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April 18, 2005
JASRAC


Japanese Society for Rights of Authors,
Composers and Publishers

INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT BY MUSIC FILE SHARING SERVICE
APPEAL COURT RULING IS FINALIZED


The Tokyo High Court made a ruling on March 31, 2005 against MMO Japan Ltd. (based in Hachioji-city, Tokyo), a company which had operated a file sharing service called “File Rogue,” dismissing its appeal and upholding the judgment by the Tokyo District Court ordering the company to suspend transmission of music files. The “File Rogue” service had allowed exchange of music files free of charge on the Internet, and the ruling had also ordered MMO Japan Ltd. and its representative Michihito Matsuda to pay compensation for damages caused by copyright infringement.

As the appellants MMO Japan Ltd. and Michihito Matsuda neither filed an appeal nor filed for the acceptance of an appeal to the Supreme Court by the deadline, April 15, the ruling of the appeal court has been finalized.

By this finalization of the appeal court ruling, it has become clear that not only users who exchange music files on the Internet without obtaining permission from copyright owners but also the administrators and operators of those services are held responsible for copyright infringement.

File sharing does not pay any price for the creation of music. It may exhaust the cycle of music creation and may also result in the decline of music culture itself. The appeal court ruling clarifies that proper copyright protection rules are required for distribution of music on the Internet in order not to let this situation occur. Therefore, it is an extremely important ruling for our country, which is aiming to become a “nation based on intellectual property,” and at the same time, this ruling meets the international request for copyright protection.

JASRAC will continue to strive for prevention of illegal music file sharing on the Internet. Your continued understanding and cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated.


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