4.5-year prison sentence handed down by appellate court has been upheldImage of Korean police arresting the operator of OKTOON. According to Korean news agency Newsis, the Supreme Court dismissed the final appeal filed by the defendant, identified only as A, who had been convicted of violating the Copyright Act. Judges emphasized that webtoon piracy causes irreversible harm, noting that webtoons — unlike other media — are rarely re-consumed once illegally accessed, making financial recovery for creators nearly impossible. The Webtoon Illegal Distribution Response Council, a coalition that includes major platforms such as Naver Webtoon and Kakao Entertainment , welcomed the decision, calling it “a clear warning that large-scale webtoon piracy will be met with severe punishment.” The group reiterated that illegal webtoon distribution undermines creator livelihoods and threatens the sustainability of the entire digital comics ecosystem. In March 2025, seven major webtoon companies — Kakao Entertainment , Naver WEBTOON, RIDI , Lezhin Entertainment, Kidari Studio , Toptoon, and Toomics — came together to call for strict legal action against the OKTOON operator.