[A2k] Japan planning new Fair Use provision

[Judit Rius Sanjuan]

Thanks to BNA Internet Law News for point to this.

'Fair use' stipulation planned for intellectual property
05/28/2008
BY YASUKAZU AKADA, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200805280068.html

The government will ease its stringent restrictions on using
copyrighted works, a development that will affect activities ranging
from posting personal pictures on websites to developing Internet
search engines, sources said.

The Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters, led by Prime Minister
Yasuo Fukuda, has decided to make a Japanese version of a U.S.
copyright law stipulation that allows for the "fair use" of
copyrighted works for criticism, analyses, media reporting and research.

The decision was made to make it easier for venture companies to start
new businesses, such as developing a rival to Google. The government
intends to revise the Copyright Law to include a fair use stipulation
as early as next year.

The current Japanese Copyright Law, in principle, prohibits any
copying of other people's works or distributing them on the Internet
without permission.

Exceptions to the law are copying works for personal use at home or
for use in schools.

The planned stipulation will largely follow the one under the U.S.
copyright law, which bases fair use on certain factors, including:
whether the use of works is intended for commercial purposes; and
whether the use of works influences the market of those works.

The Japanese stipulation will also contain the condition that the use
of other people's works must not unfairly hurt the interests of the
copyright holders, the sources said.

The current Copyright Law is sweeping in its application. For example,
blogs featuring holiday photos of authors posing with anime characters
in amusement parks could constitute a violation of the law. That is
because the law does not have a specific stipulation that allows such
use.

In addition, the creation of parodies based on other people's works
could also be considered a violation.

Those activities could be regarded as legal under the fair use
stipulation.

Archive services that copy and store information on websites could
also become legal under the revised law, allowing companies to start
up such businesses, the sources said.

The Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters will agree to consider
the fair use stipulation in its "intellectual property promotion plan
2008" next month. After that, a study panel will discuss the issue.
(IHT/Asahi: May 28,2008)


Judit Rius Sanjuan
Attorney at Knowledge Ecology International
www.keionline.org / www.cptech.org
Phone: +1.202.332.2670, x18
Email: judit.rius@keionline.org