End of Doujin?
Apparently the Japanese government is considering a revision of Japanese copyright law in order to more effectively curb piracy. Currently, if the copyright holder does not sue the copyright infringer, the law is unable to do anything. However, they are trying to change the law so that the police effectively have the authority to make arrests for copyright violation based purely on their own judgment. This means that if this law goes into effect, it will make 95% of all doujin works illegal, not just Nintendo/Konami/Disney related doujin works.
May 21st, 2007 at 7:58 pm
Well, that just means that the copyright holders will have to specifically state specific licenses toward their works to protect doujin. This means in doing so they are protecting their fanbase.
May 21st, 2007 at 9:52 pm
I hope that’s the case. Gainax already has been through enough trouble and we don’t need another case that involves fans.
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:17 am
Doujinshi based on existing franchises has always been illegal, it’s just that the copyright holders never really took action, save some exceptional cases. That said, Japanese fans tell me that such doujinshi is already a somewhat risky business in case of really large fandoms (think Fullmetal Alchemist, Gundam Seed, etc.)… simply because there’s too much money involved. But smaller fandoms seem to be fine, and I don’t think this would change, even if this new law passes, unless there’s questionable content involved (loli/shota porn, etc.).
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:41 am
I think the thing here is that even if the copyright holders don’t take action, the police will, if they think it is an infringement of copyright. It doesn’t matter if it is a large or small fandom.
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:57 am
Abe cracks me up. He does, really.
May 22nd, 2007 at 12:04 pm
I really, don’t get what’s up with the policies these days.
May 22nd, 2007 at 3:43 pm
>Anonymous
Nah, I was talking about the situation not changing even if it was up to the police to decide if they want to take action or not. I may be mistaken, but it seems to me that the main goal of the new law is to cut down on piracy, and doujinshi is not, strictly speaking, piracy. Sure, it’s definitely copyright infringement, but it’s not in the same league as bootleg DVDs, posters, merchandise and other pirated materials. Doujinshi is not about reproducing the original manga/anime/whatever, they’re not sold as part of the official franchise. The people who make actual money off of doujinshi are the second-hand sellers, and that’s no different from people or stores making money by seling any other kind of used stuff.
In short, I see no reason for the police to intervene with the doujinshi scene unless there’s an inordinate amount of publicity and money involved (I can see why people worry about the fate of large doujin events) or they come across doujinshi involving questionable content. But of course, I may very well be wrong.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:54 pm
I have a feeling it won’t go through.
May 24th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
>kuromitsu
You’d probably understand the problem better if you truly understand what the police are capable of doing.
If they can pull over a black person who’s just minding one’s own business; they can put an end to doujinshi as we know it and “be the hero up in this.”
I always thought that NWA’s “F*** The Police” was a classic.