Reposting art from your favorite webtoon may seem affectionate, but according to the creator of Puppy Ever After, it can actually be harmful.
The artist, who goes by the pen name Ongsim, took to Twitter to ask their fans to stop sharing their work online without permission. While they acknowledged that most readers aren’t doing so with malicious intent, Ongsim claimed that these illegal posts hinder their series, writing that “publicity that has nothing to do with my work is not publicity.” The creator instead encouraged fans to show their affection for Puppy Ever After by simply leaving their thoughts and linking to official sites where others can read the series. These sites are in seven languages, including English, Japanese and the original Korean.
Online Piracy Hurts Webcomic Creators
Online piracy and other unauthorized use of copyrighted work have become major problems for creators across mediums, from webcomics to anime. A May 2023 study reported that an anime piracy site had become more popular than official streaming services like Crunchyroll, placing as the eighth most visited streaming site on the internet, above giants like Prime Video and Hulu. As a result, authorities have been cracking down on posts that include copyrighted material, with one YouTuber in Japan earning the country’s first-ever prison sentence for uploading anime after reposting footage from Spy x Family without permission. While this crackdown might deter others from pirating massive hits like Spy x Family, there is still little protection for creators like Ongsim who lack the legal backing of large corporations like Kadokawa, forcing them to take matters into their own hands as the Puppy Ever After creator has done.
However, this may not be the case for long, as webcomics have become one of the fastest-growing mediums in the entertainment industry. Big streamers like Netflix have released live-action adaptations of popular Webtoons like Business Proposal and Heartstopper, while animated adaptations of hit webcomics like Red Fox and Pyramid Game are on the way from producers Aniplus. Particularly successful Webtoons like The Boxer have amassed as many as 100 million views on the platform, highlighting the enormous readership that already adores these stories and their potential to continue reaching even larger audiences in years to come.
Make sure to check out Puppy Ever After and numerous other webcomics on the official English-language site Lezhin US.
Source: Twitter
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