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NEWS: Japan Aims to Extend Copyright Until 70 Years After Author's Passing


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Arale Kurashiki



Joined: 24 Aug 2015
Posts: 744
PostPosted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 1:50 am Reply with quote
Noooooo Anime cry
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#Verso.Sciolto





PostPosted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 2:20 am Reply with quote
Touched upon earlier, something like Akutagawa's "Kumo no Ito" remains firmly outside the realm of possibility, unaffected, but other literary works may need to be removed from one of my favourite reference sites should this pass. Personally think 50 years might be sufficient and not finding the rationale for the amendment all that persuasive.
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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 4:48 am Reply with quote
Wasn't this what Disney did with Mickey Mouse?
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Richmyster84



Joined: 19 Feb 2017
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 5:31 am Reply with quote
MarshalBanana wrote:
Wasn't this what Disney did with Mickey Mouse?


Yep. Disney built its empire on public domain properties and then lobbied for the 70 years copyright to protect their original properties.
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chronos02



Joined: 25 Feb 2009
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 5:33 am Reply with quote
#Verso.Sciolto wrote:
Touched upon earlier, something like Akutagawa's "Kumo no Ito" remains firmly outside the realm of possibility, unaffected, but other literary works may need to be removed from one of my favourite reference sites should this pass. Personally think 50 years might be sufficient and not finding the rationale for the amendment all that persuasive.


That depends on wether this law has retroactive properties or not, and, in theory, it should not have such a property, since that would be very hard to enforce on things that are already public domain, since they'd need to pull a lot of things off library shelves, internet websites, and probably even software such as games that use parts of these works.

Still, it's also possible that they might do a hybrid retroactive enforcement, which would only affect new productions that included these works, however, I believe they will most likely enforce the law for things that have yet to reach 50 years, though there's also the possibility of this law only affecting new creations from the moment it becomes active.
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0nsen



Joined: 01 Nov 2014
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 7:07 am Reply with quote
Copyright must be shortened if it is to accomplish what it originally set out to do. By now, it's just stifling creativity.
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Nitsugalego





PostPosted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:20 am Reply with quote
I one of those weirdos that doesn't believe in copyright at all, so you can imagine I'm not very pleased about this.
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yurihellsing





PostPosted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:30 am Reply with quote
0nsen wrote:
Copyright must be shortened if it is to accomplish what it originally set out to do. By now, it's just stifling creativity.


I feel it's less about that and more about giving studios the legal tools they need to crack down on bootleggers. Plus this is the less evil use of copyright legislation unlike what apple does with their schematics.
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HeeroTX



Joined: 15 Jul 2002
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 2:00 pm Reply with quote
yurihellsing wrote:
I feel it's less about that and more about giving studios the legal tools they need to crack down on bootleggers.

That's ridiculous. I'll bet you can count the number of bootleggers dealing in 50+ year old media on one hand. (and I'm NOT referring to ANIME pirates only) Heck, outside of the absolute "top" items, media rarely survive past 20 years, let alone author's death PLUS another many decades. The only people that want hard copies of 80s (and even most 90s) anime are collectors, and they're not going to buy "cheapie bootleg" packs intentionally (most would be MAD if they find they bought a bootleg). And sad as it is to say, if you're not a collector, you probably don't even want to WATCH anime that's over 20 years old.
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 2:58 pm Reply with quote
0nsen wrote:
Copyright must be shortened if it is to accomplish what it originally set out to do. By now, it's just stifling creativity.


I wouldn't call putting your own spin on someone else's idea creative.
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0nsen



Joined: 01 Nov 2014
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 2:59 pm Reply with quote
Heck, most people don't even want to watch anime that is 7 years old.

BadNewsBlues wrote:
I wouldn't call putting your own spin on someone else's idea creative.

Why not? Reusing old stuff is what creativity is all about.
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H. Guderian



Joined: 29 Jan 2014
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 4:24 pm Reply with quote
BadNewsBlues wrote:
0nsen wrote:
Copyright must be shortened if it is to accomplish what it originally set out to do. By now, it's just stifling creativity.


