'Pororo' embroiled in copyright suit

Published on 2011/10/04 | Source

By Kim Tae-jong

Who is the real creator of "Pororo?"

Ocon, the production company of "Pororo the Little Penguin", the nation's representative animated character, filed a copyright suit Tuesday against its partner Iconix Entertainment which handles planning and marketing of the character.

Ocon claims it is the original creator of Pororo and accused its partner of having violated its copyrights. It claims that Iconix Entertainment has acted as if it were the original creator and even received awards given by the government.

"They have infringed upon our rights and damaged our reputation", Ocon said in a statement. "We know the suit can have a negative impact on the animation, but we can't put up with their illegal practices anymore".

Ocon said the design team and filming director of the company developed the first four episodes in the first season, which serves as the basis of the animated series.

The two companies agreed to produce and sell animated films in 2002 with Ocon in charge of character design and animation production and Iconix Entertainment responsible for planning and marketing.

Since debuting in 2003, the 3D animation has become wildly popular among children in Korea, so popular that its main character Pororo is dubbed "Potongnyeong", short for "president of children" in Korean. It has been sold to 90 other countries including the U.K. and France.

Currently, the animation's copyright is shared by four companies ― Ocon, Iconix Entertainment, SK Broadband and the Education Broadcasting System (EBS) which airs the animation series here.

Based on the character's popularity, the four companies are also engaged in the development and sales of Pororo-branded goods.

Regarding the lawsuit, Iconix Entertainment said they have never promoted themselves as the sole creator of the animation as they acknowledged the copyright of the animation is now shared by four companies.

"It's wrong to say that Ocon is the original and sole creator of the animation, because Iconix Entertainment also participated in the production of the animation in such work as storyboarding and post-production", a company official said.

소송에 휘말린 뽀로로

뽀로로의 진짜 창작자는 누구일까?

"뽀롱뽀롱 뽀로로"의 제작사인 오콘은 마켓팅을 담당하고 있는 아니코닉스를 상대로 법원에 뽀로로의 실제 창작자가 누구인지를 확인하기 위한 저작자 확인 소송을 냈다.

오콘은 보도자료를 통해, "아니코닉스가 뽀로로의 실제 창작자인 오콘을 배제한 채 자신들이 뽀로로의 창작자 인 것처럼 언론 매체를 통해 홍보하고, 국가가 수여하는 상훈을 단독으로 수상함으로써 오콘 및 소속 창작자들의 권리와 명예를 훼손했다"며 "이러한 왜곡을 더 이상 묵과할 수 없어 소송을 진행한다"고 밝혔다.

2003년 처음 선보인 3D 애니메이션 뽀로로는 아이들에게 선풍적 인기를 끌고 있으며, 아이들 사이에서는 "뽀통령"으로 통한다. 현재 영국과 프랑스를 포함, 90개국 이상에 수출되었다.

이번 소송과 관련, 아이코닉스는 오콘의 권리는 인정하지만, 이번 소송에 따른 개인 및 회사의 명예훼손이나 신뢰도 저하 문제에 대해 적극 대응한다는 입장이다.