It seems I may be punished for copyright infringement. How should I respond?

Hello. This is an attorney specializing in intellectual property rights at Daeryun Law LLC.

Recently, cases in which some game users undergo investigation by investigative agencies due to a ‘hack program’ they used without much thought are increasing.

Your inquiry also appears to be a case in which an auto-leveling program you used in the past has become an issue as copyright infringement.

First, the Copyright Act protects game programs as works of authorship.

Therefore, not only the act of altering the structure of a program without the game company's permission or producing, selling, or distributing a separate program that enables automated manipulation, but also the very act of purchasing and using such a program, may be assessed as copyright infringement.

However, in copyright infringement cases, the level of punishment varies depending on the actor's intent and purpose, the degree of infringement, whether there was economic gain, and the like.

As in your case, if you used it temporarily to play the game more conveniently and did not sell the program or distribute it to others, there is also a possibility of receiving a suspension of indictment or a non-referral decision as a simple user without a ‘profit-making purpose’ under the Criminal Act.

The Copyright Act provides that a person who infringes copyright shall be punished by imprisonment for up to 5 years or a fine of up to 50 million won.

However, in the case of a user, investigative agencies generally consider comprehensively whether ‘there was an economic purpose,’ whether ‘it was repetitive conduct,’ and ‘the extent of the harm,’ among other factors.

In particular, if the incident occurred long ago and there was no commercial gain, the possibility of it leading to a custodial sentence is not high.

Since copyright infringement is a crime requiring a complaint to prosecute, an amicable settlement with the victim (the game company) is a very important factor, and if you submit a statement of no desire for punishment after the settlement, you can avoid punishment.

In such cases, the most important thing is the initial statement and attitude during the investigation.

At the investigation stage, you should specifically state the “precise circumstances of the program's use,” the “period of use,” and “whether there was any distribution or sale,” while clearly establishing that there was no intent and no commercial purpose whatsoever.

In addition, it is advisable to delete the program immediately and, as evidence of this, submit a deletion confirmation or a pledge to prevent recurrence.

Furthermore, if you write and submit a letter of reflection, the investigative agency may judge the case more leniently.

Copyright infringement cases may appear simple on the surface, but they are a very detailed legal area in which the level of punishment varies greatly depending on the assessment of ‘intent’ and ‘profit-making.’

Therefore, giving a statement without an attorney's advice before the investigation or attempting to contact the victim's side directly may instead work to your disadvantage.

In the current situation, obtaining the assistance of an attorney specializing in intellectual property rights to organize the direction of your statement in the copyright infringement case and to systematically carry out the settlement procedure is the most realistic way to avoid unnecessary criminal punishment.