PRS for Music is a collective founded in 1914 that oversees copyright issues for pop stars such as the Beatles, Elton John, Adele and more.

Local media reports said PRS submitted a petition to the Seoul Yeongdeungpo Police Station on Sept. 5 calling for authorities to penalize local streaming platforms for using music without properly paying royalties.

It claimed platforms such as Kakao Entertainment, Wavve and Tving have been using music without properly paying royalties for years, and that local authorities are not actively investigating the issue.

In October last year, the Korea Music Copyright Association filed a lawsuit against local streaming platforms for illegal use of music works. However, the police closed the case without recommending charges as it said the platforms did not purposefully violate any copyrights. The local Copyright Act states one must be aware of the infringement to be punished for the charge. In August, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office requested a further investigation into the case.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)