Chapter 12 Internationalism to Nationalism: Interwar Japan Observed through the Lens of Copyright Enforcement

In: The Silent Peacemaker: Intellectual Property Rights and the Interwar International Legal Order, 1919–1939
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Masabumi Suzuki
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Abstract

This chapter deals with the development and reform of the copyright system in Japan during the interwar period. First, it reviews the development of the Berne Convention and the Japanese copyright system. Then, the trends of the copyright system in Japan during the interwar period are reviewed. The period is divided into two parts, with the second half starting around 1930. For the first half, it is explained that efforts were made to establish a copyright system consistent with the Berne Convention. For the second half, the so-called Plage Whirlwind, a turmoil caused by a German agent called Dr. Wilhelm Plage exercising copyright by proxy, and the exclusionary measures adopted by Japan are explained. Through the analysis, it will become clear that Japan drastically shifted its stance from cooperation to hostility toward the international order during the interwar period, but Japan maintained its policy of remaining a member of the Berne Convention on copyright, despite its policy of distancing itself from the global international order, as symbolized by its withdrawal from the League of Nations in 1931.

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