CATDOLL: Japan's TPP may affect the doujin industry, causing strong dissatisfaction among otakus

As we all know, the widespread spread of Japanese anime is due to fan creation. On May 15, the Japanese government held a public briefing on the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement). Since the government admitted that if the TPP agreement is passed, it may have a huge impact on the Japanese ACG fan industry, it has also caused anxiety among Japanese otakus.

To this end, some media conducted special reports. The full text is as follows:

I'm sure everyone has heard of the term "TPP" from newspapers and TV. Its full name is "Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement", and its purpose is to promote economic liberalization in the Pacific Rim region and allow member countries to achieve economic cooperation under unified rules. The negotiation of this agreement is still underway, and for anime fans, the issue they are most concerned about should be "intellectual property rights". In particular, the project of "prosecution of non-copyright infringers" is directly related to the life and death of otaku culture.

Every year, the doujinshi event "Comic Market" attracts the attention of the otaku community because of the large-scale sales of doujinshi and other secondary creations. However, the current punishment for copyright infringement is "copyright owner prosecution", so many original authors of works acquiesce to this behavior, so secondary creation is not a problem. So this is a legal gray area.

However, if the TPP agreement introduces the "prosecution of non-copyright holders of copyright infringement", then even if the original author acquiesces in the secondary creation, the prosecutor will have the right to independently prosecute. And various secondary creation websites will also face a catastrophe.

Due to this trend, the "Comic Market" preparatory committee for the fan event has also made various response plans, including a statement on "negotiations on the TPP agreement" in March this year. On May 15, Kazuhisa Shibuya admitted that he encountered many difficulties in the negotiations on intellectual property rights. Therefore, the issue of "prosecution of non-copyright holders who infringe copyrights" has also attracted attention and heated discussions from all parties.

Anime fans also expressed their opinions on the report of this incident:

“If the CM falls, I will definitely protest on the streets.”

“Is the law meant to destroy culture?”

“It would definitely be a lot less fun if it wasn’t there.”

"The participants and the company think it's fine, can the outsiders please stop nagging?"

It can be seen that many people are extremely dissatisfied with the TPP agreement. But at the same time, some people have expressed other opinions:

"Originally, fan activities should be announced online for free. That's enough."

“CM has become too commercialized.”

"Even if you are a homosexual, you should protect the rights of others."

"If it's restricted, then wouldn't it be OK if the author gave an open license?"

“It is more surprising to me that government personnel are talking about the CM in public.”

In fact, if the "non-copyright holders" are prosecuted for copyright infringement, it will not only be CMs that will be affected. Videos posted on video sites that use copyrighted animation materials without permission (i.e. MAD) may also be affected.