Japanese Law Regarding Copyright infringement

[Big Booger]

Anyone know anything about this? How stiff are the penalties? Who is in charge of catching you? Any cases in the past concerning copyright infringement?

Just wondering.

[Blah Pete]

Just wondering.

OK, be honest. What are you trying to steal....

[Nagged]

BB, can you give us some more details? I could chase up a few leads but cannot promise anything.

[stuckinkysuhu]

I heard of some Japanese university students getting arrested for sharing Photoshop on WinMX. As for music, the industry is taking a preventative approach with copy control CDs but are not interesting in pressing charges on mp3 sharers at this time. As for other copyrights, I'm not too sure.

[Big Booger]

Well what I am getting is like does Japan have a division of the RIAA, MPAA, BSA that investigates file sharing copyright violations?

I would also like to know how prevalent file sharing is amongst Japanese. From my perspective, most of the Japanese I know, don't do it. I have heard of winmx... but are Japanese using Kazaa, Grokster, IRC, etc?

What is the maximum penalty say for each Mp3 shared? What about for software?

Have their been any cases in the news like stuckinkyushu pointed out where Japanese were busted for copyright violations/piracy?

How about at the workplace? I know for a fact that companies buy 1 software and install it on many machines in the states... How about in Japan?

Any other information pertaining to copyright infringement in Japan would be welcomed. I am asking this from a sociological standpoint.. considering writing a paper on this topic for my personal benefit.

Thanks.

[Taro Toporific]

What is the maximum penalty say for each Mp3 shared? What about for software?
.

No RIAA enforcement in Japan, yet.

I think that WinMX is still the most used p2p-client among Japanese people, which results in a much broader spectrum of crappy J-artist availability. But hey wadta I know. I haven't looked at a Japanese p-2-p site in a year.

As you know, in Japan there are many places to rent Japanese CDs. All of my J-friends like to copy them to MDs or CDs for their car stereo or train ride. It's damn cheap, 150yen less per disk without any spyware and download grief which is a BIG deal for Japanese folks.

About 2 years ago the Record Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) launched a lawsuit against 'MMO Japan'. A series of court orders have all gone against MMO Japan since then including this weeks interim ruling that found the P2P service is in violation of Japanese Copyright Law. Like lawsuits launched by the RIAA the court battle has proved expensive for both sides. The procedure has been lengthy and whilst the p2p company has lost the court battles, the result so far seems to be a shift to other p2p programs.
http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=65

Record Industry Association of Japan
http://www.riaj.or.jp/e/riajinfo/main_outline.html

[Big Booger]

So basically it is not a risk because Japanese prefer to pay for legitimate services, like CD rentals, copy them and burn them to CD..

I would have thought that P2P would have been a big thing in Japan because of the price of content. I mean Japanese content is expensive.. CDs are high, DVDs are outlandish.. Software is not so bad.. about the same as in the States..

Thanks for the info. If you have any other bits and pieces of news regarding this please send them my way.

[Taro Toporific]

So basically it is not a risk because Japanese prefer to pay for legitimate services, like CD rentals, copy them and burn them to CD...

There plenty of downloading too but passing CD-R and MiniDisks among friends is more common. Emailing MP3s of ripped favorites is the main way Japanese send me music . A lot J-folks just upload a few hot MP3s to their website and take them down after a couple days after their friends have seen them. Informal f-2-f/ p-2-p is the Japanese Way (and the retro way of the future in the States as more password FTP sites of groups of friends will be the main way to beat the Recording Nazis).

[kotatsuneko]

weird

for years plenty of big american music cos wouldnt release material in japan due to the music rental stores which everyone frequented and copied from

then most of the companies did release stuff and suddenly people got busted for copying but what about the rental stores? dunno as i wasnt here during that period..

i thought winny was used more than winmx )which sucks btw( over here..

