K-pop girl groups ILLIT, above, and NewJeans. Min Hee-jin, former CEO of Ador, claimed earlier this year that choreography by ILLIT, a group under HYBE's subsidiary Belift Lab, copied routines she created for NewJeans, sparking controversy. Captured from YouTube

In a significant move for choreography copyrights, Kang Won-rae of the duo Clon was officially recognized as the creator of the dance for "Kungddari Shabahrah" in an October KB Financial Group advertisement.

This marks one of the few cases where choreographers have secured formal copyright recognition.

Another instance occurred in 2011 when a choreographer identified as Park partially won a lawsuit against a dance academy for the unauthorized use of choreography for girl group Secret's "Shy Boy." Despite such feats, copyright protection for choreographers remains rare.

A survey by the Korea Choreography Copyright Association (KCCA) in July revealed that only 2.2 percent of choreographers had registered their works with the Korea Copyright Commission.

Despite the rapid global growth of K-pop, many choreographers face challenges in gaining recognition for their creative rights.

To address these issues, the KCCA was launched earlier this year, and on Monday, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, along with the Korea Copyright Commission, unveiled a study on protecting choreography copyrights.

Kim Chan-dong, head of the Copyright Commission's Legislative Research Team, highlighted two main barriers: low awareness of choreography copyright and the difficulty of identifying the rightful creator.

To address these challenges, Kim proposed improving registration systems, establishing standards through choreographer organizations, introducing fair contractual guidelines and forming a collective management group for choreography copyrights.

However, experts cautioned that overly broad copyright enforcement could hinder creativity and limit practices such as K-pop cover dances and choreography challenges.

Lawyer Hong Seung-gi said that, while choreography copyright exists globally, related lawsuits are rare, attracting international interest in Korea's approach.

Kim In-chul, a professor at Sangmyung University, emphasized the need to balance choreographers' rights and accessibility for the public, saying, “Finding the right balance between user rights and copyright holder rights is crucial.”

Interest in choreography copyright has grown since the controversy over similarities between the dance routines of HYBE groups NewJeans and ILLIT.

This has sparked broader discussions within the industry and led to the formation of associations and conferences focused on choreography copyright.

The culture ministry plans to release a standard contract early next year to address unfair practices between choreographers and entertainment agencies.

Lia Kim, a renowned choreographer and the first president of the KCCA, stressed the importance of fair contracts, education and legal protections. “The introduction of a standard contract could bring gradual but meaningful changes to agreements between choreographers and agencies,” she said.

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