Forum - View topicThe Law of Anime Part I: Copyright and the Anime Fan
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CrowLia
Posts: 5528 Location: Mexico |
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^ Watching them, yes, but not paying for them, so in essence, they're watching for free
Where'd you get that idea? AMV's get taken down all the time from Youtube for having a copyrighted background songs or using copyrighted pieces of video. Sometimes the music from a random AMV is removed because it is copyrighted |
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PMDR
Posts: 141 |
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Even if works make in Japan weren't automatically protected by US Copyright, the companies that make this stuff in Japan all have ties to representative agencies and other similar companies who try to resell their IP in the US. Most of them are far from household names. Afterall, they're basically middlemen peddling a catalog of titles. But those rep agents do hold effective ownership of the IP rights as they shop it around to the names people do know.
The point is, these agents own the US licences long before a name like Funimation gets ahold of it. There is no grace period "until somebody licenses something" where it's OK to torrent or distribute copies. The law says no. That's one thing. But in fact, nearly everything is bulk licensed for North America and other territories as soon as it's made, even if it never actually becomes a retail product. The licence acquisitions we read about are almost always when the license has been resold, not when it was created. |
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Chagen46
Posts: 4377 |
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From what I've heard, anime in Japan basically doesn't make any money at all due to how late it airs and how few people watch it. The production companies actually PAY the stations to host the show as an advertisement for the discs (which makes me wonder why the companies don't just use online streaming--it's probably cheaper and more efficient than awkwardly putting it on the air at goddamn 1 in the morning). |
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Polycell
Posts: 4623 |
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Chagen46
Posts: 4377 |
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But anime fans in Japan are always online all the time, given the popularity of 2chan. You telling me that they can't just spread shit the good old word of mouth way? It's how us American fans do it, and we don't have easy access to the original promotions/articles.
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Polycell
Posts: 4623 |
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Might just be the otaku prefer watching things on TV. All I can say is that ONA don't seem to do as well.
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ActionJacksin
Posts: 112 |
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Chagen, I don't know if you've read any of Justin Sevakis's articles (specifically the ones that center on anime production and licensing) or have listened to the anncast on a regular basis, but if you do you'll learn one thing: Japanese companies (specifically, the ones that are made to be licensors for international distribution, though I could be wrong on that one) are known to be scared s***less when it comes to online streaming, primarily because it doesn't rake in as much money as they would want or at a pace that's satisfactory to them. All the word of mouth from 2chan, 4chan, ANN, hell pretty much the whole internet, wouldn't phase them that much when it comes to adapting to streaming media. |
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S.Thordsen
Posts: 15 Location: Santa Ana, CA |
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As I said, it's a difficult balance that nobody I think has quite figured out yet. If you want to see how being altruistic and letting everybody profit from your hard work but to your detriment look at the story of Nicolai Tesla, he didn't care much for his patents because he wanted society as a whole to benefit, as a result he saw little to no money and died practically penniless for it.
This is a major problem because a lot of sites do base themselves in foreign locations where the enforcement of copyright is poor. Where a nation doesn't enforce copyright going after those who infringe is a very difficult matter. Years ago in law school I wrote an entire dissertation about China's piracy problem and how it has actually hurt them in several industries because of this.
That is my error, as at the time of writing episode two had not aired yet and I still haven't gotten around to watching Code Geass: Akito yet (I'm still trying to finish Sword Art Online).
This has been covered in the Hey Answerman column substantially over the years but Japanese company's fears of reverse importation and piracy (which they enforce more strongly in japan, you can see one or two arrest articles on the ANN home page right now) are prime examples of a country where the enforcement of intellectual property laws becomes a more serious matter (to its corporations) whereas here where the companies are still trying to find legislation to protect them.
As I noted above, this has well been covered in the answerman column, but general by the time a show airs and sometimes well before, Japanese and American companies are already in talks over the licensing of a show. On top of this there are several international treaties that allow creators in foreign nations to rest assured that their work is protected abroad as well as domestically. The US and Japan are signatories on many of these. |
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ChibiKangaroo
Posts: 2941 |
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Although you don't lose your copyright if you don't enforce it, you may lose your ability to enforce it against certain parties due to the equitable doctrine of laches. If you allow someone to essentially infringe your copyright and do nothing about it for a prolonged period of time, and if they rely on your lack of enforcement to a certain level (usually by investing in the infringement to some substantial degree), a court might deny your ability to get damages or an injunction against that person. For example, a current situation where this doctrine could have potentially applied at some point is an indie fighting game which I saw featured on Game Spot recently called My Little Pony: Fighting Is Magic. As far as I know, the game's creators had no agreement with Hasbro or the people involved with creating the TV show. They were operating under the hope that they wouldn't be shut down. Apparently the game had been featured at some MLP and game conventions, and people involved with the TV show were aware of it but didn't stop them until this month. I'm not sure how much these people actually invested in the game (money wise), but if they had been allowed to continue on to completion and actually start distributing the game, they might have had a valid defense against suit by Hasbro, which is probably why Hasbro shut them down. Article Shut Down Notice |
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sburstall
Posts: 178 Location: Ohio, USA |
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Another source we can all go to is the website "Law and the Multiverse" (http://lawandthemultiverse.com/). These guys go about the legality of superheroes/folks. Maybe ANN could talk these into getting some information also.
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
Posts: 7580 Location: Wales |
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As I understand it, you need a Mechanical License to record performances of music you do not own the copyright for. |
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Dorian
Posts: 111 Location: Houston |
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An article about the use of 3D printers and copyright infringement. Printing 3D figures.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/02/19/171912826/as-3-d-printing-become-more-accessible-copyright-questions-arise |
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purplepolecat
Posts: 130 |
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Fantastic article, in an area that is frequently rife with misinformation.
I noticed that in the whole article, the word "illegal" is only used twice, in the paragraph about DMCA violations. Am I right in assuming that this is because DMCA is criminal law, and copyright violations are a civil matter? Since the vast majority of fans exist in this murky gray area of "potentially actionable, but not practical to enforce against" behavior, it would be nice if people stopped using the word "illegal" to refer to things that are not criminal offenses; it's inflammatory and just alienates people. |
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Polycell
Posts: 4623 |
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"Illegal" just means the law forbids it; it has nothing to do with what sort of punishment it's prescribed nor whether the state is the one seeking the punishment(eg, RICO can be used in both criminal and civil cases).
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ChibiKangaroo
Posts: 2941 |
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Re: usage of the term "illegal." I found this article which I think may be helpful in understanding the meaning of "illegal," and how it differs from the term "unlawful."
unlawful v. illegal In my practice, I don't use the term "illegal" very often. I usually use "unlawful." There doesn't seem to be a big distinction between them for practical purposes. However, the semantics of the terms (as described in the linked article) might sort of line up with differences between civil and criminal law. Essentially, the article states that unlawful means something is not authorized, whereas illegal means it is specifically forbidden. Civil law often deals with actions that might be permissible unless circumstances make them not permissible, whereas criminal law generally deals with actions that are presumed forbidden. E.g. Stealing, killing, selling illicit drugs are all specifically forbidden (with few exceptions); however, entering into a contract and breaking it, or selling a product which is defective/dangerous, or creating an unauthorized copy of someone's intellectual property are all actions which are barred due to their context, not their inherent illicit nature. (If you don't break the contract, it's ok to enter into it. If your product isn't defective, its ok to make it. If you have authority to copy the intellectual property, it's ok to copy it.) Like I said, it probably is more of a stylistic thing these days, but this is just a thought. |
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