First off, I’m going to say this: In defense of Japanese companies like Nintendo, Kadokawa, Dwango, et cetera, their **are NOT** at fault for any or recent YouTube copyright controversy.
…*No*, I’m not kidding.
From what I’ve researched, the Japanese government’s legislation on copyright specifically is so fundamentally clunky — whether it’d be a drawing of a famous celebrity on a Japanese TV show or even small edited seconds of copyrighted material, and especially “with Nintendo” for the copyright stuff on YouTube, I think with the Nintendo NX coming up — even though with YouTube being “cancerous” enough as it is — Nintendo NEEDS that YouTube support; so I think **everybody** needs to take notice about this.
For being a big translator on the Nico Nico Douga, I can assure you that I too have seen this go on for far too long with various videos getting copyright striken — hell, some reasons like an “audio file” (http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm25566825) or just being a re-uploaded commercial (You can’t watch it, but this video was from a popular AU commercial called “Voices of the Sea/Umi no Koe”: http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm26874906) are completely ridiculous.
So, why do I say that Japanese companies like Nintendo aren’t at fault? Well, I’m going to bring up two very important points that relate to this.
(Also, PLEASE know that these laws don’t represent Japan and their content creators’/companies.)
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**The Osomatsu-san Copyright Mega-Controversy** and **Sky Williams’ Stance on YouTube Copyright**
First, Osomatsu-san.
Back last year, there was an anime called “Osomatsu-san” that celebrates the 80th birthday of the series’ creator Fujio Akatsuka, who died at the age of 72 in 2008; it story follows as the Matsuno sextuplets becoming adults. It was explosively popular — more popular than Is This Order a Rabbit? season 2, Ninja Slayer: From Animation, and *even One Punch Man.* But why?
When the anime aired with it’s first episode, it contained a HUGE amount of parodied anime and parodied “What Anime is Like Today” pretty much, with idols, titans — you name it, it’s probably in that episode.
It contained animes like Attack on Titan, Naruto, Sailor Moon, Kuroko’s Basketball, and a whole ton more. Sadly, it got removed off of any video-sharing website — both in and out of Japan — that provided that first episode and that **MASSIVELY** infuriated the Japanese audience, giving the boom it has now with many fanmade videos, and here’s the reason why.
> “…As Japanese law currently stands, no special provisions are made for parody works, as they are under the laws of various other countries such as the United States. As such, a strict reading of Japanese copyright law would deem parody as a violation of copyright owners’ “right to maintain integrity,” making parody potentially illegal without the prior consent of copyright owners.
Because copyright infringement is only prosecutable upon a copyright owner’s formal complaint, parody in Japan is often tacitly allowed…”
(Proof/Credit: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-06-09/japanese-government-looks-into-copyrights-and-parodies
http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXBZO42306130X00C12A6000000/ (NOTE: Japanese-only, the link above is a translated summary, pretty much.
Also, Nikkei is the same Japanese media corp who)
In short: **”There are no fair use/parody laws legislated in Japan and you must have the prior consent of the copyright owners’ before you make content from that copyright owners’ IP/original content.”** *(At least that’s how I see it)*
This has got to be the most backward-ass law I have ever seen in my life — *this is pretty much The Fine Brothers’ “React World” program all over again.*
What’s worse is that thanks to that law the Japanese government has put in place, this is **EXACTLY** how Sky Williams mentioned how YouTube MUST follow the DMCA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMHEeTup9T4&feature=youtu.be); Nintendo, Shaft, Dwango, EVERYBODY has to follow their law, or else they’d risk potential lawsuits or even bankruptcy. Hell, pretty much everything that Sky said about the DMCA in his video is exactly why these companies follow this weird law.
Sadly, it’s such a lose-lose situation that the affects of this has reached all over the world in a negative impact. Whether it’d be from Angry Joe, to TeamFourStar, to even Doug Walker/The Nostalgia Critic, it’s been a scary place for videos that involve almost any Japanese-made material and there might not be anything we can do about it.
I’m pretty sure some Japanese companies like Nintendo or JAM Project know the effect of “Free Promotion,” and they may know that they’ll still be racking in the dough while the little/big guy will at least get something. Hell, I may be wrong about all of this and these companies are a **real** vase of cocks.
But, is it really — **REALLY** a coincidence that the law in Japan has a backwards-ass fair use law and these companies are “just acting on their own? I don’t think so. Though the biggest problem, I believe, is what we can even do.
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Here’s the final point where we need to take into consideration: the biggest problem, in correlation to Japanese companies following the Japanese copyright law, is finding the way to show Japan that what they’re practically doing is illegal (apparently, been hearing a lot that the takedowns are potentially illegal) and to show that they’re impeding people’s livelihoods and entertainment, and even ruining their image.
But here’s the thing: we’re foreigners and we have near to absolutely no right to change anything in that country, and even if we did, there’d be so many other things to consider and I think that is the biggest problem. I honestly feel that we need to figure out, communicate with each other, and collaborate with Japan on reaching a compromise.
But we need to know first that *these Japanese companies aren’t the real enemies*; the shitty copyright law, and **maybe even the Japanese government for legislating this law**, is, but even then, I could be entirely wrong about that.
Though that’s where we come in and to take careful steps to not rattle the wrong cages — I feel that, yes, I think it’s a good idea that we’re trying to show Nintendo that they need to stop with their copyright, but yet their the WRONG PEOPLE to show this to. If we keep pointing the fingers at the wrong people during this escalated time of need and fear, we could ruin our chances at fixing this for good. We’ve got to think carefully of what we decide to do next. And know also that the Japanese government and these laws *don’t represent the whole country.*
“We’ve got one bullet, make it count.”
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Anyways, somewhere in this long post, or maybe even all of it, I’m incorrect and wrong — hey, I am willing to accept responsibility and apologize, honestly. I’m not going to act like a “Reactionist” or make a “THE REDDIT RANT” video; I’m willing to fess up to my mistakes.
I know that I can move forward from these mistakes and like before, can take more careful steps and think more into it, if what I said in this post is completely wrong.
I know I’m not a big YouTuber, or a known personality, and my opinion may differentiate from all of the rest, but I seriously hope you’ve taken the time to read this, and if you did, thank you very much, and I hope maybe this message gets spread.
I’ll I have to say left: **The Japanese copyright/fair use laws are fucking preposterous.** Papa bless. <3
**EDIT**: This video is a PERFECT example of the laws there in Japan, by Creeps Plays: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra5kgVDOnio
Also, footnote from Creeps, backing up my point:
> “Also something to add- Since making this video, there have been numerous more channels hit specifically by Japanese companies. There’s been some information that Japan doesn’t have **Fair Use laws at all,** and every time you use their footage and products, you HAVE to have license. However as someone from the UK, I’ve had to play by American rules and I accept that. Japan however, seem to think differently.”
**EDIT 2**: I completely forgot about Nintendo’s “Creator’s Program!” My apologies! The only answer I can give is an somewhat-educated guesstimate: I think that’s Nintendo trying to help creators out with making videos of their content while trying to bypass Japan’s copyright law. I mean, why else would they make that program?