Copyright Act

The copyright to a cinematographic work subsists for 70 years after the work is made public (or for 70 years after the creation of the work, if the work is not made public within the 70 years after its creation).

When the copyright to a cinematographic work expires at the expiration of the duration of copyright, the copyright to original work connected with that cinematographic work also expires as regards the exploitation of the cinematographic work.

The provisions of the preceding two Articles do not apply to the copyright to a cinematographic work.

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The time at which a work is made public as referred to in Article 52, paragraph (1); Article 53, paragraph (1); or Article 54, paragraph (1) is the time at which each volume, issue, or installment is made public, for works that are made public successively in volumes, issues, or installments, or the time at which the last part of the work is made public, for works that are made public sequentially in parts.

If the subsequent part of a work that is completed after being made public sequentially in parts, has not been made public even though three years have passed since the most recent part was made public, the last of the parts of the work that has been made public is deemed to be the last part of the work for the purposes of the preceding paragraph.

In calculating the end of the fifty-year period following the death of the author; the fifty-year period after a work is made public or created; or the seventy-year period after a work is made public or created, in a case referred to in Article 51, paragraph (2); Article 52, paragraph (1); Article 53, paragraph (1); or Article 54, paragraph (1), the starting point for the calculation is the year after the year in which the author dies or the work is made public or created.

If, pursuant to the provisions of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the WIPO Copyright Treaty, or the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, the country of origin of a work (except a work falling under Article 6, item (i)) is a foreign country that is a member of the International Union established by the Berne Convention, a contracting party to the WIPO Copyright Treaty, or a member of the World Trade Organization, and if that country of origin has established a shorter duration of copyright for such a work than what is provided for in Articles 51 through 54, the duration of copyright for that work is the duration established by the country of origin.

Author's moral rights are exclusive to that author, and are inalienable.

Even after the death of an author, it is prohibited for a person that makes available or presents the author's work to the public to engage in conduct that would be prejudicial to the moral rights of the author if the author were alive; provided, however, that this does not apply if that conduct is found not to contravene the will of the author in light of the nature and extent of the conduct as well as changes in social circumstances and other conditions.

Copyrights may be transferred in whole or in part.

If a contract for the transfer of a copyright makes no particular reference to the rights set forth in Articles 27 and 28, these rights are presumed to be retained by the transferor.

Copyright expires in the following cases:

the author dies, and the copyright is to revert to the National Treasury pursuant to the provisions of Article 959 (Reversion of Residual Assets to the National Treasury) of the Civil Code (Act No. 89 of 1896);

the corporation that owns the copyright is dissolved, and the copyright is to revert to the National Treasury pursuant to the provisions of Article 239, paragraph (3) of the Act on General Incorporated Associations and General Incorporated Foundations (Act No. 48 of 2006) or the provisions of other similar Acts.

The provisions of Article 54, paragraph (2) apply mutatis mutandis when the copyright to a cinematographic work has expired pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

The copyright owner may grant another person authorization to exploit the work.

A person that obtains the authorization referred to in the preceding paragraph is entitled to exploit the work to which that authorization pertains within the scope of the manner and conditions of exploitation under that authorization.

The right to exploit a work under the authorization referred to in paragraph (1) may not be transferred without the consent of the copyright owner.

Unless otherwise stipulated in a contract, the authorization referred to paragraph (1) in connection with the broadcasting or cablecasting of a work, does not include authorization to record the sound or visuals of the work.

The provisions of Article 23, paragraph (1) do not apply to a person that has obtained the authorization referred to in paragraph (1) to make a work available for transmission, making the work available for transmission repeatedly or using another automatic public transmission server to make the work available for transmission within the scope of the manner and conditions of exploitation under authorization (other than those that concern the number of times the work may be made available for transmission or the automatic public transmission server that may be used to make the work available for transmission).

The moral rights of co-authors of a joint work may not be exercised without the unanimous agreement of all the co-authors.

A co-author may not prevent the agreement referred to in the preceding paragraph from being reached in breach of good faith.

Co-authors may choose one co-author from among themselves to represent them in the exercise of their moral rights.

Limitations on the representative authority of the person representing the co-authors in the exercise of the rights referred to in the preceding paragraph may not be duly asserted against a third party that is without knowledge of those limitations.

