①The duration of copyright begins at the time the work is created.

②Unless otherwise specified in this Section, a copyright subsists for a period of 70 years after the death of the author (or the death of the last surviving co-author, for a joint work; the same applies in paragraph (1) of the following Article).

①The copyright to an anonymous or pseudonymous work subsists for a period of 70 years after the work is made public; provided, however, that if, before the expiration of a duration of copyright for an anonymous or pseudonymous work, it is found that 70 years have elapsed since the death of the author of that work, the copyright is deemed to have expired at the time that is found to constitute the expiration of 70 years since the death of the author.

②The provisions of the preceding paragraph do not apply in any of the following cases:

①The copyright to a work whose authorship is attributed to a corporation or other organization subsists for a period of 70 years after the work is made public (or for a period of 70 years after the creation of the work, if the work is not made public within 70 years of its creation).

②The provisions of the preceding paragraph do not apply if the individual who is the author of a work whose authorship is attributed to a corporation or other corporate body, makes the work public and uses that individual's true name or the pseudonym by which that individual is commonly known to indicate the name of the author, within the period referred to in the preceding paragraph.

③With respect to the duration of copyright for a work whose authorship has been attributed to a corporation or other corporate body pursuant to the provisions of Article 15, paragraph (2), even if such a work does not fall under the category of works provided for in paragraph (1), it is deemed to be attributed to the relevant corporate body, and the provisions of paragraph (1) apply.

①The 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).

②When 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.

③The provisions of the preceding two Articles do not apply to the copyright to a cinematographic work.

①The 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.

②If 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 seventy-year period following the death of the author; 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.

①Copyrights may be transferred in whole or in part.

②If 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.

①Copyright expires in the following cases:

②The 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.

①The copyright owner may grant another person authorization to exploit the work.

②A 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.

③A right of exploitation (meaning the right to exploit a work under the authorization referred to in paragraph (1) pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph; the same applies in the following Article) may not be transferred without the consent of the copyright owner.

④Unless 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.

⑤If a person that may authorize another person (meaning authorization referred to in paragraph (1); hereinafter the same applies in this paragraph) to broadcast or cablecast a work or transmit a work via simultaneous broadcasting has authorized a specified broadcaster or cablecaster (meaning a broadcaster or cablecaster that undertakes simultaneous broadcasting in the course of trade, or supplies a broadcast program or cablecast program for simultaneous broadcasting undertaken in the course of trade by a simultaneous broadcasting service having a close relationship therewith, and, as a measure to publicize this fact, discloses information specified by the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs as information concerning the status of implementation of simultaneous broadcasting, including the title of the broadcast program or cablecast program subject to simultaneous broadcasting and the broadcast or cablecast time of the program, by a method specified by the Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs; hereinafter the same applies in this paragraph) to exploit the work in broadcast or cablecast programming by the specified broadcaster or cablecaster, the authorization is presumed to include authorization to transmit the work via simultaneous broadcasting (including simultaneous broadcasting undertaken by a simultaneous broadcasting service that has a close relationship with the specified broadcaster or cablecaster by receiving the broadcast program or cablecast program supplied by the specified broadcaster or cablecaster), unless the person manifests an intention to the contrary upon granting the authorization.

⑥The 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).

A right of exploitation may be asserted against a person that has acquired the copyright for a work that is subject to the right of exploitation or any other third party.

①The moral rights of co-authors of a joint work may not be exercised without the unanimous agreement of all the co-authors.

②A co-author may not prevent the agreement referred to in the preceding paragraph from being reached in breach of good faith.

③Co-authors may choose one co-author from among themselves to represent them in the exercise of their moral rights.

④Limitations 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.

①The 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.

②A joint copyright may not be exercised without the unanimous agreement of all the co-owners.

③In 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.

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

①The 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.

②A 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.