2 case i read about included some guy who hosted a few famicom roms on his homepage - jailed, and a student last year who uploaded some tunes to his paid for online storage and also got jailed

i guess keep your upload limit lower than usual, and your files shielded / available to known contacts only..

why the govt would go after seeders rather than the amount of paedos/loan sharks etc is amazing.. then again govt = yak, yak = govt it seems..

how bout they spend more money into help/research into mental illness and stress here instead? that way i wouldnt have to see so many domestic murders on the news every day, or how about fire safety? and getting rid of those firetrap parafin heaters?

safe? here? help the people, stop them murdering each other at a moments notice, clean out the govt and a death penalty for all boryokudan first then perhaps start bitching about ppl spreading copyright material...

rant over ^^

[[THuG] Quaker]

[Robato]

copyright is international. The only countries that dont abide by it are communist countries.

When you break a copyright, you are under the laws that the product you are breaking copyright law with were published.

So you are in Japan, yet you download a metallica song.....metallica can sue you but Japan the country can throw you in jail. If you are in the US and you download a Bz album, the Bz can sue you and the US will throw you in jail.

It is my understanding that copyright criminal suits are pretty much the same punishment in most countries...some being longer than others. IT is tough to get someone thrown in jail however because its up to a jury....but thats in the US. (a jury is not going to throw you in jail for making a single copy of something, however if you are making mass production copies and selling them...they most definitly will)

The way you guys talk about the court system in Japan, I wouldnt want to get caught breaking the law.

I learned this information from having to take 3 copyright classes in college. (got my degree in animation and multimedia...gotta know about how to protect yourself and your art)


Anyway, I still get my mp3s from newsgroups....Ive used newsgroups to get my movies, porn, mp3s, warez and everything else since 1994 and havent stopped.....its still the best way....you post a request and the next day someone posted it for you. (proxie servers and software stripping headers will always keep big brother out of your business when it comes to newsgroups)

[bejiita]

copyright is international. The only countries that dont abide by it are communist countries.
...
So you are in Japan, yet you download a metallica song.....metallica can sue you but Japan the country can throw you in jail. If you are in the US and you download a Bz album, the Bz can sue you and the US will throw you in jail.

Geez, that's news to me. Isn't China a communist country? Hmm, I also seem to remember that they got admitted to the WTO awhile back didn't they? And doesn't the WTO require its members to recognize certain intellectual property rights?

Now here's the kicker. Taiwan claims that it's an independent country and not a part of China. Since Taiwan has not signed any treaties recognizing international copyrights, you can theoretically pirate all you want in Taiwan. But alas, for IP purposes, the U.S. considers Taiwan a part of China. So you One Piece imitators better stay out of Taiwan.

And as for criminal penalties, only the U.S. currently imposes criminal penalties for copyright infringement. But the EU is looking to follow the U.S.'s lead and is currently debating about adopting criminal provisions for copyright violations.

And as for the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of AMERICA, I don't think they have any jurisdiction in Japan. Per Taro's post, the RIAJ (Recording Industry Association of JAPAN) is the entity that would sue you in civil court.

Finally, WinMX does have a lot of Japanese content. One reason might be that the software can display filenames using Japanese characters. But I'm just guessing on this point. I just notice that there is a lack of Japanese content using the other P2P software.

[NeoNecroNomiCron]

Has nobody heard of an anonymous proxy, Get a list of 1000 or so use access diver to filter it down to ones with good anonymity and rotate regularly. Most P2P let you enter a proxy on start-up they do it for a reason.


To the original questions. Very very few download stuff of the net. As for piracy it is actualy rife here. Go down to kabukicho and you can ger vcd's dvd-r full of american porn. Copied shite, but as unsensored hard porn is illegal here it shouldnt be here in the first place. SO i doubt if american distributers can sue. It is also a duel offence for the guys in the kabukicho.

WINMX is the most popular here, just search for pinky and you will get loads of Japanese movies.

I guess if you just download porn using winmx nothing will happen all you have to do is say you saw loads of shops in kabukicho doing it and you thought it was safe. I guess it must be tolerated to an extent, and besides you are not even making a profit so it is piracy on your behalf.


