KaKao

- Kakao Entertainment’s “Kakao Creative Foundation,” a cultural foundation for all cultural content creators in South Korea, will kick-off operations in September, starting with the “Online Creative Academy.” More support programs for creators will be available in the future

- The new “Partner Portal” will be used to strengthen transparency in creator payment settlements, provide the number of views for each episode as well as a gender and age index

- “Kakao Entertainment will think about the influence we have in society and help create a healthy ecosystem for cultural content creators” said Lee Jin-soo, CEO of Kakao Entertainment

 

[August 25, 2022] Kakao Entertainment has finalized the establishment of the “Kakao Creator’s Foundation”, which was announced as part of Kakao Entertainment’s plan for sustainable growth with creators, and has started full-scale operations. The company also launched the “Partner Portal,” a website that provides information on payment settlements for artists and writers. As a company that represents cultural content creators, Kakao Entertainment plans to create a “healthy ecosystem” by implementing responsible plans that are beneficial to both the creators and the company, and by developing policies that can provide continuous support to creators.

 

# Starting on September 5, the Kakao Creative Foundation will hold free classes on how to create, as well as classes on legal and tax information, psychology and other practical knowledge that is helpful for creators

 

Kakao Entertainment announced that it had finalized the establishment of the “Kakao Creative Foundation” and will start operations in September. This is the first foundation in South Korea dedicated to webtoon and web novel creators.

 

The board of directors consists of experts in the field of creative arts, law, culture and management, all of whom have wide knowledge and experience in their respective fields. Lee Jin-soo, the CEO of Kakao Entertainment, will be the chairperson of the Kakao Creative Foundation. The board of directors include Shim Jae Woong, professor at Sookmyung Women’s University School of Communication and Media, Kim Seol-ah, professor of Arts and Cultural Management at Hongik University’s Graduate School of Business, Kwak Kyu-tae, professor of Global Culture Business at Soon Chun Hyang University, and Kwak Jung-min, attorney and partner at Law Firm Class LLC. The board also includes artists Yoon Tae-ho (writer of “Misaeng, “Moss” etc.),  Sung In-kyu (pen name “Jang Dam,” writer of “Invincible Bodyguard” and “Last Pupil of Murimmengj” etc.) and Lee Joo-hee (pen name “Neon B,” writer of “Hell Temple,” “Unfinished” etc.)

 

Kakao Creative Foundation’s first project is the “Online Creative Academy,” classes for cultural content creators that will open on September 5. The academy will be operated in the form of free online classes, which will provide wider opportunities for future and present creators to participate in classes without any limitation of space. 

 

The curriculum has also been designed to provide creators with practical and useful information. The first forty lectures will be released on September 5, followed by forty more which will be released consecutively throughout the year. The curriculum includes classes that can help the overall creative process, such as ▲classes by current artists on how to create webtoons, ▲classes by legal experts on how to deal with difficult legal issues, such as understanding contract clauses, handling disputes, and dealing with copyright infringements, ▲ classes by physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians on how to adjust shoulders and spine that has stiffen up due to long hours of drawing and writing, ▲ classes by psychiatrists and psychologists on how to protect artists and writers’ mental health from stress caused by malicious comments and the creative process.

 

Lee Jin-soo, CEO of Kakao Entertainment and chairperson of the Kakao Creative Foundation, said “we are continuing negotiations to provide creators with what they really need in order to mature the industry” and added that “Kakao Entertainment will think about the influence we have in society and exert our efforts to create a healthy ecosystem for cultural content creators and support the creation of forward-looking contents.

I hope that all these efforts come together to spread a positive influence throughout the industry.”

 

Creators can sign-up and participate in the “Online Creative Academy” through the “Sign-Up for the Online Creative Academy” link provided in the Kakao Creative Foundation website (kakaocf.org) from September 5, which is also when the classes will be released.

 

# Kakao Entertainment launched the “Partner Portal,” which will provide artists with a transparent overview of the settlement details. The Partner Portal will be updated following feedback from the government and creators

 

Kakao Entertainment completed development of their “Partner Portal,” which provides artists and writers with a transparent overview of settlement details. The Partner Portal is part of Kakao Entertainment’s previously announced plan to improve artists and writers’ rights by making the settlement calculation process more transparent.

 

Artists and writers, even those who provide their work to Kakao Entertainment through publishers (content providers), can now directly check their settlement details, such as their contract type, settlement rate, settlement amount and transaction amount. A communication channel, where artists and writers can make inquiries about settlements, is also available to maximize creators’ convenience and transparency in settlements. Views per episode and the gender and age index of the work’s readers will be available within the year.

 

On August 12, Kakao Entertainment held a demonstration of the “Partner Portal” and a Q&A session at the “Demonstration on Providing Webtoon Settlement Information & Platform·Creators Co-Existence Meeting” organized by the Big-Tech Power Abuse Countermeasure Task Force run by the Democratic Party of Korea’s People’s Livelihood Action Committee. This meeting was also attended by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and artists and writers who are members of the Ministry’s Co-Existence Consultative Group. Together, the participants held in-depth discussions on parts of the system that needed improvements as well as practical improvements needed for future creators.

 

A trial run of the “Partner Portal” is being conducted with internal studio artists and will gradually be expanded to all artists who have signed a contract with Kakao Entertainment, following a separate briefing for publishers (content providers) and artists. Feedback from the briefing will be used to improve the website. 

 

Kakao Entertainment previously announced plans over two occasions to improve the cultural contents industry and create a healthy co-existence with creators, and have successively implemented the plans. Besides launching the “Partner Portal”, Kakao Entertainment has until now fulfilled their promise by ▲ conducting investigations into all contracts executed by the seven subsidiaries and recommending improvement plans to strengthen the transparency of contracts, ▲ executing a plan to guarantee a 60% settlement rate for works that were invested up-front, ▲expanding creator’s revenue by distributing ad profits generated from viewers, and ▲ expanding users who benefit from “Wait Until Free” and shortening the review period.

 

Kakao Entertainment has also improved communication between creators and the platform and is holding various discussions that will lead the qualitative advancements of the industry by regularly participating in the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism’s Co-Existence Consultative Group since February of this year.

 

Kakao Entertainment will not stop with the previously announced and executed co-existence plans but will continue to communicate with those in the industry, including the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, associations, and creators, to create practical improvement initiatives.