4 ms·
Japan has a very limited fair use law (see also Article 30[1]) to the point that a single frame capture from an anime is considered gray area unless it was used
by sirn 6y ago
Japan has a very limited fair use law (see also Article 30[1]) to the point that a single frame capture from an anime is considered gray area unless it was used as a reference (引用) with a proper copyright attribution in the format of "(c) <Year> <Author>" usually obtained by visiting that work's home page^1. Though there's no clear line what is counted as a reference.
I think this is just Ghibli open up the possibility of using these images in those gray area (e.g. posting these shots on social media, referencing from a blog, etc.)
[1]: https://www.cric.or.jp/english/clj/cl2.html https://www.cric.or.jp/english/clj/cl2.html
^1: e.g. for http://www.ghibli.jp/works/chihiro/ http://www.ghibli.jp/works/chihiro/ it is "© 2001 Studio Ghibli・NDDTM"
- leksak 6y agoWould it be legal/illegal to vectorize these images and print T-shirts and sell? Not that I'm going to do it, I like my bathtub too much to do silkscreen stuff at home but curious about the legalese.
- sirn 6y agoIANAL, some will say it is OK under the private use cause in Article 30 as long as you print it yourself, but some will say it's not since you're wearing it in public thus it no longer become private use. I'm not aware if the private use cause in situation like this ever been tested on court. Ghibli saying "within common sense" doesn't help clear this case either.