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Lee Hyon-se, chairman of the Korean Cartoonists Association and a renowned cartoonist, has been engaged in a financial dispute with a former story writer for one of his comics.

Bang Gyeong-su, who took part in producing "Bbongjjak," a comic book aimed at older readers, recently filed a lawsuit against Lee demanding further compensation. The comic was published under Lee’s name alone as a magazine serial in 1992-93.

When the comic was published, everyone assumed Lee had done all the work, and Bang was considered to have merely been Lee’s assistant. According to an oral contract between the two, Bang received a certain amount of compensation at that time. Lee understood that, as a story writer, he did not hold any further rights to the work.

But a decade after the comic was published, Lee sold over the Internet his publication rights for some of his works, amounting to more than 1,600 comic books including "Bbongjjak." He received about 100 million won in total ($126,000), and Bang has demanded a share of the proceeds.

Comic book story writers have been supporting Bang in his lawsuit. An association of comics story writers held a general meeting on March 14, calling for the right to 20-30 percent of earnings from the republication of comics on which they have worked. The story writers also have demanded 30 percent of the gains received when comics are posted on the Internet. They also seek to clarify their rights when comics on which they have worked are made into movies or TV shows or are novelized.

Industry observers said that story writers have traditionally been undervalued, while all the fame usually goes to the cartoonist. In addition, observers noted that the changing situation - in which comics or their copyrights can be posted on the Internet - requires a change in the contracts between cartoonists and story writers.

Park Seong-sik, a critic of culture, said "under consideration of changed environment, it is necessary to hammer out reasonable regulations on how cartoonists and story tellers share the right they worked togeter on."

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