Pirating the Japanese musical CDs, not-guilty

E010301X3 Mar. 2001（E19）

Source: Liberty Times 03/01/2001

Translated by Y. W. Hsiao

 

    Two defendants were sentenced not-guilty for pirating the Japanese musical CDs. The reasons were that the pirated songs had not been published in time in our country according to our Copyright Law and that Japan and R.O.C. are not copyright reciprocal countries. Therefore, the musical works of the complainant were not under the protection of our Copyright Law.

 

    The defendants were indicted for being suspected of pirating in a large amount of the musical CDs and tapes without acquiring license from the Japanese company but copied the license sentences marked on the packages in order to falsely claim entitlement to the products. Additionally, they also sold them at a price far several times lower than the market price. The judge expressed, however, that a foreigner’s work shall not be protected under our Copyright law if the work has not been published in our country within 30 days after it is firstly published outside our territory. Upon investigation, the pirated songs sold by the defendants were not published in our country within 30 days of the prescribed period after they were firstly published in Japan. In addition, the Copyright Law of R.O.C. adopts the reciprocity principle, but there exists no copyright reciprocity agreement between Japan and R.O.C.. Therefore, the musical works of the Japanese company in this case do not enjoy this nation’s copyright protection.
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