Interest

Japanese Industry Group Creates Anti-Piracy Web Manga

The Japan Association of Music Enterprises (JAME) has posted a web manga title titled "Music Moral Keepers," a story about a similarly-named group of heroes who stop individuals who illegally upload or download music in 2035.

In the manga, the hero team comprised of Hayato Morikawa, a guitar-playing musician, Kyoichi Saionji, a music-loving lawyer with a 200 IQ who has never lost a case, and Ryoko Habu, a high school student at a music cafe, team up to stop a fan of the band "Creek Machineguns" from uploading their music. When the fan explains that she was uploading the music because the band's label went bankrupt before they could have their major debut, the Music Moral Keepers stop her by telling her that uploading music is damaging to the industry and ultimately reduces the number of bands who will gain major exposure.

The manga is a part of a larger "Music Moralism" campaign currently being held by JAME. The campaign also aims to educate individuals about the newly-passed penalization of knowingly downloading copyrighted material without permission, which will come into effect this October. The new law states that those charged with illegal downloading will now face up to two years of prison or fines of up to 2 million yen (about US$25,400). The law also obligates national and local governments to educate minors on illegal download prevention. JAME will also be appearing at music festivals giving away free campaign-related goods.

[Via Hachima Kikō]