Copyright Act

• An author holds the moral rights of an author (著作者人格権) — to decide whether to make an unpublished work available to the public, to have their real name or pen name shown as author or no name at all, and to keep the work and its title from changes against their will (Article 20(2) excepts some changes, among them extending, rebuilding or repairing a building and changes needed to run a program on a computer) — and copyright (著作権): the exclusive rights to reproduce the work; to perform, play, screen or recite it in public; to transmit it to the public, making it available for transmission (送信可能化) included, and to show such transmissions publicly on a receiver; to exhibit in public the original of an artwork or of an unpublished photograph; to distribute copies of a film; to offer works other than films to the public by transferring originals or copies, or by renting out copies (the transfer right not reaching a copy that the rights holder, or someone it authorized, has already transferred to the public); to translate or adapt it; and the same kinds of rights over works derived from it. Neither needs registration or any other formality. The moral rights belong to the author alone and cannot be transferred.(Art. 17(1), Art. 17(2), Art. 18(1), Art. 19(1), Art. 20(1), Art. 20(2), Art. 21(1), Art. 22(1), Art. 22-2(1), Art. 23(1), Art. 23(2), Art. 24(1), Art. 25(1), Art. 26(1), Art. 26-2(1), Art. 26-2(2)(i), Art. 26-3(1), Art. 27(1), Art. 28(1), Art. 59(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where an employee makes a work in the course of duty at the initiative of a corporation or other employer, and the employer makes it public under its own name, the employer is the author unless a contract, the employment rules or anything else in force when the work was made says otherwise; for a computer program the employer is the author on the same terms whether or not it is made public under the employer's name. Otherwise the authors of a film (cinematographic work) are those who contributed creatively to shaping it as a whole by taking charge of its production, direction, staging, cinematography, art direction and the like, apart from the authors of the novel, script, music or other works it adapts or reproduces. The copyright in a film belongs to the producer of the cinematographic work (映画製作者) where its authors have promised that producer to take part in making it.(Art. 15(1), Art. 15(2), Art. 16(1), Art. 29(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Copyright begins when a work is created and lasts until 70 years after the author's death (the last surviving author's, for a joint work), counted from the year after the death. The copyright in an anonymous work or one under a pen name — unless the pen name is well known as the author's, or the real name is registered or put on the work when it is made public within the period — lasts until 70 years after it is made public, or ends sooner once 70 years after the author's death are found to have passed; the copyright in a work whose authorship is attributed to a corporation or other organization, and in a film, lasts until 70 years after it is made public, or 70 years after its creation if it is not made public within 70 years of that, each period counted from the year after. Apart from the term for films, these 70-year terms and those for performances and phonograms reach only what was still protected on the day before Act No. 108 of 2016 brought them in; for works, performances and phonograms whose protection had already ended by then under the earlier 50-year terms, the earlier rule continues to apply (なお従前の例による), so their protection is not restored.(Art. 51(1), Art. 51(2), Art. 52(1), Art. 52(2), Art. 53(1), Art. 54(1), Art. 57(1), Art. 101(2), Suppl. Prov. Art. 7(1), Art. 51(2) until 29 December 2018, Art. 52(1) until 29 December 2018, Art. 53(1) until 29 December 2018, Art. 101(2)(i) until 29 December 2018, Art. 101(2)(ii) until 29 December 2018) (the provisions it rests on)
• Copyright can be transferred in whole or in part, but if the transfer contract does not specifically name the rights to translate and adapt the work (Article 27) and over works derived from it (Article 28), those rights are presumed to stay with the transferor. A copyright owner can authorize others to use the work, who may then use it only within the methods and conditions authorized, and that licence holds good against anyone who later acquires the copyright. A transfer of copyright cannot be asserted against third parties unless it is registered in the copyright register the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs keeps.(Art. 61(1), Art. 61(2), Art. 63(1), Art. 63(2), Art. 63-2(1), Art. 77(1)(i), Art. 78(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Performers, producers of phonograms, broadcasters and cablecasters hold neighboring rights (著作隣接権), again without any formality, among them: for performers, the rights to record, to broadcast or cablecast, and to make available for transmission (送信可能化) their performances, besides the right to decide how they are named and to keep the performance from changes that harm their honor or reputation; for producers, the rights to reproduce their phonograms and make them available for transmission; and for broadcasters and cablecasters, the rights to record, retransmit and make available for transmission what they transmit. A performer's recording right does not reach a performance recorded in a film with the right holder's authorization (except re-recording it onto a sound-only recording), the broadcasting and cablecasting right does not reach cablecasting a broadcast performance or broadcasting a performance already recorded with authorization, and the making-available right does not reach a performance video-recorded with authorization. Neighboring rights last until 70 years after the year of the performance, or of the phonogram's publication (or of its first fixation, if it is not published within 70 years), and until 50 years after the year of a broadcast or cablecast.(Art. 89(5), Art. 89(6), Art. 90-2(1), Art. 90-3(1), Art. 91(1), Art. 91(2), Art. 92(1), Art. 92(2), Art. 92-2(1), Art. 92-2(2), Art. 96(1), Art. 96-2(1), Art. 98(1), Art. 99(1), Art. 99-2(1), Art. 100-2(1), Art. 100-3(1), Art. 100-4(1), Art. 101(1), Art. 101(2)) (the provisions it rests on)