I wouldn't call putting your own spin on someone else's idea creative.


Someday I will tell you about Comiket, and how important derivative works are to anime and manga.

Seriously, I am glad most of the Otaku culture ignores this stuff. It actually doesn't work. Consider how musicians still make a living despite all music being free. People will willingly support creators even if they don't have to. Also some people are excellent storytellers but not great worldbuilders. Some are horrible storytellers but excellent artists and can use the boost off a popular IP to get noticed. The original IP is not harmed. Or else hentai and rule 34 would have destroyed all creativity years ago.

Copyright is expanded so big companies can dominate the public sphere with their IPs, and the only way to infringe on them is to rely on the small chance that someone makes a brand new huge blockbuster. Everything that gets popular has the blessing of the check writers. I much prefer the more democratic methods in which anime becomes popular.
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yurihellsing





PostPosted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 4:40 pm Reply with quote
HeeroTX wrote:
yurihellsing wrote:
I feel it's less about that and more about giving studios the legal tools they need to crack down on bootleggers.

That's ridiculous. I'll bet you can count the number of bootleggers dealing in 50+ year old media on one hand. (and I'm NOT referring to ANIME pirates only) Heck, outside of the absolute "top" items, media rarely survive past 20 years, let alone author's death PLUS another many decades. The only people that want hard copies of 80s (and even most 90s) anime are collectors, and they're not going to buy "cheapie bootleg" packs intentionally (most would be MAD if they find they bought a bootleg). And sad as it is to say, if you're not a collector, you probably don't even want to WATCH anime that's over 20 years old.


Just because it's not happening now does not mean it won't happen in the future. Also you could use your argument of "And sad as it is to say, if you're not a collector, you probably don't even want to WATCH anime that's over 20 years old." to ask where would the benefit of letting the content into the public domain.
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 5:10 pm Reply with quote
0nsen wrote:

Why not? Reusing old stuff is what creativity is all about.


Seeing multiple different takes on Sherlock Holmes and such gets a bit redundant bit of course that's just me.
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HeeroTX



Joined: 15 Jul 2002
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 6:01 pm Reply with quote
yurihellsing wrote:
Just because it's not happening now does not mean it won't happen in the future.

Again, that is a RIDICULOUS theory to base policy around. I can make up several ludicrous "possibilities" (some of which DO happen with more frequency than 50+ year old piracy) that would still be dumb to craft public policy around.
Quote:
Also you could use your argument of "And sad as it is to say, if you're not a collector, you probably don't even want to WATCH anime that's over 20 years old." to ask where would the benefit of letting the content into the public domain.

#1. If it goes into the public domain, there's a CHANCE that it gets more attention. So the "positive" is the creator can get more (posthumous) acclaim for their work, vs. the "negative" of (most assuredly) minor financial losses for his/her estate. If you created something, would you prefer that 50 years after your death more people are talking about you or that your descendants (or more accurately, your former employer) gets an extra $10?
#2. If it goes into the public domain, people can LEGALLY make derivative works off of your creation. I'm not personally a big proponent of fanfic (I'm a big detractor in fact), but I know there is a HUGE community of people that enjoy creating alternate stories and/or expanding on the established world. I do think the happiness of the fans is (in this case) more beneficial than the financial largess of the copyright holder. The creator is already dead and had FIFTY YEARS beyond their death to profit off their work. I don't get why people think whoever they bequeath it to should have financial gain in perpetuity.

The ONLY situation I'm aware of where I feel at ALL bad for the "estate" of a creator is JM Barrie who bequeathed the rights to Peter Pan to a childrens' hospital. In that singular case, I can understand wanting them to profit from it, but you know what they did when it expired? They commissioned a sequel which they'd own for the next term of years. And THAT is more beneficial to society because you get MORE works rather than just the same thing forever.
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