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NEWS: Man Arrested for Uploading Gundam UC #3 on Nico Nico


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Lightning Leo



Joined: 04 Jul 2010
Posts: 311
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 1:17 pm Reply with quote
configspace wrote:
Lightning Leo wrote:
Danette-Anime-Otaku wrote:
Anybody else think Japan's copyright laws are a little extreme?


Uh, no...? Has anybody here actually read the standard copyright warning before movies play? Laughing You can get 5 years prison time in the U.S., even if you're distributing without intent to make money.

There is a difference between criminal and civil infringement and the vast majority of cases are of civil nature. So, US law is not at all the same. Even Japanese legislators bemoan how fair use is in the US (they are now debating some exceptions now but even then, it's nowhere near the same; e.g. sampling and parody are excluded)

Owners of warez sites in the U.S. have been indicted, convicted, and imprisoned many times. The N.E.T. law was passed following the La Macchia case specifically to make criminal provisions for just such cases of willful infringement resulting in significant plaintiff financial losses.

That the majority of cases are conducted civilly and not criminally is more a matter of prosecutorial discretion, and shouldn't be considered an indictment on the criminality of infringement. Willful copyright infringement can, in addition to civil statutory penalties, result in criminal penalties, including imprisonment of up to 5 years in prison and fines up to $250,000 per offense.

So I'm unsure how this situation, involving a man who uploaded an episode of Gundam on a major media outlet and was subsequently arrested, differs substantially from U.S. law.

For those who don't know: civil cases are filed lawsuits between two parties (plaintiff/defendant), whereas criminal cases are conducted between the state and an accused lawbreaker (prosecutor/defendant). For the same crime a separate civil and criminal case may be opened, simultaneously satisfying a debt to the victim and a debt to society.
configspace wrote:

Quote:
The law's pretty obvious, it protects creators copyrights. This dude spread their work without permission, in clear violation of a law that protects the livelihoods of craftsmen. I'm gonna side with the creators on this one.

First the people that actually worked on the show, the artists and animators, don't even own the copyright. Second, there's no "creator's side" here. The law is written by legislators and enforced on their own.

Artists and animators are for-hire subcontractors, so unless otherwise specified contractually they don't hold copyright in the final products. However, the production company that employs them does (which includes directors, subdirectors, producers, etc.). These people/entities are the ones who take initiative in and responsibility for the creation of an anime production. Financial backers and broadcasting companies that distribute the works also often hold copyright ownership. This isn't even to mention mangaka, for whom which anime often represents derivative works, who may hold copyright ownership pursuant to their contractual agreements. Or even the musicians/composers that make music for show op/ends.

So yeah, I'd say copyright laws do protect craftsmen, by protecting the original creators, financial backers, and other entities that contract them in developing independently owned intellectual property.
configspace wrote:
Rather than simply pay compensation to the owners and/or a fine, you're turned into a criminal. Even if it reduces the incidents, how does any of this actually help the owners? There have been reports that cases of infringement temporarily drops, but there is no evidence whatsoever that shows arresting and turning people into criminals increases sales.

In addition to financial restitution, plaintiffs get the comfort knowing our society safeguards their intellectual property by calling infringement what it is: unlawful, criminal theft of creator property, i.e., the creator's right to control the reproduction of their works. By uploading the creator's works, uploaders take away the creator's copyright and give it to themselves. They also essentially devalue the work to $0 by giving it away for free, but really, the aim of a justice system shouldn't be whether or not sales are improved by imprisoning criminals, but whether our moral rights and legal privileges are preserved.
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