• 24 June 2026

  The text on this site

  Act Partially Amending the Copyright Act

  著作権法の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 48 of 2026The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 17 June 2026

  Act Partially Amending the School Education Act, etc.

  学校教育法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 37 of 2026The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 21 May 2026

  Act Partially Amending the Code of Civil Procedure, etc.

  民事訴訟法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 48 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 21 May 2026

  Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts to Promote the Use of Information and Communications Technology in Civil Procedures, etc.

  民事関係手続等における情報通信技術の活用等の推進を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律

  Act No. 53 of 2023The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2026

  Act Partially Amending the Copyright Act

  著作権法の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 33 of 2023The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 October 2025

  Act Partially Amending the Radio Act and the Broadcasting Act

  電波法及び放送法の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 27 of 2025The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 October 2025

  Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts to Promote the Use of Information and Communications Technology in Civil Procedures, etc.

  民事関係手続等における情報通信技術の活用等の推進を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律

  Act No. 53 of 2023The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 June 2025

  Act Partially Amending the Copyright Act

  著作権法の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 33 of 2023The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 June 2025

  Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc.

  刑法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整理等に関する法律

  Act No. 68 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 19 July 2024

  Act Partially Amending the Act on Promotion of Distribution of Specified Books, etc. Used as Textbooks for Disabled Children and Students

  障害のある児童及び生徒のための教科用特定図書等の普及の促進等に関する法律の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 55 of 2024The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