After all it is just the shifting of electrons around you could always say that the electrons just randomly made an image. you know like potatoes can look like elvis...

[Ptyx]

Don't know about j-warez or j-mp3z but there are a lot of j-movies and j-pron on the edonkey network too.
On the copyright laws, how does it work when you dowload material which are not distributed in your country ?
For example, imagine that the Zatoichi flick won't be releassed in your country, meaning no company holds the right from it in your country.
Does it mean that you can "legally" download it and keep it for personal use, since nobody is allowed to make any dough from it ?

[Robato]

Bejita, You are wrong. I was speaking about copyright in general anyway...but even if I were speaking about just mp3s you would still be wrong
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7200130%5E15306,00.html

copyright was invented by the brits, not the US. It has been around for a long time and people have been jailed for it for centuries. It is there to protect an individual who starts a business from his creation.

If I write a book and you copy it 100,000 times in another country for profit. (especially in countries such as the UK, Germany, France and Japan) you will absolutely go to jail

I dont know what gave you the impression that it would not.....my 3 college courses sure didnt. Where did you get your information?

You are right about the WTO rules, but some countries follow copy right as they do not want other countries to do the same with thier creations.

I was speaking about communist countries such as China USED to be a big copyright infringement country, Russia USED to be one too and now North Korea is.

Anyway the RIAA didnt write copyright laws....they are just a group of the biggest recording companies getting together to find people infringing on their copyright materials. The copy right laws and punishments exist even without the RIAA....so I dont care if the RIAA is in Japan or not. Japan does jail you by their laws for copyright infringement. (great example, go into your favorite book store and start snapping pictures of a book infront of the sales clerk, see if you dont go to jail)

If you want to read up on how long you will go to jail go here
http://www.cric.or.jp/cric_e/csj/csj6.html#6_2

[bejiita]

copyright was invented by the brits, not the US. It has been around for a long time and people have been jailed for it for centuries. It is there to protect an individual who starts a business from his creation.

If I write a book and you copy it 100,000 times in another country for profit. (especially in countries such as the UK, Germany, France and Japan) you will absolutely go to jail

Sorry, I sometimes forget that Copyright is a huge beast with many provisions and was unclear in conveying my thoughts more specifically. What I was trying to say is that the U.S.'s DMCA law is the first body of law to impose criminal penalties for circumventing technological measures. Currently, both the EU and Japan are looking to adopt similar laws. For example, if you buy a copy-protected music CD and the copy protection prevents you from ripping the audio tracks to MP3, you can now be jailed if you do by-pass the copy protection. In the past, this would have been considered a fair use. Now you can be criminally prosecuted for it in the U.S. Presently, this is the issue that is on the hot burner that affects most consumers since the recording companies are releasing more and more CDs with copy protection.

I was speaking about communist countries such as China USED to be a big copyright infringement country, Russia USED to be one too and now North Korea is.

What about Indonesia or Malaysia? Copyright infringement occurs constantly in these two non-communist countries. I don't think it depends on what type of government is in place. I think it depends on what kickbacks the politicians or those in power are receiving to not enforce the IP rights.

Anyway the RIAA didnt write copyright laws....they are just a group of the biggest recording companies getting together to find people infringing on their copyright materials. The copy right laws and punishments exist even without the RIAA....so I dont care if the RIAA is in Japan or not. Japan does jail you by their laws for copyright infringement. (great example, go into your favorite book store and start snapping pictures of a book infront of the sales clerk, see if you dont go to jail)

See previous comment regarding the DMCA for criminal penalties. You're correct that the RIAA/RIAJ didn't write the copyright laws; the legislative bodies do and they do so based on lobbying from these organizations. However, with respect to civil suits, if you infringe a copyright and the owner or its agent doesn't sue or come after you, you will most likely continue your infringing acts because you haven't been threatened with a lawsuit. That's what the RIAA/RIAJ do; they sue you in civil court to put the fear of god into you to make you stop your infringing acts.

