Japan: Provisions on internal transmission and damages calculation in Amendment of Copyright Act enter into force

On 1 January 2024, specified provisions of the Act to Partially Amend the Copyright Act (Act No. 33 of 2023) enter into force. The provisions amend Article 42 and introduce Articles 41-2 and 42-2, permitting the reproduction and public transmission of works for judicial proceedings, administrative trial procedures, and administrative examination and review procedures, including patent, trademark, pharmaceutical, and agricultural variety reviews, to the extent necessary and provided that such use does not unduly harm the interests of the rights holder. The provisions also amend Article 114 to revise the method for calculating damages for copyright infringement, separating profit-based damages and royalty-equivalent compensation into distinct components and allowing courts to consider the hypothetical licence fee that a rights holder and an infringer would have agreed upon when determining the royalty-equivalent amount. The remaining provisions of the Act, including the arbitration system for unmanaged published works under Article 67-3, will enter into force within 3 years of promulgation on 26 May 2023.