Japan Looks To Allow Compulsory Licenses For Putting TV Content Online

from the one-way-to-do-things dept

Fri, May 25th 2007 6:53pm — Mike Masnick

Sounds like the entertainment industry may need to rush some lawyers over to Japan. Michael Geist points out that the Japanese government is looking to change copyright laws to allow anyone to repost broadcast TV online without permission -- just as long as they pay a compulsory license fee. The idea is to help promote the distribution of TV content. However, with entertainment companies like Viacom and NBC so focused on "control" over their content, this type of proposal can't make certain entertainment companies very happy -- even if they would get paid for their content every time people help promote it for them.

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9 Comments

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ScaredOfTheMan, 25 May 2007 @ 7:59pm

Quickly
"all your TVs are belong to us"
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Toritaiyo, 25 May 2007 @ 8:08pm

interesting...
I'm guessing that Japan (probably the japan recording-media industries association) is doing this in response to problems with massive amounts of TV content being posted on sites like Youtube. Is that the case?

I had read somewhere that they were set to sue Youtube, but I do not know if that took place.

Is the broadcast TV they are giving reposting permission for Japanese TV? And if so, wouldn't Viacom and NBC not be effected? I don't know, just a guess.
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toritaiyo, 25 May 2007 @ 8:10pm

Re: Quickly
:)
haha
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Ric, 25 May 2007 @ 8:35pm

Not a bad idea really...They will have created a legal way to do things, and average joe youtube user probably won't want to pay the fees.
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Matt, 25 May 2007 @ 11:08pm

Re:
So what if, say, youtube were to pay the fees out of advertising revenue?
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Pursewarden, 26 May 2007 @ 6:35am

Youtube is only the tip of the iceburg
With the vast amount of Anime that is either downloaded or shared through websites like Crunchyroll, I don't think that they can put this genie back in the bottle.

Hopefully it will open up some eyes over here and some of the TV execs over here will see the need to *gasp* think about doing things a different way.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 May 2007 @ 3:47am

smart move . the Japanese government know that future of tv is on internet . they taking first step into it . Viacom and NBC will only lead to extinction if they continue with they current system.
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TX CHL Instructor (profile), 27 May 2007 @ 11:42am

The nation-state
The nation-state is increasingly obsolete, but that doesn't mean that nations will simply go away quietly. The demise of the nation-state and the rise of the sovereign individual will be accompanied by many such futile attempts to maintain the state's monopolies over such things as the media, the internet, and use of force. see: http://snipurl.com/SovereignIndivual
--
Concealed Handgun License Courses in Plano, TX
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Pat, 27 May 2007 @ 5:13pm

Cool
I can already rent music CDs at the same place I rent DVDs here in Japan.

Right beside the register they sell blank DVDs CDs and MiniDiscs. I wonder what they're for?

Odly enough, they're often the cheapest place in town to buy my blank media!

They still don't rent games here though. Have to buy 'em then sell 'em back.

I think the recording industry here have realized long ago - as in the music CD rental and blanks situation - that there are plenty of people and profits to be made from people wiling to buy CDs than to spend so much time and effort against the minority that don't.
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