TOKYO -- Japan's Supreme Court has ruled against an appeal by the Par studio and local distrib Tohokushinsha claiming that unauthorized DVD sales of Par's 1953 classic "Shane" violates its copyright. 

In ruling for the defendants, two companies selling DVD knock-offs of old Japanese and foreign pics, judge Tokiyasu Fujita of the Supreme Court's Third Petty Bench upheld two previous lower court decisions. The ruling also puts paid to the claim by the Agency for Cultural Affairs that pics released in 1953, including "Shane," are still protected by Japanese copyright. 

In 2003, Japan's Lower House of Parliament passed a revised Copyright Law extending copyright protection for movies and animated films from the then current fifty years to seventy following the date of release. The new law did not go into effect until January 1, 2004, however, creating an ambiguity about the year 1953 that the two DVD sales companies exploited.

The Supreme Court ruled that pics whose copyrights had expired under the old law, including such 1953 classics as “Roman Holiday” and the Yasujiro Ozu “Tokyo Story,"as well as "Shane," were not protected under the new one. 

© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bookmark with..

Comments (0)

Write comment

This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment.

There is a problem with the comment system, or you do not have javascript enabled.