By Park Chung-a
Staff Reporter

The Copyright Protection Center said Wednesday it has identified more than 6,000 cases of online copyright violations since its foundation in April.

``We have up to now exposed 6,330 items that were illegally distributed online,’’ the center said through a news release. ``We called for distributors’ voluntary elimination of 4,689 works and we decided to give warnings to the remaining violators.’’

The center, which was launched April 26, is an organization that regulates works illegally reproduced online and offline and provides consultation about copyright matters.

According to the center, many of the violations were due to illegal links of portal sites through Internet cafes or blogs. Also, the center found many online copyright violators share their files with an unspecified number of users through high-capacity servers, such as Webhard or various P2P (peer-to-peer) Web sites. P2P sites like Soribada and Pruna allow the free exchange of computer files, which had been always at the center of concern for violating copyrights.

``We will deal with the problem by looking at each case in detail,’’ a center official said. ``However, regarding large-scale violations committed for commercial purposes, we will take legal actions.’’

Korea Music Copyright Association, Korean Association of Phonogram Producers and Federation of Korean Art Performers’ Organizations have already accused Soribada of selling music without properly obtaining rights through the ``Soribada 3’’ Premium Service. The organizations have also identified five users for illegally sharing thousands of music files.

In addition, as part of a crackdown on illegal duplications of copyright-protected CDs, DVDs and education materials, the center identified 41 violators and collected more than 6,000 illegally reproduced products.

``We will mostly focus on warning the violators first,’’ the official said. ``However, we plan to take legal action against Internet Cafes or blogs that have excessively violated copyrights.’’

In the latter half of the year, the center plans to publish and distribute cartoon books in order help youths and Internet users to more easily understand the concept of copyrights.

michelle@koreatimes.co.kr