JapanCopyright Act, Circumvention of Technological Protection and Restriction Measures (Articles 2(1)(xx)-(xxi), 30(1)(ii), 113(6)-(7) and 120-2), with the Unfair Competition Prevention Act circumvention-tool provisions
Copyright Act Act No. 48 of 1970, Arts. 113(6)-(7) and 120-2; Unfair Competition Prevention Act, Act No. 47 of 1993, Arts. 2(1)(xvii)-(xviii) and 21(3)(iv)
In force since .
A copyright and text and data mining (TDM) rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Access restriction
As of .
What it requires
- Do not circumvent a technological restriction measure, an electromagnetic means that restricts the viewing of a work or the running of a computer program and is used with the will of the right holder, by interfering with its effect so as to make viewing possible, other than within a scope justified for research or technology development relating to the measure or where the right holder's interests are not unreasonably harmed; the act is deemed an infringement of the right.
- Do not rely on the private-use copying exception for a copy that you know was made possible by circumventing a technological protection measure, an electromagnetic means that prevents or deters infringing acts through a signal or conversion method.
- Do not transfer or lend to the public, manufacture, import or possess for that purpose, offer for public use, or transmit publicly a device, program or command code whose function is to circumvent a technological protection measure or a technological restriction measure, and do not circumvent such a measure as a business at the public's request.
- Do not transfer, deliver, export, import or provide through telecommunication lines a device, program or command code, or provide a service, that makes possible by interfering with the effect of a technological restriction measure used in business the viewing, running, processing or recording that the measure restricts.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionYes
Criminal exposure note
Copyright Act Article 120-2 provides imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to three million yen, or both, for supplying circumvention devices or programs to the public, for circumventing as a business at the public's request, and for the acts Article 113, paragraph 7 deems infringements; Unfair Competition Prevention Act Article 21, paragraph 3, item 4 provides imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to five million yen, or both, for the item 17 and 18 acts done to obtain an unlawful profit or to damage the person using the measure in business.
What this law does
Article 2, paragraph 1, item 20 of the Copyright Act defines a technological protection measure as an electromagnetic means of preventing or deterring acts that infringe copyright or related rights, other than a means used without the will of the right holder, that works either by having the equipment used with the work record or transmit a signal that triggers a particular response, or by converting the work into a form that requires a particular conversion.
Item 21 defines a technological restriction measure as an electromagnetic means of restricting the viewing of a work or other protected subject matter, including running a computer program, other than a means used without the will of the right holder, that works by the same kinds of signal or conversion method.
Article 30, paragraph 1, item 2 removes the private-use copying exception for a copy made knowing that circumvention of a technological protection measure made the copying possible, or removed an obstacle to its result.
Article 113, paragraph 6 deems the act of circumventing a technological restriction measure, that is, making possible the viewing of a work it restricts by interfering with its effect, to infringe the copyright, publication right or neighboring right concerned, except where the act is done within a scope justified for research or technology development relating to the measure or otherwise does not unreasonably harm the interests of the right holder.
Article 113, paragraph 7 deems it an infringement to transfer or lend to the public, to manufacture, import or possess for that purpose, to offer for public use, or to transmit publicly or make transmittable, a command code whose function is to circumvent a technological protection measure or a technological restriction measure.
Article 120-2 provides imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to three million yen, or both, for a person who supplies to the public a device or program whose function is such circumvention, for a person who as a business circumvents such a measure at the public's request, and for a person who commits an act that Article 113, paragraph 7 deems an infringement.
Article 2, paragraph 1, item 17 of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act makes it unfair competition to transfer, deliver, display for transfer, export or import a device or program having the function of making possible, by interfering with the effect of a technological restriction measure used in business, the viewing of images or sound, the running of a program, the processing of information or the recording that the measure restricts, or to provide such a service.
Item 18 covers the same acts done to a person other than the specified persons where the technological restriction measure is used in business to prevent anyone other than specified persons from viewing, running, processing or recording.
Article 21, paragraph 3, item 4 of that Act provides imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to five million yen, or both, for a person who commits the unfair competition in item 17 or 18 for the purpose of obtaining an unlawful profit or of causing damage to the person using the technological restriction measure in business.
Under supplementary provision 1 of the Act amending the Copyright Act (Act number 77 of 1999), the amendments to Article 2, paragraph 1, Article 30, paragraph 1, Article 113 and Article 119 and the new article inserted after Article 120 took effect on , ahead of the rest of that Act on .
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