South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism has blocked a total of 34 sites for engaging in alleged copyright infringement, in particular of web-based comics and novels. The decision came as the country's new Copyright Act provision for "urgent blocking" of infringing sites came into force May 11. Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Chae Hwi-young said the 34 blocked sites met the requirements for urgent blocking. The new regulation allows the government to block sites that are clear...

European independent labels' organisation IMPALA has urged the European Union to adopt a coordinated EU cultural industrial strategy "to unlock the full potential of Europe’s cultural ecosystem by boosting its competitiveness, growth and diversity." The demand is part of the Brussels-based organisation's action plan for an industrial policy for culture in Europe, as the EU is in the process of determining its budget priorities for the years 2028-2034 and reviewing its approach to key policies im...

A coalition of seventeen European film and audiovisual associations, representing screenwriters, filmmakers, producers and distributors, have urged the European Commission and Parliament to keep a specific MEDIA strand for the sector within the AgoraEU programme, which will replace the Creative Europe programme for the 2028–2036 period. As part of AgoraEU, the Commission is proposing three strands: Creative Europe – Culture; MEDIA+ for audiovisual and news media; and Democracy, Citizens, Equalit...