Copyright case

[Aaron Gerow]

> If this is true then where are all the Japanese silent
> cinema download sites?

As Aidan said, there is probably just not enough interest around to 
support such sites. It is not a question of time, because it was clear 
to anyone that films made before 1952 were public domain even before 
the 2004 amendment to the Copyright Law. This court case only confirms 
that the amendment extending copyright applied only to films whose 
copyright had not expired, and that copyright had expired for films 
made in 1953.

There is also the problem of availability. While 16mm prints of old US 
films are floating all over the place, that is not the case in Japan. 
Not only did few films survive, but few of these have been made 
available on VHS and DVD, let alone 16mm. I also suspect that just 
because pre-1952 films are public domain, that doesn't mean you can 
just go out and buy the new DVD of Oshidori utagassen and copy it for 
sale (the version that includes the authoring, menus, etc. can be 
copyrighted separately). You can do it if you have a film print, 
however, which is what Matsuda Eigasha does with the old films in its 
collection. I once talked with them about whether Shochiku ever 
complained that they were selling a VHS of I Was Born But even though 
Shochiku was as well. They said no, but given how delicate these things 
can be, they did tell Shochiku before hand what they were doing.

This is probably another reason why this doesn't happen much: Japanese 
companies can be obnoxious about asserting their rights even when they 
don't have them. It was kind of sad reading the comments of someone 
from KineJun in the Mainichi article about this copyright case: he was 
falling all over himself saying how bad a decision it was because, he 
says, it will prevent companies from producing good DVDs of films (by 
the same logic, public domain should be eliminated all together). The 
industry position seems to be that protecting their rights protects 
those of everyone.

Thus while the Film Center should do what the Library of Congress is 
doing, and make available some of its early film collection for 
internet download, I suspect they will never do it because they don't 
want to ruffle any feathers in the industry. But who knows?

Aaron Gerow
KineJapan owner

Assistant Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Yale University

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