I think I will be punished for copyright infringement. How should I respond?

Hello. This is the intellectual property specialist attorney at Daeryun Law Firm.

Recently, cases of game users being investigated by investigative agencies due to ‘hack programs’ they used carelessly are increasing.

The matter you inquired about also appears to be a case where an auto-leveling program used in the past became a problem as copyright infringement.

First, the Copyright Act protects game programs as copyrighted works.

Therefore, not only the act of modifying the structure of a program without the game company's permission, or producing/selling/distributing a separate program that enables automatic manipulation, but also the act of purchasing and using such a program itself can be evaluated as copyright infringement.

However, copyright infringement cases vary in punishment levels depending on the perpetrator's intent and purpose, the degree of infringement, and economic benefits.

Like the client, if you used it temporarily to play the game more easily and did not sell or distribute the program to others, there is a possibility of receiving a non-prosecution suspended disposition or non-transfer decision as a simple user without ‘profit purpose’ under criminal law.

The Copyright Act stipulates that those who infringe 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 users, investigative agencies generally consider comprehensively ‘whether there was an economic purpose,’ ‘whether it was a repetitive act,’ and ‘the extent of damage.’

In particular, if the incident occurred long ago and there was no commercial benefit, the possibility of leading to imprisonment is not high.

Copyright infringement is a complaint crime, so amicable settlement with the victim (game company) is a very important factor, and submitting a non-punishment request after settlement can avoid punishment.

The most important things in such cases are the initial investigation statement and attitude.

At the investigation stage, you must specifically state the “exact circumstances of program use,” “period of use,” “whether there was distribution or sale,” etc., and clearly state that there was no intent and no commercial purpose at all.

Also, immediately delete the program, and submit a deletion confirmation or recurrence prevention pledge as evidence.

Furthermore, writing and submitting a letter of remorse may help the investigative agency judge the case more leniently.

Copyright infringement cases appear simple on the surface, but are very detailed legal areas where punishment levels vary greatly depending on the judgment of ‘intent’ and ‘profitability.’

Therefore, making statements without an attorney's advice before investigation or attempting to contact the victim side directly may actually be unfavorable.

In the current situation, receiving the assistance of an intellectual property specialist attorney to organize the direction of statements in copyright infringement cases and systematically proceed with settlement procedures is the most realistic way to avoid unnecessary criminal punishment.