More than one million copyrighted public works have recently become available for public use. These works are now all registered at one special website allowing anyone to use them for their own purposes, from starting a business to developing a new product.
The website (www.kogl.or.kr), Gonggongnuri in Korean, makes available copyrighted works that used to belong to public organizations and allows people to use the previously-protected works for free. The government launched the website in February 2012 to encourage more people to freely use copyrighted public works. Since its launch, 80 public organizations have registered their copyrighted works at the site. These works include photos, images, videos, music, and written content and information across various sectors.
People can use these works in some cases without making any additional contract or receiving approval from the copyright holder. They only have to notify the original source of the work. Some items are not allowed to be used for commercial purpose and some other items are not allowed to be changed and then re-copyrighted. If people want to use these works, they have to submit an online application at the website and receive approval from the website manager.
People can use the registered works to start businesses or to develop new products. One example is a promotional press kit made for presidential trips overseas. The press kit cover is decorated with traditional artistic patterns which are also registered copyrighted works.
A second example is the venture start-up Travolution. It plans to launch a smartphone application called Seoul Travel Pass by using registered information about travel, cultural assets, theater plays and performances. Scheduled for public release this February, this application will provide information for the traveler. Travolution co-founder Han Hyeon-seok said, “The Seoul Travel Pass app will be available in both the Android and Apple store systems and provide useful information, including ticket discounts for cultural heritage sites and travel information for non-Korean tourists in English, simplified and traditional Chinese and Japanese.”
Another promising start-up, E-motionbooks, used traditional roof tile patterns, such as the yongmyeonwa, a traditional dragon-shaped pattern, and the gwimyeonwa, a traditional ghost-shaped pattern, for its series of e-book apps titled "Kamir's Design Exploration" and "Mamir's Tales Exploration." The firm launched the two free book apps for the iPad in March 2013. CEO of E-motionbooks Lim Dong-il said, "Our ‘Kamir's Design Exploration’ is about traditional patterns in Korea and 'Mamir's Tales Exploration’ tells many of our myths, legends and folktales.” Lim added that his firm will develop more series of e-book apps about other Korean traditions.
The government further plans to make available data from two other government-run websites: the Public Data Portal website (www.data.go.kr) run by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning; and, the Policy Research Institute System website (unofficial translation) (www.prism.go.kr) run by the Ministry of Security and Public Administration.
In this regard, Vice Minister Cho Hyun-jae of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, “As people make use of various copyrighted public works registered at the Gonggongnuri website, it will contribute to the spread of Korean culture. We will do our best to encourage more public organizations to take part in registering their copyrighted works on the website.”
By Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writer
arete@korea.kr
The website (www.kogl.or.kr), Gonggongnuri in Korean, makes available copyrighted works that used to belong to public organizations and allows people to use the previously-protected works for free. The government launched the website in February 2012 to encourage more people to freely use copyrighted public works. Since its launch, 80 public organizations have registered their copyrighted works at the site. These works include photos, images, videos, music, and written content and information across various sectors.
People can use these works in some cases without making any additional contract or receiving approval from the copyright holder. They only have to notify the original source of the work. Some items are not allowed to be used for commercial purpose and some other items are not allowed to be changed and then re-copyrighted. If people want to use these works, they have to submit an online application at the website and receive approval from the website manager.
The cover of a press kit decorated with traditional patterns was designed for President Park Geun-hye’s overseas trips. The image and design is now open for public use.
People can use the registered works to start businesses or to develop new products. One example is a promotional press kit made for presidential trips overseas. The press kit cover is decorated with traditional artistic patterns which are also registered copyrighted works.
A second example is the venture start-up Travolution. It plans to launch a smartphone application called Seoul Travel Pass by using registered information about travel, cultural assets, theater plays and performances. Scheduled for public release this February, this application will provide information for the traveler. Travolution co-founder Han Hyeon-seok said, “The Seoul Travel Pass app will be available in both the Android and Apple store systems and provide useful information, including ticket discounts for cultural heritage sites and travel information for non-Korean tourists in English, simplified and traditional Chinese and Japanese.”
Another promising start-up, E-motionbooks, used traditional roof tile patterns, such as the yongmyeonwa, a traditional dragon-shaped pattern, and the gwimyeonwa, a traditional ghost-shaped pattern, for its series of e-book apps titled "Kamir's Design Exploration" and "Mamir's Tales Exploration." The firm launched the two free book apps for the iPad in March 2013. CEO of E-motionbooks Lim Dong-il said, "Our ‘Kamir's Design Exploration’ is about traditional patterns in Korea and 'Mamir's Tales Exploration’ tells many of our myths, legends and folktales.” Lim added that his firm will develop more series of e-book apps about other Korean traditions.
A captured image of the Gonggongnuri website. The site allows people to freely use copyrighted public works.
Travolution will launch the Seoul Travel Pass smartphone app this February. It will provide travel information for tourists by using useful registered information from the Gonggongnuri site, a website run by the Korean government that releases copyrighted works from public organizations, allowing people to use the registered works for free.
E-motionbooks used traditional roof tile patterns to create Kamir and Mamir, the two main characters of its app books "Kamir's Design Exploration" and "Mamir's Tales Exploration," both of which were launched in March last year.
The government further plans to make available data from two other government-run websites: the Public Data Portal website (www.data.go.kr) run by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning; and, the Policy Research Institute System website (unofficial translation) (www.prism.go.kr) run by the Ministry of Security and Public Administration.
In this regard, Vice Minister Cho Hyun-jae of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, “As people make use of various copyrighted public works registered at the Gonggongnuri website, it will contribute to the spread of Korean culture. We will do our best to encourage more public organizations to take part in registering their copyrighted works on the website.”
By Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writer
arete@korea.kr