All 37 amendments already in force

• A person may copy a copyrighted work for their own personal or family use, or use within a similarly limited circle (私的使用), but not with copying machines set up for public use, nor by knowingly making copies that getting around technological protection measures has made possible. Nor may they knowingly make digital sound or video recordings from an online transmission that infringes copyright (one from abroad that would infringe if made in Japan included), or knowingly make other digital copies from such a transmission, unless the part copied is minor or special circumstances mean the copyright owner is not unreasonably harmed. Those two bars do not reach someone who did not know only through gross negligence.(Art. 30(1), Art. 30(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A work that is caught incidentally and as a minor part in a photograph, sound or video recording, broadcast or similar capture of something else may be used along with that capture, within a justified scope in light of whether profit is sought from it, how hard it is to separate and its role, unless that would unreasonably prejudice the copyright owner; the capture may then be used with it.(Art. 30-2(1), Art. 30-2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A work may be used in any way, to the extent necessary, where the purpose is not to enjoy the thoughts or sentiments it expresses oneself or to let others enjoy them — for example in tests for developing or putting into practice technology for recording or otherwise using works, in information analysis (extracting and comparing, classifying or otherwise analysing the elements of large amounts of information), or in computer processing in which no person perceives the expression. This does not apply where the use would unreasonably prejudice the copyright owner's interests in light of the kind and purpose of the work and the way it is used.(Art. 30-4(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A work that has been made public may be quoted, provided the quotation is consistent with fair practice and within a scope justified by its purpose, such as news reporting, criticism or research. Where the quotation reproduces the work, its source must be indicated in a manner and to an extent reasonable for how it is reproduced, with the author's name shown on the work unless indicating the source makes the name clear anyway or the work is anonymous; quoting in other ways, the source must be indicated where that is customary. Breaking this duty to indicate the source is punishable by a fine of up to 500,000 yen.(Art. 32(1), Art. 48(1)(i), Art. 48(1)(iii), Art. 48(2), Art. 122(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Teachers and students at schools and other educational institutions not set up for profit may, to the extent necessary for use in their classes, copy works that have been made public, transmit them to the public (making them available for transmission included) and show such transmissions publicly on a receiver, unless this would unreasonably prejudice the copyright owner's interests in light of the kind and purpose of the work, the number of copies and the way it is copied, transmitted or shown. For transmissions, the institution's operator pays the copyright owner reasonable compensation, claimed only through the association the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs designates where there is one — except when transmitting to students taking the same class at the same time elsewhere a work that is being handed out or shown in the class itself, or performed, played, screened or recited there as Article 38(1) allows.(Art. 35(1), Art. 35(2), Art. 35(3), Art. 104-11(1), Art. 38(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A work that has been made public may be performed, played, screened or recited in public if this is not for profit, no fee is charged to the audience, and the performers or reciters are not paid. Likewise, copies of a work made public, other than a film, may be lent to the public if this is not for profit and no fee is charged to borrowers.(Art. 38(1), Art. 38(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
• An artistic work whose original is permanently installed outdoors in a place open to the public, such as a street or park, or where the public can easily see it, such as the outside wall of a building, and an architectural work, may be used in any way, except to make further copies of a sculpture or offer them to the public by transfer; to reproduce a building by constructing it or offer such a copy to the public by transfer; to copy the work in order to install it permanently in such a place; or to copy an artistic work solely in order to sell copies, or to sell such copies.(Art. 46(1), Art. 45(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The National Diet Library and libraries a Cabinet Order designates may, as a non-profit service, copy works from their materials to give a user, for research, one copy of part of a work made public (or of the whole, for publicity materials, statistics, reports and similar works that government bodies make public under their own names and other works, where a Cabinet Order specifies them), to preserve their materials, and to supply another library with out-of-print materials that are hard to obtain. Specified libraries (特定図書館等) that meet the Act's conditions may also transmit such parts to registered users for their research, unless that would unreasonably prejudice the copyright owner, with the library's operator paying the copyright owner reasonable compensation.(Art. 31(1), Art. 31(2), Art. 31(3), Art. 31(5)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Someone who wants to use a work that has been made public, or evidently offered to the public for a long time, but cannot reach its copyright owner — having taken the steps the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs sets to find the owner's contact details and tried every contact detail they have — may use it as a ruling (裁定) of the Commissioner allows, unless the author evidently means to withdraw the work, after depositing compensation the Commissioner sets as equal to the ordinary royalty, or paying it to the designated compensation management organization (指定補償金管理機関) where one does that work. A work made public whose copyright no copyright management business (著作権等管理事業者) manages, and for which no information for confirming the owner's wishes has been published as the Commissioner provides, may likewise be used under a ruling, on deposit of compensation, for up to three years where the owner's wishes cannot be confirmed by the measures the Commissioner sets. The Commissioner can revoke that ruling at the owner's request once the owner has made it possible to be approached about the use.(Art. 67(1), Art. 67-3(1), Art. 67-3(2), Art. 67-3(5), Art. 67-3(7), Art. 104-21(2)) (the provisions it rests on)

