How would you feel if you woke up one day and found that the same platform you had built over years of effort was running, and even the same product photos were openly registered and used?
This kind of platform copying is not yesterday or today. Recently, a conglomerate copied a small and medium-sized platform as it is, causing controversy, but this is not just a problem between large companies and small and medium-sized platform companies. Rather, it is not uncommon for small platform companies to copy each other's platform as it is. For this reason, dozens of platform regulation-related bills have been developed in recent years, but the reality is that these platform-related regulations are only at the stage of initiation due to concerns that these platform-related regulations will hinder the development of the industry. there is.
However, recently, the court decided to suspend platform operation under certain conditions to the business operator who copied the platform by applying the Act on Unfair Competition and Trade Secret Protection to platform copying, and I would like to introduce this precedent.
Company A was a company that operated a kind of shopping mall platform that provided product information on a specific product group by taking product photos directly or by selecting photos provided by stores for several years. However, one day, a store owner contacted me and heard that the same product photos used by Company A were being used on the same platform as that of Company A. Company A immediately checked the platform, and as a result, it was confirmed that thousands of product photos used by Company A were exposed in the same order of editing on a competing platform operated by Company B.
However, there is no specific ban on platform copying itself, and in particular, due to the nature of the platform as a shopping mall, it does not contain the platform's own technology, know-how, or ideas. was However, since the same competing platform was opened by using a large number of photos secured by company A from the other platform, it may be argued that only the photos taken by company A are protected as copyrighted works under the Copyright Act, but in general, in the case of product photos, our court It is difficult to claim that the photos are protected as copyrighted works as it is judged that they are mere reproductions of objects focused on conveying the appearance of the product itself and do not fall under copyright protection under the Copyright Act, which requires the individuality and creativity of the photographer to be recognized. .
Accordingly, even if the photos on company A's platform used by company B do not fall under the Copyright Act, company B's act itself is the result of the significant investment or effort of others in accordance with Article 2, Subparagraph 1, Item K. of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. It was argued that it should be banned as an act of unfair competition, which is the unauthorized use for one's own business in a way contrary to fair trade practices or competition order.
In response, the court ruled in favor of Company A, saying, 'It cannot be seen as commercial practice in the industry for multiple platform companies to commonly use product photos that exist on the Internet as public goods, and due to the nature of online commerce, product photos are It is one of the most basic and decisive factors in conveying information and attracting purchases, so if the product's photos do not properly reveal its features and advantages, no matter how accurately other detailed information is marked, it is not easy to make actual transactions, so potential buyers Taking a picture of a product for the purpose of showing it to consumers is inevitably accompanied by the process of adjusting the angle, resolution, composition and shading of the product so that the external characteristics of the product are accurately displayed and the advantages are highlighted, so it has economic value in itself. Therefore, using it on your own platform without permission constitutes an act of unfair competition.'
Although the above case is an example of selecting and using photos taken by company A directly or provided by company A, the court recognizes product photos that are not protected as copyrighted works as 'performance made with considerable investment or effort' and uses them without permission. is expected to be protected by the Unfair Competition Prevention Act.
Source: Law Firm Suoje