In your example, however, if you are blatant about your infringing acts, then of course the copyright owner or its agent will sue you and/or report you to the local authorities. But realistically, in your example, how likely are your chances of being jailed for taking pictures of a book? Most likely none because the time and cost to prosecute you is too high. Secondly, if you''re only snapping a few pages of the book, you can argue a fair use defense. And if you revise your hypo to state that the picture taker is taking pictures of the whole book, how likely is that to happen? I think most people would just buy the damn book instead of wasting their time trying to copy the whole book. Finally, the keitei battery would probably die out before you can even finish taking pictures of the whole book.

[Robato]

In your example, however, if you are blatant about your infringing acts, then of course the copyright owner or its agent will sue you and/or report you to the local authorities. But realistically, in your example, how likely are your chances of being jailed for taking pictures of a book? Most likely none because the time and cost to prosecute you is too high. Secondly, if you''re only snapping a few pages of the book, you can argue a fair use defense. And if you revise your hypo to state that the picture taker is taking pictures of the whole book, how likely is that to happen? I think most people would just buy the damn book instead of wasting their time trying to copy the whole book. Finally, the keitei battery would probably die out before you can even finish taking pictures of the whole book.

The example I gave was just an example. you could be taking high quality photos in a museum (which would have a sign saying "no photos") and then creating a book to sell. Which is another example of you going to jail for the crime. (Japan would most definitly get you on criminal and civil) As I said before "Its up to a jury" to decide if you go to jail over copyright infringment (in the states, I have never been to court in Japan).....which means the example I gave wouldnt put you in jail...but it could depending on the jury.

secondly you are REALLY misunderstanding "fair use"...let me explain
The purpose and character of the use: (I put in bold what would explain why copying music or a book just to skip out of payiment would NOT be fair use)

Is the new work merely a copy of the original? If it is simply a copy, it is not as likely to be considered fair use.
Does the new work offer something above and beyond the original? Does it transform the original work in some way? If the work is altered significantly, used for another purpose, appeals to a different audience, it more likely to be considered fair use. Is the use of the copyrighted work for nonprofit or educational purposes? The use of copyrighted works for nonprofit or educational purposes is more likely to be considered fair use.
The nature of the copyrighted work:

Is the copyrighted work a published or unpublished works? Unpublished works are less likely to be considered fair use.
Is the copyrighted work out of print? If it is, it is more likely to be considered fair use.
Is the work factual or artistic? The more a work tends toward artistic expression, the less likely it will be considered fair use.
The amount and substantiality of the portion used:

The more you use, the less likely it will be considered fair use. Does the amount you use exceed a reasonable expectation? If it approaches 50 percent of the entire work, it is likely to be considered an unfair use of the copyrighted work. Is the particular portion used likely to adversely affect the author's economic gain? If you use the "heart" or "essence" of a work, it is less likely your use will be considered fair.
The effect of use on the potential market for the copyrighted work:

The more the new work differs from the original, the less likely it will be considered an infringement. Does the work appeal to the same audience as the original? If the answer is yes, it will likely be considered an infringement.
Does the new work contain anything original? If it does, it is more likely the use of the copyrighted material will be seen as fair use.

Now that we know what IS fair use and what is not...I have put in bold what you would be breaking if you just download a song that you didnt buy.....or took a picture out of a book because you just didnt want to buy the whole thing.

The reason for fair use is to write an article or review on the copyright object. It is not to get what you want out of it for your own viewing pleasure without paying the artist or originator of the product that you would be stealing.

I can see that you understand how things work to a degree....but you are sorely misunderstanding the laws and definitions of "fair use"

So in closing, incase one of you are downloading MP3s to write an article for asahi.....you are probably breaking the law

What about Indonesia or Malaysia? Copyright infringement occurs constantly in these two non-communist countries. I don't think it depends on what type of government is in place. I think it depends on what kickbacks the politicians or those in power are receiving to not enforce the IP rights.

