[A2k] Japan planning new Fair Use provision

[Chris Friend]

Dear Hiroshi,

This looks like an interesting and very relevant opportunity to progress the
needs of the visually impaired reading community, who, in the absence of
publishers publishing in accessible formats,   end up by having to pay the
cost of brailing or large printing or audio copying in order that they can
read books and other print materials.  At present only 5% of books published
are available in accessible formats and that is not on a same day same price
basis.

Therefore I feel sure that the Japanese Government could be persuaded that
our need for copyright exemption, or in legislative parlance Copyright
Exceptions, is  justified and should be included as a fair use case as they
revise the law in the coming months.

Hiroshi, would you as Daisy and IFLA LBS please lead in Japan on progressing
this for WBU and keep me informed as I will be meeting your Japanese
delegate to SCCRR in November.

Thanks,

Chris.

Christopher E.B. Friend MBE FInstF
Chair,
WBU Copyright and Right to
Read Working Group



-----Original Message-----
From: a2k-admin@lists.essential.org [mailto:a2k-admin@lists.essential.org]
On Behalf Of Judit Rius Sanjuan
Sent: 02 June 2008 17:25
To: a2k discuss list
Subject: [A2k] Japan planning new Fair Use provision

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

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