• Authors, copyright owners, owners of print rights (出版権), performers and owners of neighboring rights can demand that anyone infringing their rights, or likely to, stop or refrain, and can also demand the destruction of infringing goods and of machines or tools used only for infringement, or other measures needed to stop or prevent it. The Act also treats certain acts as infringements, among them importing, for distribution in Japan, goods made in a way that would infringe if done in Japan; knowingly distributing, offering or holding for distribution, or exporting as a business, goods made by infringement; and using a work in a way that harms the author's honor or reputation.(Art. 112(1), Art. 112(2), Art. 113(1)(i), Art. 113(1)(ii), Art. 113(11)) (the provisions it rests on)
• An owner of copyright, a print right or a neighboring right claiming damages from someone who infringed it intentionally or negligently can take as its loss the infringer's profit from the infringement, which is presumed to be the loss, or the fee it would have received for the use, or an amount worked out from the copies the infringer sold or transmitted and the owner's own profit per unit. Where a loss is shown but the facts needed to prove its amount are extremely hard to prove, the court can find a reasonable amount, and, on a party's application, it can order a party to produce documents needed to prove the infringement or calculate the loss, unless there is good reason to refuse.(Art. 114(1), Art. 114(2), Art. 114(3), Art. 114-5(1), Art. 114-3(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• An author or performer whose moral rights were infringed intentionally or negligently can demand, instead of or as well as damages, measures to ensure they are identified as the author or performer, a correction, or other steps to restore their honor or reputation. After an author's or performer's death, anyone offering the work or performance to the public must still not do what would infringe those rights if they were alive, unless it is found not to go against their wishes, and the surviving spouse, children, parents, grandchildren, grandparents or siblings can demand that a breach stop or that honor be restored. Breaking that rule is punishable by a fine of up to 5 million yen.(Art. 115(1), Art. 60(1), Art. 101-3(1), Art. 116(1), Art. 120(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Infringing a copyright, print right or neighboring right is punishable by imprisonment (拘禁刑) of up to 10 years, a fine of up to 10 million yen, or both — though not copying for one's own private use, nor acts the Act only deems to be infringements (Article 113), which carry the penalties of Article 119(2) and Article 120-2 where these provide one. Infringing moral rights, importing or distributing pirated goods as Article 113(1) describes, using pirated copies of a computer program in business when the user knew they were pirated on acquiring them, letting public copying machines be used for infringing copies for profit, and presenting to the public a website, or offering a program, that steers people to infringing content (apart from merely giving it a place on a larger website without unreasonably harming rights holders) are punishable by up to 5 years, 5 million yen, or both. Dealing in devices or programs whose function is to circumvent technological protection measures or technological exploitation restriction measures — selling or renting them to the public, making, importing or holding them for that, or putting them online — circumventing them as a business at the public's request, giving links to infringing content on such a website or through such a program, offering codes that circumvent those measures, and, for profit, falsifying or removing rights management information or importing records made for sale abroad as Article 113(10) describes, are punishable by up to 3 years, 3 million yen, or both.(Art. 119(1), Art. 113(1), Art. 113(5), Art. 119(2)(i), Art. 119(2)(ii), Art. 119(2)(iii), Art. 119(2)(iv), Art. 119(2)(v), Art. 119(2)(vi), Art. 113(2), Art. 120-2(1)(i), Art. 120-2(1)(ii), Art. 120-2(1)(iii), Art. 120-2(1)(iv), Art. 120-2(1)(v), Art. 120-2(1)(vi)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Even for private use, knowingly making digital sound or video recordings of recorded content that is offered to the public for a fee, by receiving online transmissions that infringe copyright or neighboring rights, is punishable by imprisonment of up to 2 years, a fine of up to 2 million yen, or both; so is knowingly making other digital copies of works offered for a fee from transmissions that infringe copyright, continuously or repeatedly, apart from minor copies and special circumstances in which the copyright owner is not unreasonably harmed. Neither offence covers someone who did not know only because of gross negligence.(Art. 119(3)(i), Art. 119(3)(ii), Art. 119(4), Art. 119(5)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The offences of Article 119(1) to (3), Article 120-2 items 3 to 6, Article 121-2 and Article 122-3(1) can be prosecuted only on a criminal complaint (告訴). The exception is infringement under Article 119(1) committed for payment, or to harm the income rights holders expect from works offered for a fee, by transferring to the public exact copies of such works or transmitting them to the public in their original form, or by copying them in order to do so, where that unreasonably harms that expected income.(Art. 123(1), Art. 123(2), Art. 123(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where a company's representative, or an agent, employee or other worker of a company or individual, commits in the course of its business an offence under Article 119(1), Article 119(2) items 3 to 6, or Article 122-3(1) (breaching a court's protective order, 秘密保持命令), the company is fined up to 300 million yen besides the punishment of the offender. For those offences an individual employer, and for the other offences Article 124 lists a company or individual employer, faces the fine the Article for the offence sets.(Art. 124(1)(i), Art. 124(1)(ii)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where a dispute arises over a right this Act provides, a party can apply to the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, paying a fee a Cabinet Order sets, for mediation (あっせん) by mediators for copyright dispute resolution (著作権紛争解決あっせん委員). The Commissioner refers the case to mediation when both parties apply, or one applies and the other agrees, but may decline where the case is by its nature unsuited to mediation or the application is made for an improper purpose.(Art. 105(1), Art. 106(1), Art. 107(1), Art. 108(1), Art. 108(2)) (the provisions it rests on)