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May 12, 2010
JASRAC


Japanese Society for Rights of Authors,
Composers and Publishers (JASRAC)

Internet radio program operator illegally live streaming
music files is arrested on suspicion of Copyright Law violation


The Living Environment Section, Department of Community Safety of the Gunma Prefectural Police Department and the Maebashi Police Station have announced today that they have arrested a 43-year-old man on suspicion of Copyright Law violation (infringement of public transmission rights). The man was operating an Internet radio program which was live streaming music files of JASRAC-administered works through an Internet radio service.

In this case, music files of approximately 20,000 works were distributed by live streaming on "★★★★BGM★★★★ by kei," an Internet radio program set up through the Internet radio service "livedoor netoraji." This is the first time a person was arrested on suspicion of Copyright Law violation with regard to illegal music distribution on streaming-type services like Internet radio.

Illegal music distribution is a hindrance to the development of music culture, and JASRAC vows its continued cooperation with the police in proactively eradicating illegal music transmissions over the Internet.

*Live streaming: Streaming-type distribution which is conducted in live broadcast style. There is audio (radio) distribution, as in the above case, and video distribution. Individuals are able to conduct live streaming by using devices such as web cameras and mobile phones.

The downloading of music from sites conducting illegal distribution and P2P software networks under the knowledge that the distributions are illegal became an illegal act as of January 2010 due to an amendment to the Japanese Copyright Law.
For more information on the amended Copyright Law, please refer to the Japanese government's Internet video (available in Japanese only):
http://nettv.gov-online.go.jp/prg/prg2824.html

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