BANGKOK: Thailand’s Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) has held bilateral talks with four major South Korean organisations involved in copyright policy, protection and rights management as part of broader efforts to strengthen cooperation, improve copyright protection and create more income opportunities for Thai creators.
The four partners were South Korea’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Ministry (MCST), the Korea Copyright Commission (KCC), the Korea Copyright Protection Agency and the Korea Music Copyright Association.
DIP director-general Auramon Supthaweethum explained that discussions with the MCST focused on policies to support the creative industries, particularly how the legal framework could balance the promotion of artificial intelligence (AI) innovation with the protection of creators’ rights.
The two sides also exchanged views on intellectual property financing, including the possibility of using copyrighted works as collateral for bank loans.
Challenges remain, however, over confidence in asset valuations and the risks involved in selling them at auction if borrowers default.
South Korean representatives shared their experience with alternative fundraising models, including fractional investment in music royalties.
The DIP could study such approaches as a way to broaden access to finance and generate greater economic value from intellectual property for Thai creators and businesses.
On AI-related copyright issues, the department held discussions with the KCC, led by chairman Seogweon Kang, on how policy could balance AI developers’ need to access data for model training with the rights of copyright owners whose works may be used.
Thailand has already begun requiring disclosure of AI use in copyright notification forms, while South Korea is studying the appropriate treatment of fair use and text and data mining and consulting stakeholders on how such practices can be made transparent without undermining the legitimate rights of copyright holders. — The Nation/ANN
