WEBTOON Entertainment’s NAVER WEBTOON Joins ACE to Expand Global Battle Against Digital Piracy

NAVER WEBTOON is ACE’s First Korean-founded and First Webcomic Company Member

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), the world’s leading anti-piracy coalition, today welcomed NAVER WEBTOON as its newest member. NAVER WEBTOON is part of WEBTOON Entertainment Inc., a leading global entertainment company and home to some of the world’s largest storytelling platforms.

NAVER WEBTOON is the first and only webcomic and webnovel company to join ACE, and the first Korean-originated company to join ACE. NAVER WEBTOON's parent company, WEBTOON Entertainment, is headquartered in Los Angeles and listed on the Nasdaq.

WEBTOON Entertainment and webcomics have exploded in popularity around the world, creating a new generation of comic creator superstars. The company’s content has also become an important source of IP for the global entertainment industry, with its two studios – Wattpad WEBTOON Studios in the United States and Korea’s Studio N – producing a string of hits on global streamers, including Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, and Crunchyroll, along with local projects from Korea and across the Asian market.

“Bringing NAVER WEBTOON into ACE’s ranks builds upon our expansion in Asia Pacific, our growth worldwide, and our mission to protect intellectual property in every form,” said Charles Rivkin, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association and Chairman of ACE. “From Korea to California and points in between, our coalition is always on the lookout for new footholds in key markets – to build ties with local law enforcement and strengthen our work to detect, deter, and dismantle a piracy ecosystem that steals content, endangers consumers, and threatens the creative economy.”

“Webcomics have transformed entertainment and fandom around the world, enabling storytellers everywhere to share their voice,” said WEBTOON Entertainment Founder & CEO Junkoo Kim. “As the first webcomic company to join ACE, we’re proud to continue to protect creators and raise global awareness of the seriousness of illegal distribution. Working alongside ACE and industry partners, we look forward to finding opportunities for joint responses and working together to tackle illegal content distribution.”

About The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment

The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) is the world’s leading coalition dedicated to protecting the legal creative market and reducing digital piracy. Driven by a comprehensive approach to addressing piracy through criminal referrals, civil litigation, and cease-and-desist operations, ACE has achieved many successful global enforcement actions against illegal streaming services and unauthorized content sources and their operators. Drawing upon the collective expertise and resources of more than 50 media and entertainment companies around the world—including sports channels and associations—and reinforced by the Motion Picture Association’s content protection operations, ACE protects the creativity and innovation that drives the global growth of core copyright and entertainment industries. The current governing board members for ACE are Amazon, Apple TV+, Netflix, Paramount Global, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, The Walt Disney Studios, and Warner Bros. Discovery. Charles Rivkin is Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association and Chairman of ACE.

About WEBTOON Entertainment

WEBTOON Entertainment is a leading global entertainment company and home to some of the world's largest storytelling platforms. As the global leader and pioneer of the mobile webcomic format, WEBTOON Entertainment has transformed comics and visual storytelling for fans and creators. With its CANVAS UGC platform empowering anyone to become a creator, and a growing roster of superstar WEBTOON Originals creators and series, WEBTOON Entertainment’s passionate fandoms are the new face of pop culture. WEBTOON Entertainment adaptations are available on Netflix, Prime Video, Crunchyroll, and other screens around the world, and the company’s content partners include Discord, HYBE and DC Comics, among many others.

With approximately 160 million monthly active users, WEBTOON Entertainment’s IP & Creator Ecosystem of aligned brands and platforms include WEBTOON, Wattpad--the world’s leading webnovel platform--Wattpad WEBTOON Studios, Studio N, Studio LICO, WEBTOON Unscrolled, LINE MANGA, and eBookJapan, among others.