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Nico Nico Douga to Delete Videos with Derived Content

Niwango's Nico Nico Douga video-sharing website has announced on Wednesday that it will delete videos that infringe on the copyrights of three Japanese associations of video content companies, in accordance to these associations' demands. Nico Nico Douga already deletes materials that copy the associations' materials in their entirety, such as full-length live-action and anime television episodes, so this move will mainly affect user-generated videos that include materials derived from these associations' copyrighted content. The three associations are the Association of Japanese Animations, Japan Video Software Association, and the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan.

Specifically, Nico Nico Douga will delete videos that were already submitted by users if they infringe on the copyrights of these three associations' member companies. The service will also inspect new video submissions and "swiftly" delete infringing videos. MAD videos, the Japanese term for user-generated content that incorporates pre-existing audio, images, video, or animation, are highlighted in particular.

The Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan is part of the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC) umbrella group of 24 companies and associations that is pushing to outlaw the downloading of copyrighted material for personal use, which is currently legal in Japan. The Association of Japanese Animations and Japan Video Software Association joined the Copyright Network for Comic Authors in the 21st Century and the Tokyo Anime Center in posting a notice against Internet piracy and "fan-subtitle" at the Tokyo International Anime Fair in March. A few days earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan held a symposium with companies involved in these organizations to discuss overseas piracy of Japanese animation, intellectual property enforcement, and other topics.

The Association of Japanese Animations includes 34 full members and 22 associate members. The full members include Aniplex, Gainax, Gonzo, Satelight, Sunrise, Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, GENCO, Studio Ghibli, Tatsunoko Production, Tezuka Productions, Toei Animation, TOHO, TMS Entertainment, Bandai Visual, Pierrot, Production I.G and Bones.

As of May of 2008, the Japan Video Software Association's 35 member companies include Aniplex, Walt Disney Japan, Avex Marketing, Kadokawa Group Holdings' Kadokawa Entertainment and Kadokawa Shoten, GAGA Communications, Geneon Entertainment, Shogakukan, Toei Video, TOHO, Nikkatsu, VAP, Bandai Visual, Victor Entertainment, Pony Canyon, and Media Factory. It also has 24 associate members. The Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan consists of four motion picture distributors: Shochiku, TOHO, Toei, and Kadokawa Pictures.

One of the companies in these associations, Kadokawa Group Holdings, is allowing some user-generated content with its copyrighted materials to remain on YouTube, another video-sharing site. In this new arrangement, Kadokawa and YouTube will share ad profits with the submitters.

Source: CNET Japan