2024年 10月 14日
1971: Film director loses copyright 13
T:
I'll explain a bit more about the background of the special treatment of film copyrights under Article 29, paragraph 1.
The old Copyright Law went into effect on July 15, 1899. At the time, there were almost no films among the various cultures.
After the war and in recent years, a huge amount of modern technology has been produced, and copyrights have not kept up with the development and advancement of technology, which has led to various problems.
How do we deal with this? As for music, a person involved mentioned it earlier.
There is a solid organization called the Music Copyright Association, which has three or four exclusive legal advisors, and they are doing a very good job of securing rights.
However, there are also cases where it can be difficult.
For example, karaoke.
Copyright management organizations demand that bars and coffee shops that operate using small karaoke machines pay copyright and usage fees.
However, if they pay the demanded amount, their business will be in trouble. This is where serious conflicts arise.
We now live in an age where we can record and record as much as we want.
Therefore, if copyright holders were to say, "Everyone, feel free to use copyrighted works as you like," the copyright holders would not receive any money.
In the case of music, first, an organization to protect copyrights is created, lawyers are placed in charge, and efforts are made to ensure copyright protection close to the world standard, and royalties are collected from wherever possible. *1
As for the case of movies, this point is extremely weak. I think it is certainly difficult. *2
*1 This was certainly true until 1992, when this lecture was given, but mainly since 2020, the major music copyright association JASRAC has taken actions such as ordering music schools to pay royalties and filing SLAPP lawsuits if they do not comply, as if it were a sudden idea.
*2 In the 1980-2000s, the labor union to which Harada belongs was made up of multiple anime labor unions, workers, and managers of small subcontracting companies, who met regularly, gathered, and sometimes demonstrated.
They also appealed to the Diet through members of the Japanese Communist Party.
As a result, the Agency for Cultural Affairs proposed, regarding the payment of secondary usage fees, "First, the anime workers should create an organization to serve as a receptacle. Then, the businesses can pay the usage fees collectively to the organization, and the organization can then pass the money on to the workers."
However, the anime workers and the presidents of small subcontracting companies, who are forced to work long hours 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, did not have the resources to create such an organization.
I'll explain a bit more about the background of the special treatment of film copyrights under Article 29, paragraph 1.
The old Copyright Law went into effect on July 15, 1899. At the time, there were almost no films among the various cultures.
After the war and in recent years, a huge amount of modern technology has been produced, and copyrights have not kept up with the development and advancement of technology, which has led to various problems.
How do we deal with this? As for music, a person involved mentioned it earlier.
There is a solid organization called the Music Copyright Association, which has three or four exclusive legal advisors, and they are doing a very good job of securing rights.
However, there are also cases where it can be difficult.
For example, karaoke.
Copyright management organizations demand that bars and coffee shops that operate using small karaoke machines pay copyright and usage fees.
However, if they pay the demanded amount, their business will be in trouble. This is where serious conflicts arise.
We now live in an age where we can record and record as much as we want.
Therefore, if copyright holders were to say, "Everyone, feel free to use copyrighted works as you like," the copyright holders would not receive any money.
In the case of music, first, an organization to protect copyrights is created, lawyers are placed in charge, and efforts are made to ensure copyright protection close to the world standard, and royalties are collected from wherever possible. *1
As for the case of movies, this point is extremely weak. I think it is certainly difficult. *2
*1 This was certainly true until 1992, when this lecture was given, but mainly since 2020, the major music copyright association JASRAC has taken actions such as ordering music schools to pay royalties and filing SLAPP lawsuits if they do not comply, as if it were a sudden idea.
Reference: https://www.businesslawyers.jp/articles/1247
This is similar to an earlier incident in which a Japanese kindergartener drew Disney characters on the ground and the Disney company forced the kindergarten to erase the drawing, citing copyright infringement.
Laws were originally a means of rescuing the weak, but in 2001, Prime Minister Koizumi of the Liberal Democratic Party forced through a policy that protected the strong and abandoned the weak. After the Fukushima nuclear power plant explosion in 2011, the government, administration, and large corporations began to file SLAPP lawsuits against ordinary people one after another. In 2012, during the second Abe administration, the Supreme Court justices and NHK advisors were all supporters of Prime Minister Abe, and unfair judgments were made against citizens one after another.*2 In the 1980-2000s, the labor union to which Harada belongs was made up of multiple anime labor unions, workers, and managers of small subcontracting companies, who met regularly, gathered, and sometimes demonstrated.
They also appealed to the Diet through members of the Japanese Communist Party.
As a result, the Agency for Cultural Affairs proposed, regarding the payment of secondary usage fees, "First, the anime workers should create an organization to serve as a receptacle. Then, the businesses can pay the usage fees collectively to the organization, and the organization can then pass the money on to the workers."
However, the anime workers and the presidents of small subcontracting companies, who are forced to work long hours 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, did not have the resources to create such an organization.
Subsequently, a new association was established targeting commercial animators, but unlike the Japan Music Copyright Association and the Japan Actors Union, no copyright organization has been established to this day without success.
However, capitalists and executives of large corporations, who have the time and money to spare, easily form alliances. https://aja.gr.jp/english/japan-anime-data
1987. The Japanese Communist Party's newspaper, Akahata(Red Flag), reports on a meeting of anime labor unions, workers, and small subcontractors.
Photo by Eisanro
A citizens' rally was held in 2004 to raise awareness of the plight of anime workers. It was jointly organized by several labor unions and voice actors.
*Public institutions such as community centers in Japan do not like to lend their venues to labor unions. On the day of the event, this event alone was not posted on the information board at the entrance.Harada and Masako Nozawa protested, but their protest was not accepted.
At the after-party for the event, Harada heard from Masako Nozawa a story about how long ago, Toei Doga's labor union members and voice actors united to fight the company. Nozawa is a famous voice actor in Japan, but this was the first time Harada had heard of the story.
Strikes and demonstrations by voice actors and animators.
Questions about anime in the Diet by members of the Japanese Communist Party
In 2024, Harada assisted a Japanese Communist Party Diet member in a parliamentary question about anime. Tomoko Tamura, who brought up anime in the Diet at that time, is now the first female chairperson of the Japanese Communist Party.
by kiyubaru2020
| 2024-10-14 23:56
| 労働組合 Labor union
