Japan's parliament has approved a measure to amend its copyright law so that illegally downloading copyrighted material will be a criminal offense. The revised law will carry a punishment of up to two years in prison or up to ¥2 million (about US$25,000) in fines and will start being enforced on October 1st of this year — in addition to illegal downloads, it also covers copying DVDs and Blu-Ray discs. Currently these downloads are illegal but carry no penalty, though uploading copyrighted material is punishable by up to ten years in prison or ¥10 million (about US$126,000) in fines. The practice of renting CDs is widespread in the country, with the service available at many video stores in Japan. However, while the newly amended law will include potentially heavy penalties for illegal downloads, offenders won't be charged unless they're actually accused by the copyright holder.
Amended Japanese copyright law to make illegal downloads a criminal offense
A new measure has been passed in Japan to amend its copyright law so that illegally downloading copyrighted material is a criminal offense.
dvds stock 1020
Comments
Brutal. I would imagine that the negative PR associated with sending someone to jail for copying a DVD would be a deterrent for abusing this system, but what do I know?
By RoboticSpacePenguin on 06.21.12 1:33pm
I just hope this will persuade Metallica and Creed to head east.. Permanently.
By Jamister989 on 06.21.12 1:44pm
hah! I use VHS… try tracking that shit, suckers!
By DarthBanHammer on 06.21.12 1:47pm
Honestly only the US is benefitting from this amended copyright law. The Japanese economy have been in shit for years.
By TippyGuy on 06.21.12 2:14pm
which is why they need to bow to the pressure the US is surely impressing upon them.
you think other countries CARE about US copyright?
they do when the US tells them they do.
By Vellion on 06.21.12 2:51pm
Um because Japan couldn’t possibly have media that is produced and copywritten in Japan right? /sarcasm
This is a move to curtail the “piracy” of Japanese anime, manga and films across the internet to countries other than Japan as much as it is them bowing to the media company’s fears of lost DVD and Blu-ray sales within Japan.
They do not mention US copyright being covered under this law and it probably couldn’t since that would be a treaty as with ACTA.
By Mr.GabrielSerna on 06.21.12 3:31pm
Wait, they (in japan) have any authority over people in other sovereign nations to access penalties and jail time? I don’t think so. This is only for Jp to Jp, gaijin’s like me are free :)
By enlight10ment on 06.21.12 4:27pm
Your comment is off—- anyone in Japan, foreigner or Japanese is covered by this law. Same as any country, you must obey the laws of that country while you are there.
By exdriver on 06.22.12 1:39am
Actually he’s kind of right, copyright holders in Japan are far more aggressive at stamping out online piracy of Japanese-language material; they don’t seem to care as much about foreign stuff.
By marksouth on 06.22.12 1:50am
Since when do pirates go to the source country to download? Internet spans the world if you didn’t know.
By enlight10ment on 06.22.12 11:44am
I think Sony Pictures and Sony Music care about copyright law worldwide.
By Argella on 06.21.12 5:09pm
Japan was also one of the first 8 countries to sign ACTA, so I guess they are one of the worst when it comes to stuff like this.
By LtRaziel on 06.21.12 2:45pm
sounds like piracy is an offense worth of a criminal record.
this will surely better world.
By Vellion on 06.21.12 2:50pm
“I’m in for killing 4 people, what are you in for?”
“Oh, I copied a DVD”
Fucking ridiculous
By Matt08642 on 06.21.12 3:06pm
Never fear, the new IPv6 protocol will usher filesharing(not piracy) into a new era filled with wonderful darknets.
By id4andrei on 06.21.12 3:10pm
If I use any encrypted connection that uses proxy and SSH tunnels like (Btguard,Ttor, PirateRay) , will it be possible to detect what I download and accordingly to convict me ?
By MiaPray on 06.26.12 6:15am