Apple’s Korean Office Paid Compensation to a South Korean User for iPhone Location Tracking – So Does This Mean Korean Court Made an End to the Legal Fight?

July 15, 2011

It was reported that last month Apple’s South Korean office paid $945 of compensation to a South Korean iPhone user for the breaching of privacy by the controversial iPhone user location tracking.  Here is the detail from Reuters.

By the way, some news providers reported that this was the ruling from a Korean district court.  I, as a Korean lawyer, think that statement is half right and half wrong.  Basically it is true that the court issued a ruling which ordered the Apple Korea to pay $945 to the user.  But this was not the formal trial case, but a Request for a Payment Order case.  Payment order is much convenient & simplified legal procedures for claimant to get a judgment from the court compared to a formal lawsuit.  Once a request filed, the Korean court does not question the debtor (in this case, the Apple Korea) and issue a Payment Order within 2 or 4 weeks (in certain courts, within a few days). This payment order, a sort of ruling, asks the opposing party to choose whether to admit the claim as written on the request or to make an objection.  If no objection has been raised from the opposing party within 2 weeks, then Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by chungwi

Court Rulings on the legality of Internet-Based TV Recording Service and Time/Place-Shifting Device Hosting Service – Korea, Japan, Singapore and the U.S.

February 27, 2011

There exist growing needs for consumers to watch TV broadcastings from any places and by any ways they want.  In response to these needs, several new business models have come into; for example, an Internet TV recording and/or streaming service, RS-DVR, SlingBox and any other place/time-shifting devices hosting services.  But the problem is that copyright holders, the TV broadcasting companies, are fiercely objecting to these new business models contending they are infringing their copyrights.  It is quite interesting for an IP lawyer to see how the courts from various countries have found the answer to this legal issue.

Lets’ start with the situation in South Korea, where I’m practicing the law.  Actually there have been two cases related to this issue; Ental TV case and MyTV case.  Ental TV was an Internet-based TV recording service.  The registered users paid some amount of fees to the service provider and the service provider recorded TV broadcastings on its server at the request of the individual users with its automated software program, then converted it into the PC file format and sent the file to the user via Internet.  On April 30, 2009, the Seoul High Court ruled this Ental TV service infringed copyright of the TV Broadcasters.  The court found that it was the service provider, not an individual user, who recorded and copied the TV program, because the service provider owned and managed all the facilities used in recording the TV program.  Also the Court added that even though it was the individual user who copied the TV program, the very act of copying Read the rest of this entry »

3 Comments | Entertainment Business, Entire Entries, Intellectual Property, IT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by chungwi

[Q&A: Family Law] When Foreign Couples Divorce and Get Married in Korea

September 1, 2010

Q) I have some questions about marriage and divorce law in Korea regarding two internationals living in Korea-one is a U.S. citizen, the woman is neither a citizen of Korea nor the U.S.  The woman was forced into a first marriage, against her will, when she lived in her home country.  Can she divorce in absentia and then re-marry in Korea?

A) The Korean court permits international divorce lawsuit basically if the both foreign parties are living in Korea.  If the husband does not reside in Korea, as your question, the divorce lawsuit can be accepted only when she fails to locate him or he answers the lawsuit filed under Korean court.

Regarding the governing law, the divorce case shall be governed in the following order under Korean law:

  1. the same law of nationality of both spouses
  2. the same law of habitual residence of both spouses
  3. the law of the place where is most closely connected with both spouses.

The Korean court shall decide Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment | Entire Entries, Korean Family Law, Q&A | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by chungwi

[Q&A: Labor Law] As an English Teacher in Korea, Am I Entitled to a Severance Payment, Even Though My Contract Doesn’t Mention It?

August 16, 2010

Q) I am on an F2 visa and teaching for 28 months at the same school. The contract between myself and the Owner is basically a few written lines , just mention salary and final teaching date. There is no mentioning of severence payment. According to the Labor Law, am I entitled to severence payment even though it is not mention in a short contract?

A) If and to the extent that you are legally regarded as an employee under Korean labor law, you are entitled to to the severance payment.

The term employee under Korean labor law is someone who provides labor pursuant to his or her employer’s instructions or directions in exchange for wage compensation.  The most important factors for classifying someone as an employee are, Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments | Entire Entries, Korean Lawyer, Labor, Q&A | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by chungwi

[Q&A: Entertainment Law] Can a Film Company Use a Screen Shot Which Contains My Image Without My Consent?

August 15, 2010

Q) I, as a foreign actress living in Korea, recently appeared in a Korean movie that was very successful. I had about 10 lines – 10 minutes of screen time.  Now I see that the film company has put my picture on the back of the DVD case in which the movie has just been released. They Never asked for my permission and Never paid me any money for this.  Do you believe that I have a case against the film company?  Thank You.

A) I understand a certain portion of movie screen shot is printed on the back side of the DVD case.  In this case, the producer, not an actor, has the right to the screen shot.  So the producer does Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by chungwi

Google Raided By South Korea Police In Street View Probe

August 11, 2010

South Korean police raided Google’s Seoul office on August 2 on suspicion that Google’s Seoul office has illegally gathered personal information for its street mapping service.  The Korean police is investigating whether Google has violated “Protection of Communications Secrets Act”(PCSA) or “Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection”.

For example, according to the PCSA, no person shall censor any mail, wiretap any telecommunications, provide the communication confirmation data, record or listen to conversations between others that are not made public.  It is reported that Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment | Criminal Case, Entire Entries, IT | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by chungwi

[Q&A] Employee’s Act of Adultery and Its Legal Implication to the Employer under Korean Law

August 10, 2009

We’ve been asked about a criminal charge against an adultery under Korean criminal law quite often.  Foreign employees in Korean should be cautious that such an adultery is a crime under Korean law.  Here is a real example of such a case where a foreign officer committed an adultery and the company(employer)’s legal concern made it ask some legal consultations to our law firm regarding the adultery law and criminal law process in Korea.

Q) Mr. XX, who is a head director of our company, committed an adultery and was charged by the Korean prosecutor.  He has confessed his guilty and the prosecutor demanded one year’s imprisonment for his crime to the court.  If the court finalize that Mr. XX is guilty, is that means that Mr. XX will be imprisonment for one year or lesser?

A) Finding guilty does not always mean Mr. XX will be imprisoned.  The Court may SUSPEND the imprisonment for certain years even though Mr. XX is guilty.  The Korean Criminal Act provides that a married person who commits adultery shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than two years.  However, the Act also provides the execution of the sentence for an adultery can be Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment | Business in Korea, Corporate, Criminal Case, Entire Entries, Korean Lawyer, Law Firms | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by chungwi

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