영화산업의 독과점 실태와 해소 방안

Abstract

Every year, more than 100 million people watch Korea movies. Since Korean films are already growing rapidly in terms of production cost and sales, many overseas film producers and distributors are very much interested about the Korean movie market. Since the structure of the movie market is vertically integrated in a conglomerate-oriented environment, unfair transactions are constantly taking place. Not only do small numbers of large corporations manage the distribution and screening of movies but also abuse their superior positions. They form screening atmospheres pivoting around their company movies. There are three major distributors, such as CJ E&M Co., Ltd, Lotte Entertainment and Showbox. Also, there are three major multiplex chains, such as CJ CGV, Lotte Cinema, and Megabox. Out of 417 theaters, 335 of them are multiplex theaters. Out of those 335 theaters, 330 of them are owned by CGV, Lotte Cinema and Megabox. The combined sales share of these three multiplex chains is 97.1%. These vertically integrated companies have exclusively dominated the theaters and abused their trading status to mostly screen their company movies. A proposition has been proposed to restrict vertical integration of large companies of the movie market. There is a controversy about the forced intervention of the government due to the characteristics of the movie industry relevant to high-risk high-profit industries. Recession of US movie market should be taken into consideration after the “Paramount judgment” of the United States Supreme Court. In this respect, the role of various standard contracts for each field of the movie industry is important. It is important to supplement the contents considering the characteristics and changes of the movie market, but it is more important to secure effectiveness through active utilization. In order to secure diversity in the movie industry, an environment suitable for distribution and screening of independent and artistic films should be established. Additionally, along with the development of digital technology, additional markets are growing rapidly due to online provision of movie contents. So, it is necessary to expand the range of movie theaters and to renew the definition of movie.