The Yomiuri ShimbunA cultural climate for publication activities must be protected by preventing copyright violations on the internet. It is important to return to this fundamental principle in promoting in-depth discussions on the matter from various standpoints.

The government has decided not to submit to the current Diet session a bill aimed at revising the Copyright Law, after studying it as a measure to cope with websites for pirated versions of copyrighted work.

Currently, criminal penalties are imposed on internet users who have downloaded unlawful music data and videos. The legislation was mainly designed to expand the list of legally protected work to cover all forms of copyrighted work.

Websites for pirated editions of copyrighted work can be easily accessed. As a result, more than a few people use such sites without much thought about their conduct. The revision bill was also intended to introduce penalties for such behavior, thereby making its illegality widely known to the public and educate them about this.

However, the bill aroused concerns that expanding the list of targets could make internet users nervous about using websites for ordinary purposes. There were also concerns that the legislation could hinder efforts to collect information on the internet. As it turned out, the anxiety felt by specialists and cartoonists, among others, had not been dispelled. There is no choice but to abandon the idea of legislating a wider range of penalties.

However, it is worrying that the decision to give up such legislation could cause delays in the promotion of copyright protection. Many copyrighted works are being disseminated without permission, while nothing is done to prevent such acts. There are some people who access and acquire pirated versions of copyrighted work, despite knowing the illegality of such conduct.

Maintain a balance

If the practice of infringing on the rights of authors and publishers is widespread, it would ruin the foundation for the culture of publication, which can exist based on appropriate prices paid for their works. It is important to implement necessary measures, starting with those that can be actually taken.

Many such users access websites for pirated works through “leech sites,” which guide them to such sites, and download illegal data. With this in mind, the bill regarded the management of leech sites as a copyright violation, and such sites were included in the list of those subject to punishments.

Although the idea of setting stricter regulations on access to pirated works has been abandoned, effective measures should be taken to cope with the problem, through a mix of methods that can be adopted for that objective.

Business circles related to the issue need to completely stop placing ads on leech sites, as these ads are a source of income for such site operators.

It is also effective to promote an even closer exchange of information with search site operators, thereby ensuring leech sites are not displayed in search results.

There are many loopholes in rules on the internet use, and these rules cannot be fully followed. Internet users are strongly averse to strict regulations.

Discussions on what is called “blocking,” a process that forcibly cuts off access to illegal sites, were also frustrated before being concluded.

An enormous amount of information comes and goes in internet space. The question is what should be done to maintain a good balance between the rights of copyright owners and those of internet users to know, thereby contributing to the development of culture.

It is essential to look for ways to protect copyrights from a broader perspective, not just reinforcing regulations.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 24, 2019)Speech

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