Supreme Court: "Non-authors listed as co-authors... Original authors who permitted it also punished"

Supreme Court, Seocho-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Honam Moon munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The Supreme Court has confirmed a fine for a professor who allowed professors who did not actually participate in writing to be listed as co-authors, violating copyright law.

On the 9th, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Kim Jaehyung) announced that it upheld the lower court's ruling sentencing four professors indicted for violating copyright law, imposing fines ranging from 5 million to 7 million KRW on Mr. A, Mr. B, and Mr. C, and acquitting Mr. D.

Previously, Mr. A was prosecuted for agreeing to the publisher's request to include the names of Mr. B, Mr. C, and Mr. D, who did not participate in writing, as co-authors while publishing three textbooks related to fire safety between 2008 and 2015.

Article 137, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 1 of the current Copyright Act stipulates that "Anyone who publishes a work by indicating a person who is not the author as the author by real name or alias shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than one year or a fine not exceeding 10 million KRW."

In court, Mr. A argued that as the original copyright holder, he permitted the inclusion of other professors' names as co-authors, so the charge of violating copyright law could not be established.

The first trial court stated, "The Copyright Act punishes the act of publishing a work by a person who did not author it, regardless of whether the original author consented," and sentenced Mr. A to a fine of 5 million KRW. The other indicted professors were each fined 10 million KRW.

It further pointed out, "The publisher added university professors as false co-authors to increase book sales," and "The defendants' act of providing their names essentially contributed to the overall criminal plan."

The appellate court dismissed Mr. A's appeal, maintaining the 5 million KRW fine, but reduced the fines for Mr. B and Mr. C to 7 million KRW each, considering them first-time offenders with no criminal records. Mr. D was acquitted, taking into account that he was unaware of being registered as a co-author.

The Supreme Court also agreed with this judgment. The bench stated, "Since a person who is not the author was indicated as the author and the work was published, the crime of violating copyright law is established," and "Even if there was consent between the non-author and the actual author, it does not change the matter." It added, "The lower court did not err in its understanding of the elements, intent, and establishment of the crime of violating copyright law," and dismissed all appeals.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.