Webcasters get a break?

[Charles]

[SIZE="3"]Japanese government urges Internet regulation change[/SIZE]
Seeking to promote Internet distribution of TV content, a government panel has recommended that regs be changed to allow webcasts without first getting permissions from all rights holders.
The panel, the Intellectual Property Rights Policy Work Group, has included the proposal in recommendations for intellectual property law revisions that it is currently drafting. The panel will complete its final report by May 31. The rule changes are expected to go into effect within two years.
According to the panel's proposal, Internet distribs of previously broadcast TV shows will no longer need to get permissions from all rights holders, as is currently required. Instead they will only have to ensure royalty payments to all rights holders following webcasts of the shows. Given that, in Japan, right holders include talent as well as production companies and broadcasters, the search for permissions is frequently cumbersome or, in cases where rights holders have dropped out of the biz -- or off the face of the earth -- impossible.
Seeking to ease this process, as well as boost Internet distribution of TV content, the panel recommended the rule change. It has also suggested that production contracts for new shows incorporate a clause giving permission for Internet use.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the panel is studying rule changes for intellectual property rights in a range of fields, including broadcasting and telecommunications, information technology, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and environmental technology.