Two years ago Japan discussed expanding the scope of its Copyright Laws with reforming it, as of January 2021, the law was enacted which punishes those who knowingly download illegally uploaded or pirated manga, magazines, and academic works. The revision also bans “leech sites” that aggregate and provide hyperlinks to pirated media starting on October 1st.
Recently, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication released a new video, highlighting what was included in the new Copyright Law which also included a new Filtering Service that was enacted for blocking illegal websites. A service aimed at parents and guardians who seek to create “a safe online environment for youths.”
Previously, the copyright law only formalized punishment for downloads of illegally uploaded music and videos, as well as illegal uploads of all materials. However, the revision allows for the downloading of a “few frames” from a manga of several dozen pages or more or posting photographs where the manga is not the focus of the photo (for example, appearing in reflections). The revision will also not punish people who download derivative works (such as dōjin or fanfiction) or parodies.
For more information on this development, Anime News Network has further details.
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