Despite the growing number of copyright infringement cases in South Korea, fewer violators faced legal punishment over the past couple of years, a report showed Saturday.

The number of illegal downloads or copies discovered by the state-run copyright protection center jumped to 280,000 cases last year, up from 180,000 in 2009, according to the report by the culture ministry.

This year alone, 140,000 cases of copyright infringement were discovered as of July, the report said.

On the other hand, the number of those who faced indictment over copyright violations decreased from 3,887 in 2010 to 2,023 in 2009, it said.

Even after prosecutors pressed charges against violators, they later suspended or halted indictments, the ministry noted.

Instead, the Korea Copyright Commission issued more warnings to violators to delete or discard illegal programs and copies last year to reach a total of 85,085, rising sharply from 35,345 in 2009, it added. (Yonhap News)