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The experience gained by JASRAC through many years of music copyright management in the various fields have proven useful in managing copyrights in today's digital networks, and in Japan, it is the initiatives of the CMOs which continue to lead the movement toward establishing a legitimate digital marketplace. It is needless to say that providing a smooth and convenient licensing system to the many users who respect copyrights is essential for the establishment of such a legitimate music market. This will, in turn, bring fair economic returns to copyright owners. One concrete example is the creation and operation of the third-party organization CDC (Copyright Data Clearinghouse), the only one of its kind in the world, jointly established by JASRAC and Japanese digital music distributors for the purpose of facilitating music usage data operations for both sides. JASRAC has been active in countering illegal music distribution over the Internet, what one might call the underbelly of the proliferation of digital networks, but as this problem knows no national borders, international coordination is also a necessity. In addition, there are institutional issues pertaining to Japan which JASRAC will continue to actively address on behalf of song writers and rights owners, such as 1) the extension of the term of copyright to 70 years after death which is increasingly common now around the world, 2) the dissolving of the wartime prolongation of the term of copyright afforded to 15 foreign nations which is imposed only on Japan, and 3) the fundamental review of the private copying remuneration system which has been stripped of its substance. In recent years, we have encountered many arguments which focus solely on the streamlining of the distribution of copyrighted works, and which relegate copyright protection to the sidelines. However, there is no doubt that music distribution schemes that marginalize copyrights will weaken music culture and let wither newly formed buds of creativity. CMOs around the world must unite to fight back such trends. Some say that these are difficult times for copyrights, but with the cooperation from our friends around the world, music users sympathetic to the protection of copyrights, and the many people who simply love music, JASRAC is determined to put the protection and promotion of culture first, and to accomplish its mission as an organization providing essential functions for both copyright owners and music users.
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