Restored sound recordings and expiry of the performer's term abroad

1. 01Question

   For a performance fixed on a sound recording that became protected in Korea as a restored work, does the foreign performer's right run for the term the recording would have enjoyed had it been protected in Korea, and is any term recognised in Korea where that term has already expired in the state of the performer's nationality?

2. 02Holding

   In principle the term is the one that would have been recognised had the recording been protected in Korea, that is the performer's lifetime and thirty years from the year following death, and the right of transmission is recognised retroactively. But no, Article 64(2) of the Copyright Act, which came into force on 1 August 2013 under the proviso to Article 1 of the Supplementary Provisions and remains in force, denies any Korean term once the term has expired in the state corresponding to the performer's nationality, and there is no transitional provision softening it for works published before its introduction. The performance then enters the public domain, so transmitting it does not infringe the performer's right of transmission, and the court must first fix each performer's nationality and then examine whether the term had expired in that state when the transmission took place.

   Summary of the holding, verbatim

   회복저작물 등에 속하는 음반에 고정된 실연에 대한 외국인 실연자 권리의 보호기간은 원칙적으로 그 음반이 대한민국에서 보호되었더라면 인정되었을 보호기간이 되지만, 실연자인 외국인의 국적에 해당하는 외국 국가에서 그 실연에 대한 보호기간이 만료된 경우에는 저작권법 제64조 제2항에 따라 대한민국에서 저작권법에 따른 보호기간이 인정되지 않으므로, 그 실연은 공공의 영역으로 편입되어 더 이상 그 실연자의 저작권법상 권리가 미치지 않는다고 보아야 한다.

   Unofficial English translation

   The term of protection of foreign performers' rights in performances fixed in phonograms belonging to restored works, etc. is, in principle, the term of protection that would have been granted had the phonogram been protected in the Republic of Korea; however, where the term of protection for that performance has expired in the foreign country corresponding to the nationality of the foreign performer, a term of protection under the Copyright Act is not recognized in the Republic of Korea pursuant to Article 64 (2) of the Copyright Act, and accordingly, it must be regarded that the performance has entered the public domain and that the performer's rights under the Copyright Act no longer extend to such performance.

3. 03Disposition

   Partly reversed and remanded Stated in the decision

   원심판결 중 유죄 부분을 파기하고, 이 부분 사건을 서울동부지방법원에 환송한다.

   Unofficial English translation

   The judgment of the court below is reversed with respect to the guilty part, and this part of the case is remanded to the Seoul Eastern District Court.

4. 04Form of the test

   Elements stated Stated in the decision

   회복저작물 등에 속하는 음반에 고정된 실연에 대한 외국인 실연자 권리의 보호기간은 원칙적으로 그 음반이 대한민국에서 보호되었더라면 인정되었을 보호기간이 되지만

   Unofficial English translation

   The term of protection of foreign performers' rights in performances fixed in phonograms belonging to restored works, etc. is, in principle, the term of protection that would have been granted had the phonogram been protected in the Republic of Korea, but

5. 05Factors

   • 회복저작물 등에 속하는 음반에 고정된 실연에 대한 외국인 실연자 권리의 보호기간은 원칙적으로 그 음반이 대한민국에서 보호되었더라면 인정되었을 보호기간이 되지만
   • 실연자인 외국인의 국적에 해당하는 외국 국가에서 그 실연에 대한 보호기간이 만료된 경우에는
   • 여기서 말하는 "그 외국에서 보호기간이 만료된 경우"는 그 외국인의 국적에 해당하는 외국 국가에서 보호기간이 만료된 경우를 의미한다.
   • 2012년 저작권법에서는 위 규정의 도입 전에 공표된 외국인의 실연·음반 및 방송에 대하여 위 규정의 적용을 배제하거나 제한하는 경과규정 등을 두고 있지 않다.

   Unofficial English translation

   • The term of protection of foreign performers' rights in performances fixed in phonograms belonging to restored works, etc. is, in principle, the term of protection that would have been granted had the phonogram been protected in the Republic of Korea, but

   • where the term of protection for that performance has expired in the foreign country corresponding to the nationality of the foreign performer,

   • the phrase "the case where the term of protection has expired in that foreign country" as used herein means the case where the term of protection has expired in the foreign country corresponding to the nationality of the foreign national.

   • The Copyright Act as of 2012 contains no transitional provision or the like excluding or limiting the application of the above provision to performances, phonograms, and broadcasts of foreigners published before the introduction of the above provision.

6. 06Relation to precedent

   Follows earlier decisions Stated in the decision

   대법원 2016. 4. 28. 선고 2013다56167 판결(공2016상, 672)

   Unofficial English translation

   Supreme Court Decision 2013Da56167 decided April 28, 2016 (Gong 2016 Sang, 672)

   Decisions referred to

   대법원 2016. 4. 28. 선고 2013다56167 판결(공2016상, 672)

7. 07Burden of proof

   Not addressed Not in the decision

8. 08Open question and revisit condition

   Where a foreign performer holds the nationality of more than one state, which state's term decides whether the Korean term is denied under Article 64(2)?

   The remand judgment's findings on the nationalities of the performers and on the German, British and Dutch terms the defendant raised on appeal will show how expiry abroad is established in practice. A later decision on the application of Article 64(2) to acts before 1 August 2013, or an amendment to Article 64 of the Copyright Act, would require this entry to be read again.

Read 2026-10-24 · Cross-read 2026-10-24. All quotes matched against the official text. The Chinese-character placeholders the court used for anonymised parties are given in their Korean readings, and parenthetical Chinese-character glosses are omitted.

Every entry is published only after all quotes have been matched character by character against the official text, and audited by an independent second reading from a different model family across all eight axes. Both agreed axes and text-grounded interpretive divergences are recorded openly. The ledger is a research record, not an assessment of the court or advice on any matter.