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Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > Japanese Government Policies in Education, Science, Sports and Culture 2000 > Part 1 Chapter 3 Section 5 5

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Part 1 Toward a Culturally-Oriented Nation
Chapter 3 Toward Actualizing a Culturally-Oriented Nation
Section 5: Promotion of International Cultural Exchange
5. Promotion of International Cooperation in Copyright Protection


Due to the development of the Internet as part of the information technology (IT) revolution, borderless distribution of copyright works has become a reality.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) introduced new treaties in 1996, in response to the spread of digitization and computer networks, and is considering new international rules on the rights of performers in the audiovisual field and broadcasters. Japan is making efforts to take initiatives in actively submitting proposals in the course of deliberations of treaties, but further efforts are needed on copyright issues brought about by the development of IT and electronic commerce.

In other words, multiple viewpoints such as global policy coordination, promotion of culture and economic development, etc., have become necessary in international policy-making, and in particular, new cross-cutting issues concerning electronic commerce and policies for Asian countries have become issues of importance. As a result, Japan must implement measures with attention to the active proposal of policies from Japan, the promotion of cooperation between those ministries and agencies concerned with the protection of intellectual property, and the promotion of cooperation between the public and the private sector.

Important cross-cutting policy agendas include: (1) clarification of legal liability of service providers; (2) consideration regarding the treatment of databases; (3) works on issues concerning private international laws (applicable law and international jurisdiction); (4) utilization of alternative dispute resolution; and (5) the development of a electronic copyright management system. The government is planning to propose policies to foreign countries, taking into consideration the direction of international consideration on these issues and the state of deliberation in private and other fields.

In addition, in developing countries in Asia and other regions, Japanese copyrighted works such as CDs, game software and videos have been illegally copied and sold, thus damaging their interests. In this relation, the WTO (World Trade Organization) TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement became applicable to developing countries as of January 2000. The government is planning to continue to support the development of copyright laws in developing countries, and to place more emphasis on efforts to ensure the meaningful exercise of copyrights in coming years.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs has been implementing various cooperation programs for developing countries and programs to counter illegal copies, in cooperation with WIPO and other bodies, with a view to promoting the notion of copyright protection, development of legal systems for the protection of copyrights and the establishment of effective enforcement of copyright laws in the Asia-Pacific area, and they continue to expand every year. The government plans to help developing countries, through these programs, to develop legal systems to fit TRIPS and the new WIPO treaties, to foster collective administration bodies for appropriate management of copyrights, and to strengthen enforcement of copyright protection. At the same time, the government plans to further strengthen the effective protection of works in foreign countries through new initiatives such as the strengthening of bilateral dialogues with Asian countries and the utilization of international fora such as APEC.


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