Copyright Act

The owner of the right set forth in Article 21 or Article 23, paragraph (1) (hereinafter in this Chapter referred to as "the owner of reproduction rights or public transmission rights") may establish a print right in favor of a person that undertakes to either print the work as a piece of writing or as a picture (this includes recording the work on a recording medium in a format that makes it possible to use a computer to display the work as a piece of writing or picture on a computer screen, and distributing the copy of that work that has been recorded onto that recording medium; referred to as "the act of printing" in Article 80, paragraph (2) and Article 81, item (i)) or to transmit the work to the public (this in includes making it transmittable, other than through a broadcast or cablecast, if the work is transmitted via automatic public transmission; hereinafter the same applies in this Chapter) using a copy of that work that has been recorded on a recording medium in the relevant format (referred to as "the act of public transmission" in Article 80, paragraph (2) and Article 81, item (ii)).

If a pledge has been established on the right of reproduction or right to transmit to the public, the owner of reproduction rights or public transmission rights may establish print rights only with the authorization of the pledgee.

The owner of print rights exclusively holds all or part of the following rights to the work that is subject to those print rights, pursuant to the act of establishment:

the right to reproduce the unaltered original work for the purpose of distribution, as a piece of writing or as a picture, by printing it or by other mechanical or chemical means (including the right to reproduce the unaltered work as an electronic or magnetic record recorded on a recording medium in a format provided for in Article 79, paragraph (1));

the right to transmit the unaltered work to the public using a copy of that work that has been recorded on a recording medium in a format provided for in Article 79, paragraph (1).

Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, if the author of a work dies during the life of the print rights, or, unless otherwise stipulated in the act of establishment, after three years have passed since the first act of printing or act of public transmission (referred to as the "act of printing or public transmission" in Article 83, paragraph (2) and Article 84, paragraph (3)) following the establishment of the print rights, the owner of the reproduction rights or public transmission rights may reproduce such work or transmit such work to the public by compiling the relevant work in a complete collection of works or other compilation (limited to one in which only the works of that author are compiled).

The owner of print rights may authorize another person to reproduce the work that is the subject of those print rights or transmit that work to the public only after having obtained the consent of the owner of reproduction rights or public transmission rights.

The provisions of Article 63, paragraphs (2), (3) and (6) and Article 63-2 apply mutatis mutandis to cases provided for in the preceding paragraph. In this case, the term "the copyright owner" in paragraph (3) of Article 63 is deemed to be replaced with "the owner of reproduction rights or public transmission rights and the owner of print rights provided in Article 79, paragraph (1)" and the phrase "Article 23, paragraph (1)" in paragraph (6) of that Article is deemed to be replaced with "Article 80, paragraph (1) (limited to the part concerned with item (ii))".

The owner of print rights has the obligation set forth in the relevant of the following items for the category set forth in that item in connection with the work subject to the print right; provided, however, that this does not apply if otherwise stipulated in the act of establishment:

the owner of print rights connected with the rights provided for in Article 80, paragraph (1), item (i) (referred to as "the owner of item (i) print rights" in the following Article) has the following obligations:

the obligation to undertake the act of printing for a work within a period of six months after the date on which the owner of print rights has been transferred the manuscript or other original copies or anything else equivalent thereto or been provided with the electronic or magnetic record of the work that is necessary for reproducing the work, by the owner of the reproduction rights or public transmission rights;

the obligation to continually undertake the act of printing for the work in conformity with business practices;

the owner of print rights connected with the rights provided for in Article 80, paragraph (1), item (ii) (referred to as "the owner of item (ii) print rights" in paragraph (1), item (ii) of the following Article and Article 104-10-3, item (ii), (b)) has the following obligations:

the obligation to undertake the act of public transmission for a work within a period of six months after the date on which the owner of print rights has been transferred the manuscript or other original copies or anything else equivalent thereto or been provided with the electronic or magnetic record of the work that is necessary for transmitting the work to the public, by the owner of the reproduction rights or public transmission rights;

the obligation to continually undertake the act of public transmission for the work in conformity with business practices.

In any of the following cases, the author may make adjustments, additions, or deletions in that work within a scope that is justified:

the owner of item (i) print rights reproduces the work again;

the owner of item (ii) print rights transmits the work to the public.

Each time the owner of item (i) print rights seeks to reproduce a work subject to the print rights the owner owns again, the owner must notify the author of this in advance.

The duration of print rights is as stipulated in the act of establishment.

Unless otherwise stipulated in the act of establishment, print rights expire on the day on which three years have elapsed following the first act of printing or public transmission is undertaken after the establishment of those rights.

If the owner of print rights breaches the obligation referred to in Article 81, item (i) (limited to the part concerned with (a)) or item (ii) (limited to the part concerned with (a)), the owner of reproduction rights or public transmission rights may extinguish the print rights connected to the rights provided for in the relevant of Article 80, paragraph (1), item (i) or (ii), by notifying the owner of print rights.

If the owner of print rights breaches the obligation referred to in Article 81, item (i) (limited to the part concerned with (b)) or item (ii) (limited to the part concerned with (b)), and, notwithstanding that the owner of reproduction rights, etc. has specified a period of at least three months and called upon the owner of print rights to perform the obligation within that period, the owner of the print rights does not perform that obligation within that period, the owner of reproduction rights or public transmission rights may extinguish the print rights connected to the rights provided for in the relevant of Article 80, paragraph (1), item (i) or (ii) by notifying the owner of print rights.

If the convictions of an author that is the owner of reproduction rights or public transmission rights come to differ from the content of the author's own work, the author may extinguish the print rights to that work by notifying the owner of the print rights of this, in order to stop the act of printing or public transmission of that work; provided, however, that this does not apply if the author does not compensate the owner of print rights in advance for the damages that would usually arise from such stoppage.