Copyright Act

A broadcaster, cablecaster or simultaneous broadcasting service may transmit via simultaneous broadcasting a performance whose sound has been recorded onto a commercial phonogram (including phonograms made available for transmissions; the same applies in the following paragraph, paragraph (1) of the following Article, Article 96-3, paragraphs (1) and (2), and Article 97, paragraphs (1) and (3)) with the authorization of the owner of the right provided for in Article 91, paragraph (1) (excluding performances for which a copyright management service manages the right provided for in Article 92-2, paragraph (1), or performances for which information necessary for smooth authorization, including the name of the specified performer and the contact information for accepting applications for authorization of simultaneous broadcasting, as specified by the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, has been disclosed by a method specified by the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Having transmitted a performance referred to in that paragraph via simultaneous broadcasting using a commercial phonogram, a broadcaster, cablecaster or simultaneous broadcasting service must pay compensation in an amount equivalent to the ordinary rate of royalties to the specified performer of the performance.

If a copyright management service is in existence, whose consent has been obtained and which the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs has designated as the only such service in the country, it is permissible for the right to receive the compensation referred to in the preceding paragraph to be exercised exclusively through the copyright management service.

The provisions of Article 93-3, paragraph (4) apply mutatis mutandis to the designation under the provisions of the preceding paragraph, and the provisions of paragraphs (5) through (13) of that Article apply mutatis mutandis to the compensation referred to in paragraph (2) and the designated copyright management service pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph. In this case, in paragraph (4), item (iv) of that Article, the phrase "remuneration referred to in paragraph (2)" is deemed to be replaced with "compensation referred to in Article 94-3, paragraph (2)," and in paragraphs (7) and (10) of that Article, the term "broadcaster" is deemed to be replaced with "broadcaster, cablecaster."

If a broadcaster or cablecaster (hereinafter in this Article and Article 97, paragraph (1) referred to as a "broadcaster or cablecaster") makes a broadcast or cablecast using a commercial phonogram onto which the sound of a performance has been recorded with the authorization of the owner of the right provided for in Article 91, paragraph (1) (unless it receives a broadcast transmission and makes a cablecast simultaneously, for non-commercial purposes and without charging a fee to the listening or viewing audience), it must pay a secondary use fee to the performer of the performance (but only for a performance referred to in Article 7, items (i) through (vi) and during the lifetime of the neighboring rights; the same applies in the following paragraph to paragraph (4)).

The provisions of the preceding paragraph apply to a performer whose performance has been fixed in phonogram whose producer is a national of a country other than a Contracting State of the Convention for the Protection of Performers, etc. which has chosen not to apply the provisions of Article 12 of that Convention, pursuant to the provisions of Article 16, paragraph 1, item (a), (i) of the Convention.

If the term of the protection under the provisions of Article 12 of the Convention for the Protection of Performers, etc. which a Contracting State of the Convention grants for phonograms set forth in Article 8, item (i) is shorter than the term of protection that performers receive pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1), the term of protection granted pursuant to the provisions of that paragraph to a performer whose performance has been fixed in a phonogram whose producer is a national of that Contracting State is the term of protection that the Contracting State grants under Article 12 of the Convention for the Protection of Performers, etc. for the phonograms set forth in Article 8, item (i).

The provisions of paragraph (1) apply to a performer whose performance has been fixed in a phonogram whose producer is the national of a Contracting State of the WPPT (but not a Contracting State of the Convention for the Protection of Performers, etc.) which has set a reservation pursuant to the provisions of Article 15, paragraph (3) of the WPPT, within the limits of that reservation.

If an association is in existence (including a federation of associations) that has as its members a considerable number of persons who perform professionally in Japan, whose consent has been obtained and which has been designated by the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, it is permissible for the right to secondary use fees under paragraph (1) to be exercised exclusively through that association.

The Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs may not make the designation referred to in the preceding paragraph unless the association satisfies the following conditions:

it is not-for-profit;

its members are able to freely join and leave;

its members have an equal right to vote on resolutions and in elections;

it has sufficient capacity to personally and properly perform functions involved in exercising the right to receive the secondary use fees referred to in paragraph (1) on behalf of the persons that own those rights (hereinafter in this Article referred to as "right holders").

An association as referred to in paragraph (5) must not refuse to exercise a right on behalf of a right holder if the right holder has so requested.

Once an association as referred to in paragraph (5) has had a request under the preceding paragraph, the association has the authority to act in and out of court on behalf of the right holder, in its own name, in connection with that right.

The Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, as provided by Cabinet Order, may ask an association as referred to in paragraph (5) to report on functions related to the secondary use fees referred to in paragraph (1) or to submit account books, documents, and other data, and may make the necessary recommendations for improving the way the association's business is executed.

The amount of secondary use fees that an association as referred to in paragraph (5) may demand on behalf of a right holder pursuant to the provisions of that paragraph is to be fixed each year by mutual agreement between the association and the broadcaster or cablecaster or association of broadcasters, etc.

