to art museums and libraries, and any profits from general sales go to the publisher, not the foundation.
The foundation contends that the public copyright usage regulations allow for fee reductions for projects with public interest purposes, asserting that this project should qualify for such an exemption. They also pointed out that no copyright fees were charged for a special exhibition celebrating Cheon Kyung-ja's 100th birthday held in Goheung County in 2024, raising concerns about fairness.
In contrast, the city of Seoul maintains that the copyright fees were imposed in accordance with relevant regulations. Although the foundation initially applied for permission to use the copyright for 2,000 copies as a non-profit item, it was later discovered that the publisher sold 1,000 of those copies to the public, leading to the imposition of fees only for that quantity.
While the Goheung exhibition was a non-profit event organized by a local government, the catalog is a commercial publication sold to the public, making it difficult to apply the same standards. The city also noted that the foundation did not fully comply with the condition to credit the city as the copyright holder in the catalog.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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