Copyright Law of Japan - Length of Protection

Length of Protection

Works authored by an individual, under their own name or a known pseudonym, are protected for fifty years following the individual's death. Works authored anonymously or under an unknown pseudonym, as well as works authored by corporations, where the individual author or authors are unknown, are protected for fifty years following publication. Japan is considering extending the duration of protection to seventy years to be more in line with the United States and other nations.

Cinematographic works are protected for seventy years following publication (or seventy years following creation, if the work is not published). This update was made in 2004 to be more consistent with other nations around the world, as the previous term was fifty years. However, in 2006 the Tokyo District Court said that the 2004 law cannot be applied retroactively, so that all cinematographic works published (or created, if not published) before 1953 are now public domain. However, in 2007 the Tokyo District Court ruled that for works (in particular from Akira Kurosawa) released before and in 1970 copyright protection is extended until 38 years after the original copyright holder's death.

Neighboring rights apply for fifty years after the work is performed, transmitted, or put on sale.

Works authored by, or transferred to, residents of countries which were Allied Powers in World War II, before the effectuation of the San Francisco Peace Treaty, are given some prolonged protection by an exemption law. This extension compensates for the unprotected period in World War II, and varies with the country of the author or the copyright holder in the wartime. The prolongation is normally by 3,794 days (including Australia, Canada, France, United Kingdom, and the United States), but some countries ratified later, and have longer wartime (the longest is 4,413 days for Lebanon).