Seoul High Court Upholds Dismissal in NCSoft's Lineage2M Copyright Case

A Seoul High Court panel has dismissed NCSoft’s copyright infringement suit against Kakao Games and XL Games, with the appellate court upholding a lower court’s ruling that there was no violation. The Civil Division 5-2, comprising judges Kim Dae-hyun, Kang Seong-hun and Song Hye-jung, delivered the decision on the case brought by NCSoft over its Lineage2M content and systems.

The court ruled that NCSoft’s claims did not show enough originality to distinguish Lineage2M from earlier games, meaning there was no protectable expression to infringe. In its view, the alleged elements such as world setting and gameplay structures did not meet the threshold of creating a new, independently original work.

NCSoft also asserted that Kakao Games’ activities amounted to unfair competition under Korea’s Fair Trade Act. The court disagreed, stating that the scenarios and characters at issue fall within a public domain-like space that anyone can use, and therefore could not constitute unfair competition.

The dispute centers on Kakao Games’ ArcheAge War, released in March 2023, which NCSoft claimed copied Lineage2M’s world view, combat and growth systems, user interface and content organization. Kakao Games and its development unit, XL Games, countered that these elements are common within the MMORPG genre and not uniquely attributable to NCSoft’s work.

In the earlier ruling, issued in January of the previous year, the lower court likewise dismissed NCSoft’s claims, finding that Lineage2M did not possess sufficient originality and had been derivative of earlier titles such as Ragnarok M and V4. The High Court’s decision thus preserves that assessment on appeal.

For U.S. readers, the case highlights how Korean courts assess originality and protectable content in video games, a sector where cross-border IP and licensing are central. The ruling underscores that widely used game ideas, mechanics and interface designs may not be shielded as unique IP under Korean law, a consideration for international publishers and developers operating in or licensing to Korea.