CATDOLL: Japanese lawyer explains child pornography law and says it does not include the second dimension

We have reported many times before that the "Child Pornography Law" promulgated by Japan last year will be implemented in a more severe form on July 15 this year. Many provisions in the law will have a significant impact on the expression and copyright of otaku works. These have already caused strong anxiety among Japanese otakus, saying that this will have a great impact on Japan's otaku culture. So what kind of impact will the "Child Pornography Law" have on otaku culture? Recently, a Japanese media specially hired a lawyer to analyze this.

Are you ready for the "Child Pornography Law" that will be officially implemented on July 15, 2015? This law affects the performance of the otaku market, copyright, idols and other Akihabara-related content. For this reason, we also interviewed lawyer Shinya Ohta of the law firm to understand the points worth noting in this law.

"There are two major amendments this time. The first is that simply possessing child pornography is also illegal. The other is that the definition of child pornography has been more detailed." (Ohta, the same below) Although we have been talking about amendments, amendments, what exactly is prohibited and what is the purpose? "The main purpose of this law is to prevent the sexual exploitation and abuse of children. The so-called children refer to three-dimensional characters under the age of 18, which does not include two-dimensional characters ." If this is explained, gentlemen are blessed.

Although we often get confused, the child pornography law actually protects "real" children. Therefore, the two-dimensional world does not involve any illegal activities . The "simple possession of child pornography" mentioned in the amendment to the bill has also sparked a topic. What does this specifically mean?

"This refers to the possession of photos and videos that fall within the scope of the Child Pornography Act. Even if it exists in the form of data on a computer, it is still considered that the person possesses the item." The items that fall within the scope of the Child Pornography Act are, first of all, "items that show that a child is only partially clothed or completely naked, which can cause sexual excitement in others." If the Child Pornography Act is violated, a fine of up to 1 million yen or detention of up to one year will be imposed.

"I don't think the police would search the homes of ordinary people because of child pornography laws. Of course, possessing obscene materials of children is illegal in itself. But considering that people who violate gun laws and possess drugs are often dug up in reports of major incidents, unless they are involved in a major incident, this crime is generally not imposed on ordinary people."

However, the definition of "possession" in the law is also difficult to define. For example, what if it is not in a personal computer? Is it a crime if it is uploaded to a network server? Especially in the case of overseas servers. This aspect is still confusing.

"In addition, when someone unilaterally sends you child pornography, it cannot be considered possession. But if you know the content and 'save it of your own will', it is possession." In recent years, although protection measures against computer viruses have been strengthened, it cannot prevent strangers from suddenly sending you pictures.

There is one more amendment that needs to be paid attention to. This is the more detailed definition of child pornography. Specifically, the law has the following more specific provisions on the content of the image:

"Deliberately exposing and emphasizing the sexual characteristics of a child (sexual organs or surrounding areas, buttocks or breasts)" (Article 2, Item 3, Item 3) Why is the description "emphasizing buttocks and breasts" deliberately added to the definition of the revised Child Pornography Act?

"Until now, the definition of the form of expression, such as the one we mentioned earlier, 'the child's body is only partially clothed or completely naked, which can cause sexual excitement in others', is too broad. Therefore, it is difficult to determine what exactly causes 'sexual excitement'. For this reason, specific parts such as 'buttocks and breasts' are added to the law."

The previous law was based on "equivalent to nudity", but this time it includes "emphasized parts". With this, should photo albums and DVDs of so-called "girl idols" also be included in the scope of child pornography law?

"I don't understand this until the law is enforced. If it's just a photo of a child bathing, then it's fine. But if it's a photo of a sexual organ, then it might be covered by the law."

For all the weird uncles who own girl idol peripheral products, I hope you can check whether there are any problems with your collection. Of course, if it is something that does not cause sexual excitement and stimulation, such as family growth records, then there is no problem. Regarding this amendment to the bill, although the Ministry of Justice emphasized that it is not intended to restrict freedom of expression, it has a great impact not only on the girl idol industry, but also on the entire photo industry.

Japan's expression style has always been considered "relaxed" by the world, and the enforcement of this law may also have the significance of testing the waters. However, if this decree does not include the second dimension, it is indeed great news for gentlemen.