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Webtoon Artist Reports Revenue Tripling After Piracy Site Shutdown
posted on by Wonhee Cho
A Korean webtoon artist went viral after revealing that their revenue nearly tripled following the shutdown of a major illegal piracy site, highlighting the ongoing impact of webtoon piracy on creators' earnings.
Webtoon creator Hyun-wook Park (pen name Hyunwook) shared on X/Twitter on June 1 that their paid-view revenue for the month increased roughly threefold compared to the previous month. “I didn't expect much impact since my work wasn't even on the site, but my paid revenue ended up rising about three times,” the artist wrote, referring to the now-defunct piracy site Newtoki.
Park added that while there is no direct proof linking the shutdown to the revenue jump, “sites like Newtoki disappearing is the right outcome.” The artist also noted that factors such as promotions, serialization timing, and platform exposure could also influence earnings.
Other creators echoed similar experiences. One web novel author reported a roughly 2.5-fold increase in paid revenue, while online users speculated that former piracy site users may be shifting toward legitimate platforms, allowing creators to receive proper compensation.
Park debuted in 2009 with the webtoon Dogfight! on Naver Webtoon. Currently, an official English version of the webtoon is not available.
One of South Korea's largest illegal webtoon distribution sites, Newtoki, abruptly shut down its services in late April, just weeks before the government rolled out a new rapid blocking system targeting copyright infringement on May 11.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said the new blocking system is designed to “significantly improve response speed” as the most effective administrative measure currently available. Still, authorities acknowledged that fully dismantling illegal platforms will require international cooperation and successful law enforcement action against operators.
The suspected operator of Newtoki was extradited from Japan to South Korea on June 11.
Source: Money Today (Jae-yoon Lee)
