Nobel Prize-winning author Han Kang speaks during an interview with Swedish public broadcaster SVT, Sunday. Captured from SVT

Nobel Prize-winning author Han Kang has not received any compensation for the use of her works in textbooks and school lessons. The Korea Literature, Academic works and Art Copyright Association (KOLAA), responsible for distributing royalties for educational use, cited the reason as "being unable to find the author's contact information."

According to Rep. Kim Jae-won from the minor Rebuilding Korea Party, KOLAA has not paid any royalties for the use of Han Kang's works for educational purposes. On its website, KOLAA lists 34 instances of Han's works being used — 11 in textbooks, four for educational purposes, and 19 for lesson support.

An official from KOLAA said, "In order to distribute royalties, we need the personal information and consent of the copyright holder. We have been notifying publishers about the process since 2017, but we could not obtain the author's contact information."

Han Kang is not the only one affected. Over the past 10 years (2014-2023), unpaid royalties have amounted to 10.5 billion won ($8.1 million). Every year, around 1 billion won of royalties remain unclaimed and accumulate in the association's funds.

"KOLAA's explanation that they didn't pay royalties to Han Kang because they didn't have her contact information is absurd," Rep. Kim said. "Royalties are a system designed to protect authors' rights and support their creative activities, but KOLAA's negligence in this matter and focus on increasing its own revenue is a serious issue. Immediate action is needed to ensure that authors receive their rightful compensation."

If royalties are left unclaimed for more than five years, KOLAA, with the approval of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, can use the funds for public purposes. In the past decade, KOLAA has used approximately 13.8 billion won this way.

People browse works by Han Kang at Kyobo Book Centre in Gwanghwamun, Jongno District, Seoul, Wednesday. Han's books have sold over 1 million copies in the past six days. Yonhap

Unfair practice

One of the main causes is the flawed royalty distribution process. According to copyright law, royalties for works used in textbooks must be distributed through KOLAA after being collected from publishers.

The system requires authors to apply for their royalties directly, but many writers do not even know that their works are being used. Furthermore, KOLAA's efforts to inform authors have been seen as insufficient, as demonstrated by Han Kang's case.

Last month, well-known writer Chang Kang-myoung also criticized the system on Facebook, saying, "It's unreasonable that authors only find out their works have been included in textbooks much later. Not paying royalties unless authors apply for them is an unfair practice."

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.