The copyright trade balance of the Republic of Korea has recorded the largest surplus of USD 1.04 billion (about KRW 1.2 trillion) in the half of 2020 since the authorities began compiling related statistics in 2010. Korea’s Culture and Arts Copyrights also posted the first half-year trade balance surplus since related data was first compiled in 2010.

  According to the “Intellectual Property Right Trade Balance* in the First Half of 2020(preliminary)” released by the Bank of Korea (BOK) on September 18 (Fri), Korea’s copyright trade balance recorded a surplus of USD 1.04 billion in the first half of 2020, up by USD 160 million. While the total intellectual property trade balance posted a deficit of USD 750 million and the deficit in the trade of industrial property rights increased from the previous half, only the copyright trade balance marked a surplus and even widened the scope of surplus.

  * Trade balance statistics comprehensively showing the status of international trades of Korean

     intellectual property rights, including trades and use transactions of various types of intellectual

     property rights such as copyrights, industrial property rights, and other intellectual property rights.

 Copyright exports in the first half of this year exceeded USD 5 billion, marking the largest surplus ever

  According to an analysis of BOK’s intellectual property trade balance data from 2010 to 2020 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister Yang-woo Park, MCST), Korea’s half-year copyright trade balance has been on a steady rise since it first turned to a surplus in the second quarter of 2013. In particular, the total exports in the copyright sector in the first half of 2020 exceeded USD 5 billion, making it the largest ever surplus.

Copyright Trade Balance Trends by Half-year

                                                                                                     (USD 100 million) / * Source: BOK

  The BOK publishes the Copyright Trade Balance semi-annually by compiling statistical data on the imports and exports of “culture and arts copyrights” and “research and development (R&D) and software (SW) copyrights.” Culture and arts copyrights include rights to broadcast, reproduce, and distribute music, movies, animations, musicals, and dramas, and R&D and SW copyrights include copyrights to games, databases, and research works that Korea exports to other countries.

 Among culture and arts copyright, copyright to music and videos show a remarkable growth

  One of the most notable facts from the data is that Korea’s culture and arts copyrights achieved the first trade surplus in history, which is the first recorded surplus on a semi-annual basis since the country began compiling related statistics in 2010. A one-time surplus was recorded in the second quarter of 2016, but this is the first time that the figures have steadily improved each half year to achieve a surplus.

  Among the culture and arts copyrights, the growth of copyrights to music and videos is particularly notable. This result is attributable to multifaced efforts such as the exports of globally competitive Korean Wave (Hallyu) content, including K-pop music represented by BTS and the international success of the movie “Parasite,” and the protection of Hallyu content copyrights.

  The R&D and SW copyright sector, which encompasses copyrights to games, databases, and research works, has also steadily widened the trade surplus since posting the first surplus of USD 120 million (approximately KRW 146 billion) in 2011. According to statistics in the first half of 2020, the database sector performed significantly well among the R&D and software copyrights.

  Minister Yangwoo Park said, “Amid concerns about the country’s trade balance hit by COVID-19, the surplus in the culture and arts copyright sector is of great significance in that the competitiveness of Korean culture and arts, represented by Hallyu content, has been recognized worldwide. The government will continue to make various efforts to create a healthy copyright ecosystem and protect the copyrights of Hallyu content to make Korea a copyright powerhouse where culture contributes to the economy.”