An alternative universe? Authors as copyright owners- the case of the Japanese Manga Industry

Abstract

Comics today are a major business and they form the source material for a whole range of sectors in the creative industries. In an environment where major investments are necessary to turn a comic into a cross-media success, commercial intermediaries such as Disney have become the key copyright holders. By controlling the copyright, they ensure full control over all aspects of its monetisation. However, this is not the only way success can be achieved on a commercial scale. In Japan, the creators of comics (Mangaka) keep their copyright-a direct contradiction to current copyright thinking. This paper addresses this conundrum by examining both the Manga business and copyright law to identify if the reasons why copyright is not centralised in the hands of the commercial intermediary, especially the publishers. The analysis will show that while there are differences between Japan and the EU/US, but these do not affect the role of copyright law and indeed failing to acquire the rights is a choice, not a necessity. Instead, this article will highlight that the competitive Manga market in combination with the uniquely Japanese publication right and social control best explain why Mangas are successful and Mangaka keep their rights.

Copyright Protection of Literary Works Based on Data Mining Algorithms

“…Literature [12] improves the method of controlling the embedding strength of local watermarks. Literature [13] uses the K-means clustering method to select a specific set of vertices according to the curvature of the vertices and uses genetic algorithms to embed the watermark.…”

A Gray Correlation Algorithm for Analysis of Influencing Factors of Film and Television Copyright Export

“…The rise of cultural trade has attracted the attention and research of many economists, hoping to find a theoretical basis that can explain cultural trade [ 5 ]. Literature [ 6 ] believes that traditional trade theory can explain the rise of cultural trade. For example, the United Kingdom has a comparative advantage in Shakespeare's plays, and the United States has a comparative advantage in movies, so that the two countries can exchange works with each other.…”

Primary Rights and the Inequalities of E-Book Access

“…Furthermore, they share that if the rights are not explicitly stated in the license or contract, it is likely an author may still hold those rights. Primary rights, including exclusive rights, can be transferable; an author can assign rights to another person or company, and it seems common practice has been for publishers to acquire exclusive rights during the negotiation process (Schroff, 2019). Schroff (2019) explains that authors retain recognition as the creator, but the commercial intermediary or publisher gets to decide how the copyright is applied and therefore how the work is monetized.…”

“…Primary rights, including exclusive rights, can be transferable; an author can assign rights to another person or company, and it seems common practice has been for publishers to acquire exclusive rights during the negotiation process (Schroff, 2019). Schroff (2019) explains that authors retain recognition as the creator, but the commercial intermediary or publisher gets to decide how the copyright is applied and therefore how the work is monetized. Schroff (2019) points to the extensive economic resources now required for a work to reach its full potential due to the range of ways for a title to now be monetized, including publishing in alternate formats.…”

“…Schroff (2019) explains that authors retain recognition as the creator, but the commercial intermediary or publisher gets to decide how the copyright is applied and therefore how the work is monetized. Schroff (2019) points to the extensive economic resources now required for a work to reach its full potential due to the range of ways for a title to now be monetized, including publishing in alternate formats. Most individual authors do not have the necessary expertise or capital to reach every segment of today's market, and therefore a partner or commercial intermediary, such as a publisher, literary agent, or producer, are now almost always required for an author to get the best deal (Schroff, 2019).…”