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"Copy Ten" Legislation … What Does It Mean?

  • 01Aug 2008

On July 4, 2008, the Education, Science and Technology Ministry and the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry eased restrictions on copying digital TV programs, permitting consumers to make as many as ten copies of a digital television broadcast (the "dubbing 10" legislation does not apply to entertainment contained on DVDs and CDs).

The so-called dubbing-10 system supplanted previous copying rules that permitted only one copy to be made of a recording, and is aimed at offering consumers more ways to enjoy digital content by adding a copy-control signal to the digital broadcast in order to protect the rights of the owners, manufacturing companies, and broadcasters without degrading the quality or quantity of the programs, thus helping to ensure the excellence of future broadcasts.

The 10 copy limit was decided on by the Information and Communications Council (ICC), an advisory body to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, with the rationale: "It is assumed that the average household consists of three individuals, each of whom may have up to three digital devices. Accordingly, the likely number of legitimate copies required would be nine (3 devices 3 people), to which one physical transfer was added."

The dubbing-10 legislation restricts the number of copies that can be made because recordings of digital broadcasts can be duplicated ad infinitum without any significant loss of quality. Accordingly, it was considered that limits should be imposed so that broadcast programs can only be dubbed for personal use (for private viewing).

Dubbing up to 10 times (i.e. nine copies and one transfer) for personal use only is allowed, but the sale or release onto the Internet without the permission of the copyright holder of a program recorded for personal use would constitute a copyright infringement.

University Students Share Views on Copyright

  • 18Jul 2008

Earlier this year, JIMCA produced a short video documenting the views about intellectual property rights of Japanese university students. In a series of interviews with students from three universities in Tokyo, JIMCA researchers posed questions such as "Are movies and music 'property'?"; "Is it okay to download without paying?"; "Is it okay to share your movie and music files?"; and "Does file sharing help or hurt performers?".

The video showcased the different points of view that students bring to a discussion about intellectual property rights, and is being used by JIMCA in seminars at universities throughout Japan as a starting point for discussions about intellectual property rights.

Police Official Provides IPR Update at Asia Intellectual Property Symposium

  • 08Mar 2008

On March 7, the 10th Anti-Counterfeiting Association's Asia Intellectual Property Symposium 2008 was held at the Nikkei Hall in Tokyo. The theme this year was "Asia on Spotlight - Growth of Intellectual Property" and the Hall was filled almost to capacity.

Mr. Hisamitsu Arai, former Secretary General, Intellectual Property Policy Headquarters Secretariat, delivered the keynote speech, and then Mr. Takashi Otsuka, Administrator, Intellectual Property Protection, Community Safety Bureau, National Police Agency, provided an update on IP-related criminal cases. Mr. Otsuka reported that 441 IP-related cases were filed and 756 individuals were arrested in 2007. He noted that 31 percent of the cases involved violations of the Copyright Law, while 62 percent involved violations of the Trade Mark Law.

Mr. Otsuka added that counterfeit goods remain a significant problem in Asia, with China-, Hong Kong- and Korea-origin goods accounting for 95 percent of counterfeit goods seized in Japan. He stressed that China in particular is viewed as especially problematic in terms of its apparent inability to control the counterfeiting/pirating of legitimate goods, as well as their export to other countries, including Japan.

Additionally, Mr. Otsuka cited several cases that JIMCA handled last year: yakuza-controlled street vendors in Osaka, and bootleg distribution operations run by and catering to Japanese-Brazilians in Japan. He spoke out in favor of stronger deterrent sentencing, and praised the Osaka District Court for handing down record sentences in the street vendor case. [In that case, the main defendant was handed a sentence of 20 months in prison without parole and a fine of 3.8 million yen (US$38,044). The defendant was also ordered to pay a supplementary fine of 34,191,200 yen (US$341,942) under the Organized Crime Control Law.] Mr. Otsuka concluded by saying that National Police Agency will pursue IPR-related cases using not only the Copyright Law but also other applicable laws.