I wasnt being picky about it, Im sure there are some democratic societies in Africa that break copyright rules too. (maybe I should have said 3rd world instead of communist?) The point is, Just about all communist countries do it....and I was just saying "unless you live in one, you are breaking the law and will most likely be punished"

Just like those guys in Australia (so its not just the US that puts people ion jail for breaking copyright and downloading mp3s)

[vvx]

But realistically, in your example, how likely are your chances of being jailed for taking pictures of a book?

Too much effort. Just use amazon's new feature that lets you see any and every page in a lot of their books. Use the "search for in this book" on some common phrase in the book, such as a main character name. Now you can browse 2 pages forward and backware from each resulting page. Didn't get them all? Search for some other common word/phrase. Wouldn't be surprised if someone wrote a script to do this.. I like the idea of their new feature, but it needs to be fixed to not give everyone free ebooks.

[Caustic Saint]

What I was trying to say is that the U.S.'s DMCA law is the first body of law to impose criminal penalties for circumventing technological measures. Currently, both the EU and Japan are looking to adopt similar laws. For example, if you buy a copy-protected music CD and the copy protection prevents you from ripping the audio tracks to MP3, you can now be jailed if you do by-pass the copy protection. In the past, this would have been considered a fair use. Now you can be criminally prosecuted for it in the U.S. Presently, this is the issue that is on the hot burner that affects most consumers since the recording companies are releasing more and more CDs with copy protection.

Not entirely true. Sure, the DMCA proponents would like this to be the case, but it's not going to happen. Especially when companies produce flawed copy protection software which can be defeated with the "Shift" key on your computer.

From Wired News:
Shift-Key Case Rouses DMCA Foes
By Katie Dean

02:00 AM Oct. 11, 2003 PT

The recent flap about a Princeton University student who found a way to beat music CD copy protection reignited calls to change a controversial copyright law.

John "Alex" Halderman discovered that by simply pressing the Shift key when loading a copy-protected music CD into a computer's hard drive, he could disable SunnComm Technologies' MediaMax CD-3 software, which is supposed to prevent CDs from being ripped.

Companies are trying to hide behind the DMCA to protect flaws in their systems rather than fixing them. Since the DMCA prohibits certain types of reverse-engineering or alerting others to potential security flaws - both of which are quite arguably valid activities - I seriously doubt it could stand up to a constitutional challenge.

It's a crap piece of legislation that's poorly named and even more poorly written, paid for by the RIAA, MPAA and others.

[Big Booger]

Good to see more information floating in..

[Robato]

You guys are talking "copy protection" when I am talking about copyright. To break copyright all you need to do is copy or distribute, without permission, the copyright material that does not fall under fair use.

Breaking copy protection isn't what will put you in jail....breaking copy protection just gives the prosecutors a one up on you (if and when you do have to go to court)....because it shows "intent" that you had malice to break the copyright. It means that you took actual effort to infringe rather than doing it non-chalant.

This doesn't change the fact that you are infringing copyright or not.

[bejiita]

[NeoNecroNomiCron]

[bejiita]

[NeoNecroNomiCron]

It still goes back to the argument whether you are lawfully allowed to make backups or not.

While the old Civil Code allowed a person to make backups for personal use, I just found out that Japan has passed a bill in June 2003 similar to the DMCA that prevents the circumvention of copy protection mechanisms. I have not yet seen the actual legislation yet.

A good reason to turn to mac or linux as current copy protection system dont run on either. The way around that is they star programing for different OS's and legacy systems(which will probably take up a full cd) or it becomes law that only microsoft products are used... I cant wait :P

[Nagged]

Good to see more information floating in..

BB, Sad to say I wouldn't have been able to assist with your original question, but looks like the other guys are keen to help.

[Robato]

[Sage]

Mmm... all I want to know is how much of a problem is it going to be for me to be in Japan and be downloading anime off BiT?

[Robato]

Mmm... all I want to know is how much of a problem is it going to be for me to be in Japan and be downloading anime off BiT?

as much trouble as you would be breaking any law if you get caught.

[Sage]