Outline of the Copyright Law


1. Works
  "Work" means a production in which thoughts or sentiments are expressed in a creative way and which falls within the literary, scientific, artistic or musical domain (Art.2, para.1, item(i)).
• Classification of works (Art.10, para.1):
Literary, musical, artistic, figurative, cinematographic, photographic, program and database works, etc.

2. Authors
  "Author" means a person who creates a work (Art.2, para.1, item(ii)).
• Authorship of a work made by an employee in the course of his duties (Art.15).
• Authorship of a cinematographic work (Art.16).


3. Rights of Authors (Copyright)
• Moral rights and copyright (Art.17, para.1).
• Non-formality (Art.17, para.2):

The enjoyment of moral rights and copyright shall not be subject to any formality.

Rights of authors (Copyright) Moral rights Right of making the work public (Art.18)
Right of determining the indication of the author's name (Art.19)
Right of preserving the integrity (Art.20)
Copyright
(Economic rights)		 Right of reproduction (Art.21)
Right of performance (Art.22)
Right of presentation (Art.22bis)
Rights of public transmission, etc. (Art.23)
Right of recitation (Art.24)
Right of exhibition (Art.25)
Rights of distribution(Art.26)
Rights of transfer of ownership(Art.26bis)
Right of lending (Art.26ter)
Rights of translation, adaptation, etc. (Art.27)
Right of the original author in the exploitation ofa derivative work (Art.28)


4. Limitations on Copyright
• Reproduction for private use (Art.30); reproduction in libraries, etc. (Art.31); quotations (Art.32); reproduction in school textbooks for preparing a textbook in large print (Art.33bis); broadcasting, etc.in school education programs (Art.34); reproduction etc. in schools and other educational institutions, etc.(Art.35); reproduction etc. in examination questions, etc. (Art.36); reproduction etc. in for visually handicapped, etc. (Art.37); reproduction etc. for aurally handicapped (Art.37bis); performance, etc. not for profit-making (Art.38); reproduction, etc. of articles on current topics (Art.39); exploitation of political speeches, etc. (Art.40); exploitation for news of current affairs (Art.41); reproduction for submitting documents in legal proceedings, patent examination procedure and pharmaceutical approval procedure (Art.42); exploitation for Disclosure by the Government Organizations Information Disclosure Law, etc. (Art.42bis); ephemeral recordings by broadcasting organizations, etc. (Art.44); reproduction of artistic work etc. for offering transfer of ownership etc. (Art.47bis); reproduction etc. by the owner of copy of a program work (Art.47ter (Art.47bis before amendment)); temporary reproduction for maintain or repair of machine (Art.47quater (47ter before amendment)) reproduction for preventing transmission faults due to errors (Art.47quinquies); reproduction etc. for searching through the internet about the source of transmissions associated with transmittable information (Art.47sexies); reproduction etc. for analyzing information (Art.47septies); reproduction for exploitation of works where is used on a computer (Art.47octies); etc.
○ Art.37, Art.37bis, Art.47bis, Art.47quinquies, Art.27sexies, Art.47septies and Art.47octies will be enforced from 1st January 2010 by the amendment in 2009.

5. Term of Protection
• The term of copyright shall begin with the creation of the work; copyright shall continue to subsist, in principle, until the end of a period of fifty years following the death of the author (Art.51).
• Copyright in anonymous and pseudonymous works and works bearing the name of a corporate body shall continue to subsist until the end of a period of fifty years following the making public of the work (Art.52, Art.53).
• Copyright in cinematographic works shall continue to subsist until the end of a period of seventy years following the making public of the work (Art.54).

6. Registration
• Registration of the true name (Art.75); registration of the date of the first publication, etc. (Art.76); registration of the date of creation (Art.76bis); registration of copyright (Art.77).
• Procedures for registration (Art.78); exceptional provision for the registration of program works (Art.78bis).

7. Right of Publication

8. Neighboring Rights
• Rights of performers, producers of phonograms, broadcasting organizations and wire diffusion organizations (Art.89-Art.100quater).
• Term of protection: fifty years from the time of performance, fixations of sounds on phonograms, broadcasting (Art.101).