If the agreement referred to in the preceding paragraph is not reached, the relevant parties, as provided by Cabinet Order, may request the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs to issue a compulsory license fixing the amount of secondary use fees.

The provisions of Article 67, paragraph (7) (limited to the part concerned with item (i)) and paragraph (8); Article 68, paragraph (3); Article 70; Article 71 (limited to the part concerned with item (ii)); and Articles 72 through 74 apply mutatis mutandis to the compulsory license and secondary use fees referred to in the preceding paragraph. In this case, the phrase "the applicant" in Article 67, paragraph (7) and the phrase "the copyright owner" in Article 68, paragraph (3) are deemed to be replaced with "the relevant parties"; the phrase "the matters set forth in the items of paragraph (5) and the amount of compensation fixed for the exploitation of the work subject to the compulsory license" in Article 67, paragraph (7), item (i) and the phrase "that fact and the following matters" in paragraph (8) of that Article are deemed to be replaced with "that fact"; in Article 72, paragraph (2), the phrase "the person exploiting the work" is deemed to be replaced with "the broadcaster or cablecaster referred to in Article 95, paragraph (1)" and the phrase "the copyright owner" is deemed to be replaced with "the association referred to in paragraph (5) of that Article"; and in Article 74, the phrase "the copyright owner" is deemed to be replaced with "the association referred to in Article 95, paragraph (5)".

The provisions of the Act on Prohibition of Private Monopolization and Maintenance of Fair Trade do not apply to the mutual agreement referred to in paragraph (10) nor to actions taken under it; provided, however, that this does not apply if unfair trade practices are used or if it would unreasonably harm the interests of the enterprises concerned.

Beyond what is provided for in paragraphs (5) through (13), necessary particulars involving the payment of the secondary use fees referred to in paragraph (1) and concerning the associations under paragraph (5) are provided for by Cabinet Order.

A performer has the exclusive right to make that performer's performance available to the public through the transfer of a sound or visual recording of it.

The provisions of the preceding paragraph do not apply to any of the following performances:

a performance whose visuals have been recorded with the authorization of the owner of the right provided for in Article 91, paragraph (1);

a performance as referred to in Article 91, paragraph (2) whose sound or visuals have been recorded other than as a sound recording set forth in that paragraph.

The provisions of paragraph (1) do not apply if a performance is made available to the public through the transfer of a sound or visual recording (except those referred to in items (i) and (ii) of the preceding paragraph; the same applies hereinafter in this Article) that falls under a category provided for in one of the following items:

a sound or visual recording of a performance that is transferred to the public by the owner of the right set forth in paragraph (1) or a person authorized thereby;

a sound or visual recording of a performance that is transferred to the public based on the compulsory license referred to in Article 67, paragraph (1) or Article 67-3, paragraph (1), as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 103;

a sound or visual recording of a performance that is transferred to the public based on the application of the provisions of Article 67-2, paragraph (1), as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 103;

a sound or visual recording of a performance that is transferred to exclusive groups made up of a few persons by the owner of the right set forth in paragraph (1) or a person authorized thereby;

a sound or visual recording of a performance that is transferred abroad without prejudice to any right equivalent to the right set forth in paragraph (1), or by the owner of any right equivalent to the right set forth in that paragraph or a person authorized thereby.

A performer has the exclusive right to make that performer's performance available to the public by renting out commercial phonograms onto which the sound of the performance has been recorded.

The provisions of the preceding paragraph do not apply if the performance is made available to the public by the renting out of commercial phonograms that have passed beyond the Cabinet-Order-specified period of at least one month and no more than 12 months counting from the date of their first sale (including the renting out of any phonogram of which reproductions that are entirely the same as such commercial phonograms are being made; hereinafter referred to as "post-term commercial phonograms").

If a person engaged in the business of renting out commercial phonograms to the public (hereinafter referred to as a "rental phonogram dealer") makes a performance available to the public by renting out a post-term commercial phonogram, it must pay a reasonable amount of remuneration to the performer whose performance it is (but only during the lifetime of the neighboring rights).

The provisions of Article 95, paragraphs (5) through (14) apply mutatis mutandis to the right to receive the remuneration referred to in the preceding paragraph. In this case, the term "broadcaster or cablecaster" in paragraph (10) of that Article and the term "broadcaster or cablecaster referred to in Article 95, paragraph (1)" in paragraph (12) of that Article are deemed to be replaced with "rental phonogram dealer referred to in Article 95-3, paragraph (3)".

The right to receive royalties in connection with the authorization of the owner of the right provided for in paragraph (1) may be exercised through an association referred to in Article 95, paragraph (5), as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to the preceding paragraph.

The provisions of Article 95, paragraphs (7) through (14) apply mutatis mutandis to the preceding paragraph. In this case, the provisions of the second sentence of paragraph (4) of this Article apply mutatis mutandis.