In Japan, downloading movies, TV series, and music is considered illegal ; however, other types of copyrighted content, such as video games, manga, and software, are not being controlled. Until now. A new law aims to punish users who download this type of content, with potential prison sentences of up to two years.
Downloading games in Japan can land you in jail
To this day, the copyright law that remains in force in the Japanese country protected content related to movies and music that had copyright, however, the Agency for Cultural Affairs tried last year to expand the range of content to protect other authors from illegal downloads. Well, as reported in the Asahi newspaper, the government has finally met to discuss the new requirements, finally approving that any copyright violation will be considered illegal.
And now things get interesting, because beyond video game downloads , the new regulations would also cover content such as manga, photographs, articles, and even screenshots or social media posts. It seems the meeting included a discussion about how internet use "could be stunted" by these measures, although they clarified that they will only be applied if the action truly infringes on copyright.
The problem is that a simple screenshot constitutes a violation of the law, so it remains to be seen to what extent mobile phone use can be controlled among the population, since most are unaware of the implications of copyright. Sharing a simple meme could easily infringe on copyright , and that's where major problems could arise, not only for the user but also in terms of how the law is enforced.
Punishment remains to be defined
Taking into account the problem of controlling the personal life of common users, the government insists that the law will be limited to sanctioning those actions that are truly harmful to intellectual property, especially controlling popular download websites, copying of original content, direct damage to the owner of the rights or repeated infringements.
With these points in mind, Japan intends to control and eradicate illegal downloads in the country, so we will have to see how it works for them and if they are able to reduce piracy based on exemplary punishments.