Rights of performers Moral rights of performers Right of determining the indication of the performer's name (Art.90bis)
Right of preserving the integrity (Art.90ter)
Economic rights Rights of authorization Right of making sound or visual recordings (Art.91)
Right of broadcasting and wire diffusion (Art.92)
Right of making transmittable (Art.92bis)
Right of transfer of ownership (Art.95bis)
Right of lending (Art.95ter)
Rights to remuneration Right to secondary use fees of commercial phonograms (Art.95)
Right to remuneration for lending commercial phonograms (Art.95ter)
Right to remuneration for simultaneous transmission of wire diffusion (Art.94bis)


Rights of producers of phonograms Rights of authorization Right of reproduction (Art.96)
Right of making transmittable (Art.96bis)
Right of lending (Art.97ter)
Rights to remuneration Right to secondary use fees of commercial phonograms (Art.97)
Right to remuneration for lending commercial phonograms (Art.97ter)
Right to remuneration for simultaneous transmission of wire diffusion (Art.97)


Rights of broadcasting organizations Rights of arthorization Right of reproduction (Art.98)
Rights of rebroadcasting and wire diffusion (Art.99)
Right of making transmittable(Art.99bis)
Right of communication of television broadcasts (Art.100)


Rights of wire diffusion organizations Rights of autorization Right of reproduction (Art.100bis)
Right of broadcasting and wire rediffusion (Art.100ter)
Right of making transmittable (Art.100quater)
Right of communication of wire television diffusions (Art.100quinquies)


9. Measures against Infringement on Copyright, etc.
• Civil measures:
Right of demanding cessation (Art.112); measures for recovery of honor, etc. (Art.115); compensation for damages; recovery of the undue profit; etc.
• Criminal measures:
Any person who infringes copyrights, right of publication or neighboring rights is punishable by imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or a fine not exceeding ten million Yen, or both (Art.119, para.1). Any person who infringes moral rights of authors or moral rights of performers or who does an act considered to constitutes an infringement under Art.113, para.1, etc. is punishable by imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or a five not exceeding five million Yen (Art.119, para.2).
Any person who does acts of manufacture, distribution, etc. of a device, etc. for the circumvention of technological protection measures is punishable by imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or a fine not exceeding three million Yen, or both (Art.120bis).
A legal person who infringes rights is punishable by a fine not exceeding three hundred million Yen (Art.124).
• Acts considered to be infringements (Art.113):
The importation into this country, for distribution, of objects made by an act which would constitute an infringement on moral rights, copyright, right of publication or neighboring rights if they were made in this country at the time of such importation.
The distribution, the possession for distribution or offer to distribute, or the exportation by trade or the possession for exportation by trade, of objects made by an act infringing moral rights, copyright, right of publication or neighboring rights, by a person who is aware of such infringement (Art.113, para.1).
The intentional alteration, etc. of rights management information (Art.113, para.3).
The underlined part has amended in 2009. It will be enforced from 1st January 2010.

[Ref.] International Conventions (Status as of July 2009)
• Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886, Berne) --- WIPO:
164 countries (Japan, U.S.A., U.K., France, Germany, China, etc.)
• Universal Copyright Convention (1952, Geneva) --- UNESCO:
100 countries (Japan, U.S.A., Russia, U.K., France, Germany, etc.)
• Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms (1971, Geneva) --- WIPO, UNESCO:
77 countries (Japan, U.S.A., U.K., France, Germany, etc.)
• International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations (1961, Rome) --- WIPO, UNESCO, ILO:
88 countries (Japan, U.K., France, Germany, etc.)
• Agreement on Trade - Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (1994, Marrakesh) --- Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO): <Status as of July 2008>
153 countries (Japan, U.S.A., U.K., France, Germany, etc.)
• WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) (1996, Geneva) --- WIPO:
70 countries (Japan, U.S.A., etc.)
• WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) (1996, Geneva) --- WIPO:
68 countries (Japan, U.S.A., etc.)