Resale of videos vs. games

[Joseph C. Schaub]

Dear Aaron,

I am very interested in this issue, but since the 
discussion didn't go too far on the list, I took the 
liberty of e-mailing you directly.  Hope that's not a 
problem.

I wonder if you could let me know the Newspaper that you 
found this info in.  (I found something in the Nikkei 
Weekly, May 31, but not much).  I'm also very much 
interested in the sections of Japanese Copyright Law that 
the Court must have used to uphold its ruling.

Anyway, whatever further info you can provide will be very 
much appreciated.  I'm writing a dissertation chapter on 
the disappearing boundaries between screen media, and 
thought it would be vital to include this.

thanks,

Joe
 
On Fri, 28 May 99 10:31:34 +0900 Aaron Gerow 
<gerow at ynu.ac.jp> wrote:

> In a decision that has interesting implications for the legal definition 
> of cinema in Japan, a Tokyo court yesterday ruled in favor of the 
> defendants in a case in which video game makers sued companies over 
> selling used video games.
> 
> Since there is a government regulation prohibiting the resale of movies 
> on video and LD--i.e., the sale of used videos--under Japanese copyright 
> law, the video game maker Enix sued some toy stores that were selling 
> used video games by arguing that the provision regarding films also 
> covered video games.
> 
> The court, however, ruled against Enix by arguing that video games are 
> not movies.  The court offered the following as its definition of a film: 
> 1) Expressing feelings or ideas by selecting set images and arranging 
> them in a set order; 2) The same order of images is as a rule replayed.  
> The court argued that, since the order and content of images in a video 
> game are the result of the player's manipulation, a video game cannot be 
> considered to express the feelings or ideas of the producer.
> 
> I do have questions for people.  First, I was not familiar with the 
> provision regarding the resale of film videos and LDs, in part because 
> there are lots of stores, including rental stores, around that sell used 
> videos.  Are these then all illegal?  Does anyone know the specific 
> regulation and can cite a source?  What was the reasoning behind this 
> prohibition?
> 
> I was also wondering about other countries.  I know Reel.com sells used 
> videos, so is this practice permissable in the U.S.?  What about other 
> countries?
> 
> Any ideas or comments?
> 
> 
> 
> Aaron Gerow
> Yokohama National University
> KineJapan list owner
> For list commands: send "information kinejapan" to 
> listserver at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> Kinema Club: http://pears.lib.ohio-state.edu/Markus/Welcome.html
> 

----------------------
Joseph C. Schaub
js326 at umail.umd.edu