Shorts music abuse allegations reach national audit
'Must determine whether other creators' shares were infringed'
Overseas analysis finds possible AI generation in some of 791 tracks
The Korea Music Copyright Association, known as Komca, has decided to continue withholding about 24 billion won ($18.1 million) in royalties amid allegations that certain tracks were inserted into YouTube Shorts to artificially inflate copyright payouts. The freeze covers 802 songs tied to four rights holders. Including royalties already distributed, Komca estimates the total amount involved exceeds 30 billion won.
Komca said Thursday that the sums involved were "an exceptional amount even by the standards of top-tier lyricists and composers who receive the highest royalties from the association," adding that "strong doubts and objections have been raised among the association's executives and members over a situation in which a small number of rights holders registered hundreds of works in a short period and generated enormous royalty income."
Jin Sun-mi, a lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea, had earlier raised the issue at a national audit session of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee on Oct. 12, flagging a monetization scheme that steers content creators toward specific tracks to generate large royalty payouts and expressing concern over the fairness of royalty distribution.
The central question is how the usage figures were generated. According to Komca, some Shorts music monetization platforms operated by paying video creators a share of revenue when they used specific tracks. In the process, usage records may have been generated with the aim of collecting royalties — by inserting music unrelated to the video's content, or by embedding tracks at volumes effectively inaudible to viewers.
YouTube royalties are distributed by Komca based on per-track usage figures drawn from fees it receives from YouTube. If a particular track's usage was artificially inflated to claim a larger share of the pool, other creators would have received correspondingly less. Komca said it had also found indications — through platform notices and other sources — that the contractual relationship between the platforms in question and Google appeared to have ended, and that usage figures tallying correctly on paper alone were not sufficient grounds to consider the distributions appropriate.
Whether the tracks were AI-generated is also under scrutiny. Komca submitted 791 songs it had obtained to overseas AI music analysis firms, and the results indicated a possibility of AI generation in some tracks. However, findings varied across analysis providers, and Komca said it could not determine AI authorship on the basis of those results alone.
The case was referred to police on charges of fraud and obstruction of business, but police decided on June 30 not to forward it to prosecutors, citing insufficient evidence. Investigators concluded that messenger chat logs related to modifications of some tracks, along with results from private AI detection services, did not sufficiently establish that the songs were created by AI. Komca has filed a request for a review of the police decision.
Komca's board of directors voted down a motion to lift the payment freeze on Sept. 29, citing concerns that paying out a large sum without adequate verification — only for the distribution to later be found improper — would make recovery and compensation for other rights holders extremely difficult. Komca said it had shared its concerns with the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers and overseas copyright management organizations, and that it was aware of cases in which some foreign organizations had also withheld related royalty payments. The positions of the four rights holders could not be confirmed.
Standards for identifying AI-assisted music have yet to be established. The Board of Audit and Inspection said in March that copyright management organizations, including Komca, were collecting and distributing royalties without any procedure to verify AI involvement. Komca introduced registration criteria for AI-assisted works on Aug. 3, but withdrew them on Aug. 25 after the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism indicated that broader public deliberation across the arts and culture sector was needed.
"If the royalties are legitimate, they should of course be paid," a Komca official said. "But in a situation where serious doubts have been raised about the appropriateness of the distribution, paying out a large sum without sufficient verification is also difficult to regard as a responsible stance for the association." The official added that the matter "goes beyond the question of whether to pay certain rights holders — it requires determining whether the legitimate shares of countless other creators have been infringed."
shee@heraldcorp.com
