Conan: The winner is justice

The old man’s name is Kameyama Rōji.

The original author of "Cat's Journey to Kino".

He was also a Japanese writer who wrote in the same batch as Daisuke Tokura.

"I can vouch for this young man!"

Kameyama Rōji stood on the witness stand, glanced at Toshiya Tadokoro and said loudly.

"Although the novels he wrote did borrow a lot from me, I didn't care about it. On the contrary, I felt very happy because I didn't expect that people could read the books I wrote so long ago. I There are still people who remember such old antiques, which is my greatest honor as a literary creator!"

"That's right, in fact, I have always read the books I wrote as if they were written by Kameyama-senpai's fans! Moreover, there are many original things in the books I wrote. This is my tribute!"

Toshiya Tadokoro also quickly added.

Kameyama Rōji nodded: "Yes, I am very happy that someone writes a fan of my book! And I feel honored!"

Here, the defendant Daisuke Tokura became anxious when he heard what the witness said.

"Even if it's a fanfic, how can we say it's not infringement? The two are essentially the same!"

However, the judge took one look at him and struck the hammer.

"The witness's statement is reasonable! Although the witness's work is created by a fellow artist, it has the consent of the original author, which is considered authorized. His work also has a secondary creation part, so he should have his own copyright, and it is not an infringement!"

As soon as the verdict was announced in the court, the whole court was in an uproar.

In the field of literary creation, plagiarism is a very sensitive matter.

Generally speaking, anyone who writes novels hates others copying their books.

After all, it is the result of one's own hard work, only to be plagiarized by others. Who can bear this?

However, both witnesses said that it was not plagiarism but creation by a fan.

Then the nature here is different.

Although doujinshi and copying books essentially infringe on the copyright of the original author.

However, the so-called copyright infringement is not generalized.

Common copyright infringement behaviors generally include the following types.

Publish the work without the permission of the copyright owner;

Those who did not participate in the creation but signed their names on other people's works for the purpose of seeking personal fame and fortune;

Pirating other people's works and selling them through other channels;

Distorting or tampering with other people’s works;

Plagiarizing other people's works;

Wait for a series of actions.

Among them, doujin refers to "distorting and tampering" with other people's works.

Plagiarism is "plagiarizing" someone else's work.

In Japan, although copyright is strictly controlled, original authors have completely different attitudes towards the two.

Very few original authors worry about whether their fan works are infringing upon copyright infringement.

Even in Japan, where ACG culture (animation, comics, games) is very prosperous, there are often large-scale exhibitions that allow secondary creators to sell doujinshi.

But plagiarism is different. If you dare to plagiarize, it is plagiarism.

The concept of Japanese literary creators is that they have almost zero tolerance for "plagiarism", so they are waiting to be sued.

In the gallery.

After hearing the judge's verdict, our classmate Fei Lan frowned slightly and felt a little incredible.

"Isn't the judge's ruling a bit too biased?"

Although her personality is a bit silly and sweet, Feilan also has the unique carefulness of a girl.

She noticed that in the sentence of the judge, he said, "Fanren also have their own copyrights."

Meaning, is this thing still legal?

As a newcomer who has just entered the legal field, Fei Lan cannot understand this point.

Isn't it copyright infringement? How did it become legal?

"Does it mean that fan works are still protected by law?"

"Well, the courts do have some bias."

Xiao Ai nodded.

After thinking for a while, she shook her head again.

"However, the judge's ruling is actually correct. Fan works are indeed protected by law."

"Huh?" Feilan blinked, "Why?"

"Because, Japanese law actually recognizes the 'originality of secondary creation' of doujinshi."

Xiao Ai explained bit by bit.

"Even if your fanworks quote other people's worldviews, characters, and plots, you have infringed on the copyright of the original author. However, if your own fanworks have your own settings and plots that you created, then this part belongs to you. Original works also enjoy their own copyright.”

There was a pause.

“Whether the copyright of the original work has been infringed does not conflict with whether the original part of the work enjoys copyright.”

Previously, there was a classic copyright law case in Japan.

A female comic author who particularly likes to make fun of BL (male-male). She usually likes to write "Yuri on Ice" and "Free!" Animation creators such as "Men's Swimming Club" and "Touken Ranbu".

One day, she discovered that a pirated website had published her fan comics without her permission. She was very angry and sued the website in court, claiming that it had infringed her copyright.

This piracy website finds it ridiculous.

The comics you drew all infringed on the copyright of the original work, but you came to sue me. Do you have the qualifications to do so?

Therefore, the piracy website’s claim in court claimed:

The plaintiff's fan works are not authorized by the original work and are themselves infringing works. In addition, the content of the plaintiff’s fan comics contains some indescribable and shameful scenes, which violates public order and good morals, and maliciously discredits the original work, so it should not be given legal protection. If the court supports the plaintiff's claim, it will not only condone the infringement of the copyright of the original work, but also support the dissemination of larger-scale works and encourage the sale of infringing fan works.

As a result, how did the court decide?

The court did not agree with the piracy website’s claims at all.

The reason is: The comic drawn by the fan author contains his or her own secondary original creation, and this original portion will be protected by copyright law.

The infringement behavior of pirated websites belongs to "piracy".

The two are essentially different.

Besides, if you publish other people's fan works without the permission of the fan author, does it have anything to do with whether the fan author himself has infringed on the copyright of the original author?

No.

You are piracy, others are tampering.

If you "piracy" someone else's "tampering" with the secondary original part, then you are also breaking the law, and you have infringed upon the copyright of the fan author.

In the end, the court ruled that the piracy website needed to compensate the fan author about 2.2 million yen for losses.

Xiao Ai told classmate Fei Lan about this case and educated the newcomer on the law.

"I see."

After listening, Feilan finally understood and nodded, feeling that she had gained a lot of posture.

"How do you know so much?" Fei Lan looked at Xiao Ai and asked curiously.

"Oh, my brother taught me this!"

Xiao Ai stuck out her tongue and used her cute tricks again.

"Well, you are quite similar to my Conan in this aspect."

Feilan sighed.

"He is the same age as you, and he understands so many things, just like a little adult."