[News Culture] South Korea's largest music copyright organization has withheld approximately 24 billion won in YouTube royalties amid allegations that barely audible music was used to generate inflated payouts from Shorts videos.
The Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA) said Thursday it was investigating royalty claims involving four rights holders and 802 registered tracks following concerns raised at a parliamentary audit earlier this month.
The disputed royalties remain frozen, with KOMCA seeking to determine whether the payments were generated through legitimate music use or a coordinated effort to exploit the platform's revenue-sharing system.
The allegations surfaced during an October 12 parliamentary audit, when Democratic Party lawmaker Jin Sun-mi questioned a practice dubbed "stealth audio."
The practice allegedly involves services encouraging Shorts creators to embed music at volumes approaching zero. The tracks are effectively inaudible to viewers but may still be recognized by YouTube's copyright system, allowing the associated rights holders to collect royalties.
KOMCA estimates that roughly 24 billion won is currently being withheld. Including royalties already paid out, the total associated with the disputed tracks exceeds 30 billion won.
The implications extend beyond the unusually large sums involved.
YouTube music royalties are distributed from a limited revenue pool, with individual payouts determined by the proportion of eligible music usage. Inflating the apparent use of certain tracks can therefore reduce the share available to other rights holders.
That has raised concerns that the alleged scheme, if confirmed, would have redirected money away from songwriters and composers whose music attracted genuine listeners.
KOMCA has taken the position that the disputed payments should remain frozen until the underlying claims can be verified.
Police closed their investigation in June without referring the case for prosecution, citing insufficient evidence. KOMCA challenged that decision by requesting a review and subsequently secured a board resolution to maintain the payment suspension.
The association is now examining the business models and contractual arrangements of the Shorts monetization services linked to the allegations. It is also reviewing the disputed recordings to determine whether they involved substantive human creative contributions or were produced using artificial intelligence.
The AI question could further complicate the assessment of the royalty claims, although the investigation has not established that the recordings were ineligible for copyright protection.
"Paying out such a large sum without sufficient verification would seriously compromise the rights of creators and the fairness of royalty distribution," a KOMCA representative said.
The association plans to cooperate with relevant authorities and overseas copyright organizations as it considers additional measures.
KOMCA said it would also expand monitoring of suspicious music usage and strengthen safeguards against attempts to manipulate royalty payments.
The outcome could have implications well beyond the four rights holders under investigation, highlighting the challenges of distributing music revenue fairly as short-form video platforms and automated content production reshape how copyrighted works are used.
Reported by News Culture M.J._mj94070777@nc.press
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