Copyright issues in anime blogging

Thanks: To Lupus, who might be blogging here soon enough if Mr. Admin allows him to. He has given a lot of corrections to this post. ^_^. He is from Everything and Nothing. So take a lookout for him yea!

——————————————————————.

Ok, this is Impz’s first serious post about anime blogging. I do not usually like to talk about serious topics on this blog but it is a pressing issue, considering that the majority of anime bloggers do not have a clear idea of how the law stands when it comes to anime reviews. I believe that there is a need to allievate some fears of bloggers (not like we will stop what we are doing anyway) and try with the best of my ability to explain some of these media laws.

Here are a few questions to see whether you do know the copyright laws enough…

- Using screenshots in your review is a violation of copyright law True/False/Depends
- Writing a review on your blog is not a violation against copyright laws, as long as I do not recreate the original work completely. True/False/Depends
- I am safe as long the essence of the series is not captured in screenshots. True/False/Depends
- I am fine as long as the screenshots are not for commercial use. True/False/Depends
- Giving a copy of Bokura to my friend is fair use. I am not spreading it publicly! True/False/Depends

Answers:
1. False
2. True. Review purposes generally are fair use
3. True.
4. True.
5. False. Distributing it to a friend is still distribution under the eyes of the law

In this article, I will seek to explain some of the things that I have learned in the course I am taking on media law. For references (thanks to lupus), this is under section 107 in USA. It will be similiar for most of the copyright laws in other countries, as long as USA have trade agreements with them. That includes Singapore and Australia.

In the fair use defence against copyright infringment, there is a balance of various factors to see whether there is an infringment. I will explain each of the factors in detail as long as their implications to us as anime bloggers.

Legend: + means that this is a point that will help you use the fair use defence. – means the complete opposite.

————————————————————

These factors should all be considered before making a judgment according to the balanced factors and they include.

1. Nature of work: protected (C)
+ Whether there is creativity or original content in the entry and just not mechanical differences.
+ Length that is taken from the source.

Implication: We all know that anime is a copyright item. So, does that mean we are definitely infringing on fair use? When capturing screenshots and possible japanese vocal lines in the script, there is a possibility for us to be in danger of infringing copyrights. However, this is a rather fuzzy point in the law. The thing is that for most issues, they were usually all right with people capturing screenshots as long as it does not capture the essence of the story. In fact, even quoting lines from the series is fine, as long as the length of your original length is reasonable, in which you do not take the whole episode. Do read the 2nd point on purpose of use for more details on screenshots.

Of course, showing the video on youtube is a blatant copyright infringment. You are asking for it if you had a link on your blog (ROFL, I AM DEAD!)

This means that if you had made a conscious and creative change to the screenshots, you actually are safe in this part of the fair use deal. Of course, you have to take note of the other points, to see a balanced view. Do take note that translating an article and recreating the same thing from the same source (aka fansubs) is not considered original enough as you are simply changing the language medium of the original work that is copyrighted. Also, if you add captions to an existing screenshot, the author of the anime reserves the right to enforce its copyright through moral rights.

2. Purpose of use
+ Reporting, research purpose, transformative (parody or review).
- Purely/Primarily for commerical usage

Implication: Usually, this is the part of the fair use that we can use in our defence. As our purpose is usually for transformative purposes and that we do not try to rip off the profits of the anime distributors by providing the same service, we are usually safe from anything to do with this section. We are doing reviews. This leads back to the fact that if the purpose of the screenshots was simply to have an original review (aka transformative purpose), it is all right. So, good, we are not infringing the law yet.

Using a loose form of the reporting purpose, we are indeed reporting since we are identifying the copyright work in name (episode) and usually the studio that made it. However, this is only my personal argument, using reporting loosely. It will be a very weak argument.

Do take note that if the purpose of getting the screenshots and review was for purely commercial purposes (like using the screenshots to promote your own commercial greed and selling them), you are liable. However, for nice reviwers like us, we are generally safe since as long as you are doing it as a review and not in the guise of a review, you are fine.

3. Amount/Substantiality of use

Implication: This is the part of the law that works against us sometimes. The fact is that the amount of screenshots is less important compared to the substantiality of use. Let me use a clear-cut and less clear cut example to illustrate substantiality of use. A clear cut case of a possible infringment is when you capture a screenshot every 30 seconds, basically telling the whole story or state tons of Japanese lines that captured the essence of the episode and not crediting the studio animation of this work.

That is asking for trouble. However, to establish whether there was a substantiality in the amount of screenshots that could capture the essence of the story is disputable, which was why there were lawyers to argue. There would not be that much problems for us though. But it is a good point to take note.

4. Potential market effect

Implication: This simply means whether the whole review can be seen as a direct substitution of the anime product. Using mere common sense, how can a bloody episode description replace and hurt the profits of the anime distributor. There is no substitution and even the rationale that by reading the full episode summary + screenshots means you do not need to watch the anime has little or no potential market effect. This is in fact the most important point among the four. So we are safe here.

—————————————

Conclusion

Hence, what does this conclude? Generally, most anime bloggers are rather safe in the point of fair use. So enjoy, blog more and have fun. Do take note of the cases of dispute as stated above to make sure that you leave no chance to be affected by the law.