The Japan Diet's Upper House passed laws regarding the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) revision (without the USA; often called "TPP-11") on June 29, paving the way for the TPP-11 to affect trade and IP around the Pacific Rim. The Japanese government has stated its intent to urge other countries considering the TPP-11 to hurry to pass the bill in their countries so that it may go into effect this year.
For IP concerns, beyond reducing tariffs, copyright law change is noteworthy. Interestingly, the proposal to extend copyright protection beyond the author or composer's death from fifty to seventy years, which was partly a move to fit the American laws, has been retained even though the United States government has withdrawn from the TPP agreement, at least for now. This change reverses the earlier plan of the adjusted TPP-11 last year. The bill also aims to crack down harder on pirated movies and manga comics.
Shuhei Yano comments that Japanese copyright owners may incur greater losses by having to protect works of deceased Japanese authors longer. However, he also cites the Japanese government's stance, that adjusting Japan's fifty-year copyright protection to seventy years is a way to fit with the US and European "global standard."
Sources
Nikkei Shimbun, "ＴＰＰ11関連法が成立 国内手続き完了、年内にも発効 [TPP-11 related laws pass; domestic procedures done, to come into effect this year]," June 29, 2018.
YANO, Shuhei, "ＴＰＰ法案衆院通過 著作権保護 ５０→７０年に [TPP proposal passes Lower House; copyright protection extended from 50 to 70 years]," Tokyo Shimbun, May 25, 2018.
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