Entertainment industry races to buy rights to web novels, comics

From left, posters for webcomic "Again My Life," web novel "Reborn Rich," and webcomic "Business Proposal," which were adapted into TV series / Courtesy of Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency, Kakao Entertainment, Naver Webtoon

Web-based comics, novels prove to be useful in franchising stories across platforms

By Lee Gyu-lee

Trans-media storytelling has become more and more prevalent, blurring the boundaries between platforms or formats through which content is presented and expanding the experiences of a single story.

With this rising trend, web novels and webcomics have become popular sources to expand their stories and characters into franchises, developing multiple uses such as TV series, movies, games and even reality shows.

As adaptations of webcomics and web novels have increasingly proven to be successful, the entertainment industry is eager to secure ownership of the original intellectual property (IP).

According to the state-run Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), Korea's web novel market was scaled at 600 billion won ($483.9 million) in 2021, up around 60 times compared to 2013. The local webcomics market also garnered about 1.57 trillion won in revenue the same year, up about 48.6 percent from the previous year.

Adaptations of celebrated webcomics and web novels have been growing not only in quantity but also in quality, with many adaptations gaining huge popularity, such as the rom-com series "Business Proposal" and fantasy series "Reborn Rich."

Twenty-five webcomics from Naver Webtoon were adopted into video formats last year, including Disney+'s "Connect," MBC's "The Golden Spoon" and Netflix animated series "Lookism."

Kakao Entertainment inked about 50 deals to make video adaptations of its original web novels and comics last year, such as KakaoTV's "Once Upon a Small Town" and SBS' "Again My Life." It also announced that it is in the process of franchising two of its hit web novels, "Business Proposal" and "Solo Leveling," into games.

Scenes from Wavve dating show "Love Alarm: Clap! Clap! Clap!" which is based on the webcomics, "Love Alarm" / Courtesy of Wavve

The company's smash-hit webcomic, "Love Alarm," which was remade into Netflix's original series of the same name, was picked up to be adapted again into a reality dating show, "Love Alarm: Clap! Clap! Clap!" The dating show, released on Wavve last month, revolves around an app, from the comic, which alerts people if someone in their vicinity likes them.

"Nowadays, there are a lot of dramas and movies that are based on webcomics or web novels. And we looked for any IP which we could make into a reality show. I felt these stories (from webcomics and novels) could expand beyond our imaginable limits if they were made into shows," Kim Min-jong, the dating show's chief producer from Kakao Entertainment, said during the streaming platform's showcase event last month.

Jang Min-ji, a professor of media communications at Kyungnam University, explained that as content-related platforms increased, securing the IP of web novels and webcomics has become an easy approach for content production companies that are looking for new stories.

"Now, there is an enormous number of channels that distribute content, and these channels need to be filled with new content, quickly and vastly. As the companies seek stories to develop for their content, they are turning toward web novels and comics which already have a lot of stories and have been used as test beds," she said.

Seeing opportunities to utilize their IP to expand and achieve additional profits through diverse formats, entertainment companies are making aggressive investments and efforts to obtain creative content.

Kakao Entertainment has been vigorously taking various strategies, from securing existing IP to running different programs to scout talented webtoon artists and web novelists, such as launching KakaoPage Stage, an open platform for people to post their web novel series freely.

In 2021, it spent 1.15 trillion won to acquire two U.S. companies: webcomics platform Tapas Media and web novel platform Radish Media. About a year later, it merged the platforms, along with another U.S.-based web novels subsidiary, Wuxiaworld, opening up the chance to take advantage of their existing work and creative talent.

"We expand our content based on what users prefer. When a web novel becomes a hit, we also adapt it into a webcomic, which we call 'Novel Comics,'" Hwang Jae-heon, the head of Kakao Entertainment's IP division, said during KOCCA's year-end seminar last month. "With 'Business Proposal,' we created the web novel series with an in-house studio, then made it into a webcomic and distributed the webcomic abroad after localizing it. And (this move) raised revenue several times higher than that of the original work."

People visit Naver Webtoon's booth at L.A. Comic Con, held in Los Angeles from Dec. 2 to 4, 2022. Korea Times file

Naver Webtoon has invested nearly 1 trillion won over the past two years to procure powerful, effective web content. It acquired the Toronto-based, online literature platform, Wattpad, in a $600-million cash-and-stock deal in 2021, followed by Munpia, one of the biggest web fiction platforms in Korea, last February, along with eBOOK Initiative Japan last March.

Ridi, which runs the country's largest e-book service, Ridibooks, is making its move to expand its portfolio in the IP business, launching an open web novel platform, "Diritto," last April for users to post their stories, two months after getting a 120-billion-won investment.

Game publisher Com2uS has rigorously put effort into securing original IP through acquisitions. After it acquired Wysiwyg Studios in 2021, the company has been expanding into the show biz industry. The same year, it acquired more than an 18 percent share in M Story Hub, a digital storytelling company.

It recently saw success with the TV series, "Reborn Rich," as its production studio subsidiary, Raemongraein, co-owns the IP with production studio SLL.

Jang noted that although the web novels and comics' IP is developed for and mainly distributed through global OTT services, lowering chances of copyright infringement and preventive measures are still needed.

"When the distribution rights or IP is sold overseas, it's harder for creators to follow up and there could be issues arising from this … And as there's a pattern, in which one type of content is simultaneously being developed through different formats and platforms, discussions on how we can deal with possible issues (like copyright infringement) are needed," she said.