Sometimes Japanese copyright law can b like like traffic signals in Boston — just a suggestion.
Wired’s Jennifer Granick heads off to Toyko and visits the Mandarake comic book store in search of Japanese fan-fiction about the untold love affair between R2-D2 and C-3PO. She came up empty handed, but did find some fan fiction about the untold love affair between Harry Potter and (ewww gross) Draco Malfoy.
Granick gives a brief and fascinating tour of the Managa industry and culture, with attention to the mountains of fan-fiction both commerically and self-published harmoniously lining the shelves of Japan’s largest comic retailers without a lawsuit in sight.
These works are called doujinshi, or self-published fan fiction, and it’s a popular genre based on the appropriation and reuse of commercial characters.The secret love affairs mentioned above are part of a a Doujinshi subculture calld yaoi (pronounced “yowie!”). Yaoi features stories about the homoerotic relationships between two popular male characters in anime, manga and even Western films.
Japan’s easy-going copyright laws make it possible for these derivative genres to flourish. Manga stores not only sell fan-fiction based on original works, but how-to manuals featuring everything from drawing characters to dolls you can modify yourself to create whatever your heart desires.
Intentional or not, the Japanese government has provided manga fans with a way to kick start their own creative endeavors and allows them to draw inspiration and skill from commercial works.As Granick points out, In Japan, it’s no problem for your inspiration to be something cool somebody else thought of first.
This is not to say Japan doesn’t care about copyright. Copyright holders can and have prosecuted those who don’t follow fair use standards similar to those in the United States. However, when it comes to the highly popular and profitable world of comics and manga and derivitive works, everybody seems to look the other way.
Wired sublty suggests that the U.S. needs a new way to look at creativity that borrows and builds on the work of others and create a more collaborative culture that many copyright reformers (watch the videos) argue for. Instead of just reading a manga and putting it on a shelf with the rest of your collection, you can build on your favorite series and your favorite characters and create something new. That is what the Fair Use Project is working toward. Their article “Will Fair Use Survive?”Free Expression in the Age of Copyright Control” addresses some of the issues surrounding the strict fair use rules currently applied in the United States and argues for a more open application of US fair use laws.
The highly profitable Japanese manga/comic industry takes a “free expression” approach and continues to thrive. It seems there could be a lesson here for US corporate copyright holders who hold on to their copyright with an iron fist.