Aozora Bunko - Problems

Problems

Aozora Bunko pointed that extension of the copyright term had been influenced from the document, “The U.S.-Japan Regulatory Reform and Competition Policy Initiative.” Through these annual reports, The U.S. Government was requiring that the protected period of copyright should be extended to the Japanese government: 70 years after one’s death for an individual, and 95 years after for a corporation. In response, the Agency for Cultural Affairs in Japan has expressed that a conclusion is obtained at the Council for Cultural Affairs copyright subcommittee by the end of 2007. If the legal revision which extends a protected period will be actually carried out, Aozora Bunko would be forced not to publish books which have already and almost been published because of the 20 years extension of protection of copyright. Therefore, Aozora Bunko released the counter declaration against enforcement of revised law on January 1, 2005; they started to collect the signatures for a petition on January 1, 2007.

Due to the regime change on 2009 in Japan, Japanese government stopped to receive these reports from the U.S. government. Aozora Bunko does not show any responses toward that and their petition calling for opposition against the extension of copyright term stopped from the modification of October 2008. Instead of the document, the website of embassy of the United States inserted the “UNITED STATES-JAPAN ECONOMIC HARMONIZATION INITITAIVE” in February 2011. In the document, The U.S. government still requires the extension of copyright law for protection of intellectual property rights toward Japanese government.