• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.39
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• pp.324-354
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• 2007

Facts, which constitute news, are as free as air. When they are transformed into news via labor and capital investment of a news organization, the news is deemed to have property values, and the media can claim exclusive rights over the news. The copyright law protects the originality of a work, the uniqueness of reporter's analysis, the selection of words, the arrangement of materials, and the emphasis given on particular points. The name of the game of copyright infringement lies in the infringement of the similarity of the method of expression, not the infringement of the subject. Even though news articles convey information by specifying factual elements of an event or accident, they still have some originality. The judgement that news articles lack of originality is inconsistent with the purpose of the copyright law. Therefore, the law should be amended to articulate that the unauthorized use of news articles without a proper citation shall be the subject of legal action, and courts should decide related cases accordingly.