Estados Unidos de América

Japón

Derecho de autor y derechos conexos

9. Please explain the circumstances in which copyright is owned by the National Treasury, and the content of the provisions of the Civil Code (Law. No. 89, of 1896), as referred to in Article 62 of the Copyright Law.

According to the Japanese Civil Code, an inheritance with no heirs and the like belongs to the National Treasury. However, Article 62 of the Japanese Copyright Law stipulates that copyright with no heirs shall not belong to the National Treasury but expire. This Article has been established because it was considered more desirable to put such works in public domain for free exploitation in order to contribute to cultural development.