From Panels to Prompts: Regulating Artificial Intelligence in the Korean Webtoon Industry

Artificial intelligence has rapidly evolved from task-specific systems to generative models capable of producing original content, challenging established doctrines of intellectual property law and reshaping global conceptions of creativity. This transformation is particularly evident in visual narrative formats, such as comics, manga, and webtoons, which combine images, text, sequencing, and digital interactivity. Their multi-layered structure makes them especially suitable for examining how AI intervenes across the creative process, from scriptwriting and illustration to translation, distribution, and algorithmic curation. Among these forms, webtoons offer a uniquely valuable case study. As digitally native works, they rely on platform infrastructures and user engagement, including real-time feedback and participatory practices such as fan translation, to generate both cultural and economic value. The integration of AI into this ecosystem raises complex legal questions concerning authorship, copyrightability, platform responsibility and transparency obligations, while also influencing audience perceptions and industry practices. This work develops its analysis in three stages. First, it situates AI-generated creative production within broader intellectual property debates, examining relevant case law on graphic narratives and sequential art across multiple jurisdictions. Second, it explores the specific dynamics of AI adoption within the webtoon industry, focusing on evolving production practices, market pressures, and forms of resistance. Third, it evaluates the emerging South Korean regulatory framework, with particular attention to platform liability, transparency requirements, and the still unsettled classification of AI-assisted content, highlighting the significance of the one-year regulatory grace period. By addressing these issues, the article contributes to ongoing legal scholarship by demonstrating how AI is reconfiguring traditional notions of authorship and ownership within platform-based creative ecosystems, while also identifying and critically examining gaps, ambiguities, and regulatory precision in the webtoon industry.