I usually cover what is going on in America in these columns. But today, let’s journey across to see what Japan is up to, as they could be making major changes that ripple into several fandoms.
Japan Cracks Down on Piracy
Back in April 2018, the Japanese government asked ISPs to block three websites due to piracy. A lawyer sued an ISP, saying that this goes against Japan’s anti-censorship laws. One of the sites Japan asked ISPs to block, Mangamura, shut down just days afterward, and creators reported increased sales after the closure of this site. The government later announced it was targeting “leech sites” (aka aggregate sites), places where no scans are actually hosted but point to other sites. In November, Shogakukan scored a legal victory when YouTube was ordered to reveal a user’s identity for uploading manga text just as a Korean manga piracy site also closed.
In recent weeks, proposals have come out to increase the penalty for knowingly downloading copyrighted material like manga as well as making it illegal to mod consoles, sell online codes, and distribute save editing software. The Trans-Pacific Partnership also went into effect, increasing how long a creator has copyright rights as well as allowing accusations and charges of infringement to be filed without a complaint from the individual(s) or organizations that own the copyright.
So, in short, Japan is aggressively changing its laws surrounding copyright.
Cracking Down or Overstepping Bounds?
Since English sites are relying on translations and the fact that a lot of these changes are proposed and not coded, it’s a bit confusing on what is illegal, what would be illegal under the new laws, and what if any is an exaggerated or worst case scenario. But devices like Action Replay have already been pulled. And if you think it’s just big time dealers being charged, think again. One individual sold just three consoles with five additional games for a total profit of $540 USD. He got arrested.
Now, of course laws need to be updated. Technology is advancing every day, and it’s miles ahead of what many countries — Japan, the US, and elsewhere — had planned for when their laws were written. Creators also should protect their intellectual property, as they are the ones who put forth the time and effort to make it in the first place. Without going all political, businesses are going to keep trying to apply pressure to lawmakers to make the rules in a way that favors them. That’s why it’s important for people to stay up-to-date on news and be prepared to push back if necessary.
But should Japanese citizens be pushing back? Are these laws important to protect creators’ rights?
I could rehash the whole scanlations/raws vs official debate, but it’s been done many times. For these law changes, proving a user knows that the site they are accessing is illegal may be difficult. However, for most Web surfers, it shouldn’t take a genius to figure out that Amazon or official websites have chapters unavailable or charge a fee but this one site has manga from all publishers for free. For others, if “downloading” includes just accessing a page — which could happen accidentally, like through a Google search — then this law can be scary. Not so much that police are going to kick down the door of a random fan just browsing Internet in general, but as an additional charge when being accused of something else.
For another gray area, just look at save editors. Yes, people shouldn’t be able to hack in god-tier equipment and then compete against hard-working players who went farming themselves. And there must be some shenanigans involved for people to sell several 6-IV shiny Mew and other mythical Pokemon. But how about in a single-player offline game? Is Black Chocobo for Final Fantasy VII suddenly such a problem that any site that links to it must be pulled and hosts prosecuted? Would a site allowing the running of Japanese version of smartphone apps be considered “unfair competition”, as it goes around “effect of technological restrictive measures”? How about let’s play on YouTube and Twitch? After all, those can often replace the experience of playing for yourself.
There’s so much technology out there that it would be nay impossible to create laws that only target bad-faith actors. But with something as complicated as copyright law, the Diet needs to make sure these laws are clear and fair. Some of these sound like they’re taking what would be civil lawsuits and turning them into criminal trials.
Some people will argue that companies, instead of pushing for new laws, should be trying to improve their products so that people won’t pirate it. There is some merit to that, although there will always be some people who would always find a reason why they are the exception to why they won’t pay for manga/games/whatever, there’s also a potential market. What if, instead of the lazy PlayStation Classic that was released, Sony released a PS1 that is HDMI compatible? Sites like the new English version of Shonen Jump or the Japanese Comic Days are solid low-to-no-cost options for manga fans. Final Fantasy IX has been ported with built-in cheats for gamers to have a crazy fun or relaxed journey through the world; more games could follow suit so that some of the more common reasons to edit saves are unnecessary.
Will these stop bad-faith actors? No. But there are some possible ways to get more money from would-be pirates rather than spending money finding them, prosecuting them, and then housing them for years.
Should other countries be worried?
Well, yes and no.
Each country has their laws, and Japan doesn’t seem to have a wide and/or solid fair use policy. (See: all the characters who work at “MgRonald” or some sort or the near-shut down of Hi Score Girl.) The US Supreme Court rejected the idea of companies claiming patent rights after a consumer has purchased their product in Impression Products v. Lexmark International (2017). In 2018, companies like Nintendo and Sony were warned that their warranties may be violating a 1975 law, with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) saying that opening up a device or using third-party parts does not invalidate warranties.
Even though consumers in the US have gotten some recent victories, that doesn’t stop companies from fighting for their interests, like John Deere and Apple fighting to prevent third-party repairs.
Still, there may be some other ripple effects. Besides, say, some other major scanlations/raw sites being shut down, perhaps Sony/Nintendo will become more aggressive in filing complaints about YouTube videos that show how to modify their consoles, or maybe all those Action Replay devices are about to become rare products. Depending on how the final laws are written and interpreted, 2019 could be a very interesting year in regards to copyright.