The owner of a copyright to a joint work or any other jointly owned copyright (hereinafter in this Article referred to as a "joint copyright") is not entitled to transfer or pledge that share of the joint copyright without the consent of the other co-owners.

A joint copyright may not be exercised without the unanimous agreement of all the co-owners.

In a case referred to in the preceding two paragraphs, a co-owner may not, without justifiable grounds, refuse the consent referred to in paragraph (1) or prevent the agreement referred to in the preceding paragraph from being reached.

The provisions of paragraphs (3) and (4) of the preceding Article apply mutatis mutandis to the exercise of a joint copyright.

The copyright owner is entitled to exercise a copyright even if a pledge has been established with the copyright as its subject, unless otherwise stipulated in the act of establishing the pledge.

A pledge may be exercised with respect to money or any other thing the copyright owner would receive from the transfer of the copyright or the exploitation of the work (including consideration for the establishment of a print right); provided, however, that the attachment of the right to receive such things is required before their payment or transfer to the pledgee.

In a case prescribed by Cabinet Order as one in which, due to reasons such as the author being unknown, the author of a work that has been made public or a work that has clearly been made available or presented to the public for a considerable period of time cannot be contacted even after a considerable effort, a person may exploit that work in the manner provided for in a compulsory license issued thereto by the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, after depositing compensation for the copyright owner in an amount fixed by the Commissioner as equivalent to the ordinary rate of royalties.

A person that seeks to be issued the compulsory license referred to in the preceding paragraph must submit to the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs a written application detailing the manner in which that person seeks to exploit the work and other particulars designated by Cabinet Order, and attaching materials to support a prima facie showing that the copyright owner cannot be contacted and the materials designated by Cabinet Order.

A copy of a work that has been created pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) must bear an indication that it is a copy pertaining to the compulsory license referred to in that paragraph, and give the date on which that compulsory license was issued.

A person that has filed an application for the compulsory license referred to in paragraph (1) of the preceding Article (hereinafter in this Article referred to simply as the "compulsory license") may, if the person deposits collateral in the amount fixed by the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs in consideration of the method of exploiting the work to which the application pertains, exploit the work to which the application pertains by the same method as the method of exploitation to which the application pertains, until the person is issued the compulsory license or a disposition denying the compulsory license (or, if the person becomes able to contact the copyright owner before being issued the compulsory license or a disposition denying the compulsory license, until the time when the person became able to contact the copyright owner); provided, however, that this does not apply if it is clear that the author of the work intends to discontinue the printing or other exploitation of the work.

A copy of a work that has been created based on the application of the provisions of the preceding paragraph must bear an indication that it has been made pursuant to the provisions of that paragraph, and give the date on which the application for a compulsory license was filed.

Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article, if the person exploiting the work pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) (hereinafter referred to as a "user with a pending application") is issued the compulsory license, the user is not required to make a deposit under the provisions of paragraph (1) of that Article with regard to the portion of the compensation referred to in that paragraph which is equivalent to the amount of collateral already deposited under the provisions of paragraph (1) of this Article (or, if the amount of the collateral exceeds that of the compensation, with regard to the amount of the compensation).

If a user with a pending application is issued a disposition denying the compulsory license (unless the user has been able to contact the copyright owner in the time leading up to the disposition), the user must deposit the compensation for the copyright owner in the amount that has been fixed by the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs as equivalent to the amount of royalties for having exploited the work pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) in the time leading up to when the user was issued the disposition. In this case, the portion of the collateral deposited pursuant to the provisions of that paragraph which is equivalent to the amount of compensation (or if the amount of compensation exceeds the amount of collateral, the collateral) is deemed to have been deposited as compensation.

If a user with a pending application becomes able to contact the copyright owner in the time leading up to the disposition granting or denying the compulsory license, the user must pay the copyright owner compensation equivalent to the amount of royalties for having exploited the work pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) in the time leading up to when the user was able to contact the copyright owner.

In a case referred to in the preceding three paragraphs, the copyright owner is entitled to receive repayment from collateral deposited pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) in connection with the right to receive the compensation referred to in paragraph (1) of the preceding Article or the preceding two paragraphs.

A person that deposits collateral pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) is entitled to recover, pursuant to Cabinet Order, all or a part of the portion of collateral that exceeds the amount of collateral from which the copyright owner is entitled to receive repayment pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph.