Copyright Law of Japan

    Chapter VIII Penal Provisions

     Article 119 (1) A person that infringes a copyright, print rights, or neighboring rights (other than one that personally reproduces a work or performance, etc. for the purpose of private use as referred to in Article 30, paragraph (1) (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 102, paragraph (1); same applies in paragraph (3)); one whose action is deemed to constitute infringement of a copyright, print rights, or neighboring rights pursuant to the provisions of Article 113, paragraph (3); one whose action is deemed to constitute infringement of a copyright or neighboring rights (including rights deemed to be neighboring rights pursuant to the provisions of Article 113, paragraph (5); the same applies in Article 120-2, item (iii)) pursuant to the provisions of Article 113, paragraph (4); one whose action is deemed to constitute infringement of a copyright or neighboring rights pursuant to the provisions of Article 113, paragraph (6); or a person set forth in item (iii) or (iv) of the following paragraph) is subject to imprisonment for a term of up to ten years, a fine of up to ten million yen, or both.

     (2) A person falling under any of the following items is subject to imprisonment for a term of up to five years, a fine of up to five million yen, or both:

      (i) a person that infringes the moral rights of an author or the moral rights of a performer (other than one whose action is deemed to constitute infringement of an author's moral rights or a performer's moral rights pursuant to the provisions of Article 113, paragraph (4));

      (ii) a person that, for commercial purposes, causes an automated duplicator referred to in Article 30, paragraph (1), item (i) to be used to reproduce a work or performance, etc. as constitutes an infringement of a copyright, print rights, or neighboring rights;

      (iii) a person that engages in an action that is deemed to constitute infringe-ment of a copyright, print rights, or neighboring rights pursuant to the provisions of Article 113, paragraph (1);

      (iv) a person that engages in an action that is deemed to constitute infringe-ment of a copyright pursuant to the provisions of Article 113, paragraph (2).

     (3) A person that infringes a copyright or neighboring rights by digitally record-ing, for the purpose of private use as referred to in Article 30, paragraph (1), the sound or visuals of a fee-based recorded work, etc. (meaning a work or performance, etc. (limited to one that is the subject of a copyright or neighboring rights) that has under-gone sound or visual recording and that is being made available or presented to the public for value (limited to those that are made available or presented to the public without infringing any copyrights or neighboring rights)) that has been transmitted to the public via an automatic public transmission that infringes a copyright or neighbor-ing rights (including an automatic public transmission that is transmitted abroad and that would constitute a copyright or neighboring rights infringement if it were trans-mitted in Japan), knowing that the automatic public transmission constitutes an in-fringement, is subject to imprisonment for a term of up to two years, a fine of up to two million yen, or both.

     Article 120 A person that violates the provisions of Article 60 or Article 101-3 is subject to a fine of up to five million yen.

     Article 120-2 A person falling under one of the following items is subject to im-prisonment for a term of up to three years, a fine of up to three million yen, or both:

      (i) a person that transfers or rents to the public a device with a function that circumvents technological protection measures or technological exploitation re-striction measures (including an easily assemblable set of parts for such a device) or copies of a computer program with a function that circumvents technological protection measures or technological exploitation restriction measures; manufac-tures, imports, or possesses such a device or copies of such a computer program for the purpose of transferring or renting them to the public; or offers such a device or copies of such a computer program for public use; or a person that transmits that computer program to the public or makes it available for transmission (if the device or program has functions other than such circumvention functions, this is limited to if the device or program is used to enable the infringement of a copyright, etc. through the circumvention of technological protection measures or to enable acts deemed to constitute the infringements of a copyright, print rights, or the neighbor-ing rights prescribed in the provisions of Article 113, paragraph (3) through the circumvention of technological exploitation restriction measures);

      (ii) a person that, in the course of trade, circumvents technological protection measures or technological exploitation restriction measures at the request of the public;

      (iii) a person that, for commercial purposes, engages in an action that is deemed to constitute infringement of an author's moral rights, a copyright, a performer's moral rights, or neighboring rights pursuant to the provisions of Article 113, para-graph (4);

      (iv) a person that, for commercial purposes, engages in an action that is deemed to constitute an infringement of a copyright or neighboring rights pursuant to the provisions of Article 113, paragraph (6).

     Article 121 A person that distributes copies of a work that use the true name of a person other than the author or the pseudonym by which a person other than the author is commonly known, to indicate the name of the author (including copies of derivative works that use the true name of a person other than the author of the orig-inal work or the pseudonym by which a person other than the author of the original work is commonly known, to indicate the name of the original author) is subject to imprisonment for a term of up to one year, a fine of up to one million yen, or both.

     Article 121-2 A person that reproduces, as a commercial phonogram, a commer-cial phonogram as set forth in either of the following items (or a copy of such a com-mercial phonogram (this includes a copy that is two or more intervening reproduc-tions removed from such a commercial phonogram)), distributes copies of a commercial phonogram so reproduced, possesses such copies for the purpose of distribution, or offers to distribute such copies (except for a person that engages in the relevant reproduction, distribution, possession, or offer after 70 years have passed, counting from the year after that in which the sound is first fixed into the master referred to in the relevant item) is subject to imprisonment for a term of up to one year, a fine of up to one million yen, or both:

      (i) a commercial phonogram that a person in the business of producing com-mercial phonograms in Japan produces from the master of a phonogram (other than a phonogram falling under one of the items of Article 8) that is made available by the producer of that phonogram;

      (ii) a commercial phonogram that a person in the business of producing com-mercial phonograms abroad produces from the master of a phonogram (other than a phonogram falling under one of the items of Article 8) that is made available by the producer of that phonogram that is the national of a Contracting State of the Convention for the Protection of Performers, etc., the national of a World Trade Organization Member State, or the national of a Contracting State of the Conven-tion for the Protection of Phonograms (the nationals of a Contracting State include corporations established based on the laws and regulations of that State and corpo-rations that have principal offices in that State).

     Article 122 A person that violates the provisions of Article 48 or Article 102, paragraph (2) is subject to a fine of up to five hundred thousand yen.

     Article 122-2 (1) A person that violates a confidentiality protective order is subject to imprisonment for a term of up to five years, a fine of up to five million yen, or both.

    (2)The offence referred to in the preceding paragraph is also applicable if a per-son commits the offence referred to in that paragraph abroad.

    Article 123 (1) Prosecution may not be instituted for the offence referred to in Article 119; Article 120-2, item (iii) or (iv); Article 121-2; and paragraph (1) of the preceding Article, unless an accusation is filed by the injured party.

     (2) The provisions of the preceding paragraph do not apply to an offence as re-ferred to in Article 119, paragraph (1) that a person commits by undertaking one of the acts set forth in the following items, either for the purpose of gaining a financial benefit in consideration of the act set forth therein or for the purpose of damaging the profit that the owner of the copyright, etc. is expected to gain by making available or presenting a fee-based work, etc.:

      (i) transferring copies of an unaltered original fee-based work, etc. to the public or transmitting an unaltered original fee-based work, etc. to the public (including making that work available for transmission, if it is to be transmitted to the public via automatic public transmission; the same applies in the following item) (but only if the profit that the owner of the copyright, etc. is expected to gain by making avail-able or presenting that fee-based work, etc. would be unreasonably damaged in light of the nature or purpose of the fee-based work, etc., the number of copies that would be transferred, the circumstances of the transfer or public transmission, or any other conditions); or

      (ii) reproducing a fee-based work, etc. for the purpose of transferring copies of the unaltered original fee-based work, etc. to the public or of transmitting the unal-tered original fee-based work, etc. to the public (but only if the profit that the own-er of the copyright, etc. is expected to gain by making available or presenting its fee-based work, etc. would be unreasonably damaged in light of the nature or pur-pose of the fee-based work, etc., the number of copies that would be reproduced, the circumstances of its reproduction, or any other conditions).

     (3) The fee-based work, etc. provided for in the preceding paragraph means a work or performance, etc. (limited to one that is the subject of a copyright, print rights, or neighboring rights) made available or presented to the public for value (oth-er than through an action that infringes copyrights, print rights or neighboring rights (for a work made available or presented abroad, this means an action would consti-tute copyright infringement if it took place in Japan)).

     (4) The publisher of an anonymous or a pseudonymous work may file an accusa-tion in connection with an offense referred to in paragraph (1) involving such a work; provided, however, that this does not apply in the case specified in the proviso to Ar-ticle 118, paragraph (1), or if the accusation is contrary to the express will of the au-thor.

     Article 124 (1) If the representative of a corporation (including the administra-tor of an association or foundation without legal personality) or the agent, employee, or other worker of a corporation or person violates the provisions set forth in one of the following items in connection with the business of that corporation or person, in addition to the offender being subject to punishment, the corporation is subject to punishment by the fine prescribed in the relevant item and the person is subject to punishment by the fine prescribed in the provisions referred to in the relevant item:

      (i) Article 119, paragraph (1); Article 119, paragraph (2), item (iii) or (iv); or Article 122-2, paragraph (1): a fine of up to three hundred million yen;

      (ii) Article 119, paragraph (2), item (i) or (ii) or Article 120 through Article 122: the fine referred to in the relevant of these provisions.

     (2) If the provisions of the preceding paragraph are applicable to an association or foundation without legal personality, its representative or administrator represents the association or foundation in any procedural acts and the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure that are applicable when a corporation is the accused or the sus-pect, apply mutatis mutandis.

     (3) In the case referred to in paragraph (1), an accusation lodged against the of-fender or the withdrawal of such an accusation is also effective against the corpora-tion or the person concerned, and an accusation lodged against a corporation or the person concerned or the withdrawal of such an accusation is also effective against the offender.

     (4) The period of prescription if a corporation or person is subject to a fine, pur-suant to the provisions of paragraph (1) of this Article, in connection with a violation referred to in Article 119, paragraph (1) or (2) or Article 122-2, paragraph (1), is the period of prescription for the offense referred to in the relevant of those provisions.

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