CATDOLL: Is the fan industry really doomed by Japan's acceptance of the non-prosecution of copyright as a crime?

We have previously reported that the Japanese government will hold final negotiations with the United States on the "non-personal prosecution of copyright protection" in the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement). Japanese anime fans are most concerned about the issue of two-dimensional fan creation. The focus is on whether Japan will exclude two-dimensional products from the scope of non-personal prosecution criminalization like the amendment to the Child Pornography Protection Act.

Finally, at the Japanese cabinet meeting on July 28, the Abe cabinet finally accepted the US's demands for copyright protection to be decriminalized without personal prosecution, and for copyright protection to be extended to 70 years after the author's death. Cartoonist Ken Akamatsu angrily accused the Japanese government of incompetence, saying that Japan is simply a domestic animal of the United States.

The simple explanation of "non-personal prosecution crime" is that as long as the prosecutors and police find a person or group infringing copyright, they can arrest the infringer directly without the report of the copyright owner. Infringement will be changed from "personal prosecution crime" to "non-personal prosecution crime", which means that even if the author acquiesces in secondary creation, ordinary people or inspection agencies can file a lawsuit. In other words, if Japan finally accepts the non-personal prosecution crime, the Japanese fan industry will undoubtedly usher in a cold winter, and the fan industry will be severely hit. Fan books and even fan gatherings may disappear in the future.