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Japanese Government Looks Into Copyrights & Parodies
posted on by Ko Ransom
A subcommittee of the Council for Cultural Affairs, an advisory committee for Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs, decided on Thursday that that they would evaluate the place of parody in Japanese copyright law. As Japanese law currently stands, no special provisions are made for parody works, as they are under the laws of various other countries such as the United States. As such, a strict reading of Japanese copyright law would deem parody as a violation of copyright owners' "right to maintain integrity," making parody potentially illegal without the prior consent of copyright owners.
Because copyright infringement is only prosecutable upon a copyright owner's formal complaint, parody in Japan is often tacitly allowed. However, there has been growing pressure to clarify the position of parody in Japanese copyright law, due to the recent increase in parody works that accompanied the growth of the Internet. Thus, the committee has decided to investigate the matter, while taking into consideration the laws of Western countries that have already established similar provisions.
Source: Nihon Keizai Shimbun via Yaraon!
