메타버스 산업 활성화를 위한 저작권법 개정방향

Abstract

Early metaverses were mostly game services. The first virtual space to implement the metaverse concept will be an MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role playing game). In the beginning, it was a limited environment, such as simply connecting with the presented character and catching monsters, but now, various activities connected with other game users such as creating an avatar and building an economy by trading with various people have formed a culture. . Metaverse, a form of life communication service such as Facebook, Instagram, and Second Life, is also growing along with the development of IT technology. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the influence of the metaverse has expanded further. This is because, after two years of cessation of activities in the real world, telecommuting became inevitable, and most of the activities where people gather, such as students leaving the classroom and continuing their studies through remote classes, were conducted online. As such, to revitalize the metaverse industry, it is essential to discuss the copyright law to mitigate legal risks in the content production stage. First of all, it is necessary to solve the problem of the copyright license agreement for the creation of realistic content. It is necessary to review the introduction of an opt-out system for activating the use of copyrighted works, the introduction of a comprehensive license, and the introduction of a post-compensation system such as an implied license such as a creative commons license. It is necessary to come up with a plan to utilize micro-contents that anyone can use regardless of copyright, and if spatial information is digitized, content producers will be able to easily use actual spaces and structures. A contract or license needs to be available. Copyright in the real space is also applied in the virtual space. The problem is that when the captured information is recorded, shared or sold, intellectual property disputes between the information provider and the copyright owner of the object overlaid with the information are expected, so a response is urgently needed. The issue of licensing is not a matter that requires a legislative approach such as amendment of laws to the end, but the government also needs support to be able to solve the copyright problem in the production of realistic content through a comprehensive copyright agreement between the Metaverse platform and the copyright centralized management organization. In particular, when implementing VR/AR, it will be necessary to separately prepare standard terms of use and standard contracts. As the metaverse expands our daily lives into virtual space and the economic scale and expectations related to the metaverse grow, the protection of rights in the metaverse is also emerging as an important issue. In order to revitalize the Metaverse industry, ambiguous interpretations or overlapping parts of the Copyright Act are required to be improved through revision, and it is time to reexamine the Copyright Act so that the effectiveness of the Metaverse can be properly recognized.