The restaurant owner, Mr. A, countered that “using drama photos in promotional materials for drama sponsors is a common business practice,” but lost the case. However, the compensation amount was set at 5 million won (approximately 520,000 yen), which is only about 0.08% of the 6 billion won (approximately 624.39 million yen) in property damage claimed by Park So-jun's side.
On the 2nd, according to legal circles, the 13th Civil Division of the Seoul Eastern District Court (headed by Judge Seok Jun-hyup) ruled in this manner in the damages lawsuit filed by Park So-jun against Mr. A. The court ordered Mr. A to compensate Park So-jun with 5 million won. Litigation costs were split evenly.
The incident dates back to July 2018. At the time, in the tvN Wednesday-Thursday drama “Why Secretary Kim?,” Park So-jun was depicted eating Ganjanggejang (spicy crab) deliciously to gain the favor of Park Min-young's family, who played his girlfriend in the drama.
The legal dispute arose approximately one year later. A created a banner with advertising slogans based on the scene from the drama. The banner read, “The restaurant where Park So-jun devoured Ganjanggejang in a storm” and “The delicious Ggejang restaurant that even Park So-jun fell in love with after eating it.” The banner was displayed inside and outside the restaurant from August 2019 to September of last year, spanning approximately five years. Additionally, NAVER search ads were run for about six years.
Upon learning of this fact belatedly, Park So-jun's side filed a damages lawsuit against A. During the court proceedings, they argued that A had infringed on Park So-jun's portrait rights by displaying the banner inside and outside the restaurant without his consent.
They further claimed that the property damage caused by A's unlawful acts amounted to 60 billion won. They calculated this by multiplying the annual advertising contract fee of 1 billion won by the six-year infringement period. They also requested a court order prohibiting A from displaying the banner or running the advertisement in the future, stating that a violation would result in a penalty of 1 million won per occurrence.
On the other hand, A denied liability for damages. A's side stated, “The photo used on the banner is a scene from the drama that has already been widely published,” and argued, “Not only does it not damage Park So-jun's social reputation, but the use of the drama's photos for promotional purposes by the drama's sponsoring companies is a common practice in business transactions, so there is no infringement of portrait rights.”
The court ruled in favor of Park So-jun's side in part. However, it only recognized 5 million won as the amount of damages.
The court acknowledged Park So-jun's position, stating, “Even if a celebrity's portrait and statement are publicly disclosed, it is clear that their portrait and statement must not be used without their consent for the business operations of others.”
The court explained that the basis for setting the compensation amount at 5 million won was “consideration of all circumstances, including the relatively small scale of A's restaurant, the type of business, the form and duration of the portrait rights infringement, and other factors.”
The court rejected Park So-jun's additional request for an injunction against the infringing behavior. The court noted that “the banner has been removed and the search ads have been deleted,” and concluded that “there is no reasonable basis for issuing an order.”
The ruling is now final. Neither party appealed the first-instance judgment.
2025/07/03 07:52 KST
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