Virtual YouTuber (VTuber) era, clearly define your rights with a character usage agreement!

Law firm Veat recently received a request from planning company A (hereinafter referred to as "the client") to draft a character usage agreement for a popular virtual YouTuber (hereinafter referred to as "Vtubers") on an online broadcast platform.

Recently, Vtubers who broadcast on online broadcast platforms conduct broadcasts using characters or avatars they created to communicate with viewers, and are active on various platforms such as YouTube and Twitch, forming fan bases through not only broadcast content but also their unique characters. They have the advantage of being able to showcase a wide range of broadcast content as they can be presented in popular form in a vast virtual world.

The male Vtubers 'PlayB' who won the weekly popularity award for four consecutive weeks on the largest domestic music platform, attracted 70,000 audience members at an offline concert, demonstrating the growth potential of the Vtuber industry. The domestic Vtuber market is still in its early stages, but investment firms and entertainment companies are showing great interest in the Vtuber business, actively investing in related companies and preparing for the debut of virtual idols. 'Scone' and 'Over the Hand' have developed Vtuber content production solutions and are expanding as a Vtuber MCN (Multi-Channel Network) after attracting investment, and 'Bloom D' is gaining attention for its AI deep learning-based technology. [ View details of Vtuber-related article]

Law firm Veat has drafted character usage and copyright protection agreements related to Vtubers, clearly protecting the rights of both the character developer and the Vtuber by ensuring that the character developer protects their intellectual property rights and the Vtuber can generate revenue based on the character.

Key points of the Vtuber character usage agreement

1. Rights ownership and usage method
The Vtuber and the character developer have different rights regarding the character and broadcast content, which are their creations. A Vtuber character can itself be the subject of intellectual property rights, and the copyright related to it belongs to the creator who developed the character. However, since the broadcast content created by the Vtuber using this character can also be recognized as an independent work, the copyright for the content may belong to the Vtuber. Law firm Veat minimizes the possibility of various legal disputes that may arise in this relationship by clearly distinguishing the rights of each party and specifying the rights ownership and usage method between the character copyright holder and the Vtuber in the contract.

2. Revenue sharing
Generally, the Vtuber broadcasts and generates revenue using the character, while the character developer holds the copyright for the character and can generate revenue from it. Law firm Veat has written character revenue sharing items for the Vtuber and character developer by clearly defining how the Vtuber can use the character on the broadcast platform and how revenue generated in that process is distributed to prevent unnecessary legal disputes.

As mentioned above, by including specific conditions regarding intellectual property rights ownership for characters and broadcast content, revenue sharing for each broadcast form, etc., in the contract to minimize the possibility of disputes between the parties, it has been made possible for both the Vtuber and the character developer to agree under reasonable conditions.

Law firm Veat boasts extensive experience and expertise in the field of character copyright protection and broadcast content intellectual property rights. In particular, it handles various legal issues related to intellectual property rights, revenue sharing, and broadcast platforms, and has provided essential legal advice to startups and various platform-related businesses.

Law firm Veat’s TIP team has a track record of leading numerous successful cases in the field of intellectual property rights, and Attorney Oh Seung-jong, who leads the TIP team, has accumulated unparalleled expertise in copyright and intellectual property rights through various positions such as Chairman of the Korean Copyright Committee and Chairman of the Korean Copyright Law Society, and is active as a Community Expert of the Korean Copyright Committee, and Attorney An Il-woon, who has extensive experience in ICT regulatory sandbox and empirical service legal consulting, and Attorney Jeon Yong-hwan, etc., participate as major members, handling various intellectual property rights-related disputes such as copyright, trademark, and design rights, and providing detailed legal advice on copyright and intellectual property rights legal issues that may arise in business.

If you need legal advice regarding Vtubers, YouTubers, broadcast platforms, copyrights, and intellectual property rights, please contact Law firm Veat.

Thank you.
Law firm Veat