Taiwan court rules in favor of Japanese porn producers

TOKYO (TR) – An intellectual property court in Taiwan on Thursday ruled in favor of Japanese adult video (AV) producers regarding copyright violations, reports Focus Taiwan (Feb 21).

The court said that the two male defendants, who had been charged with the sale of pirated Japanese DVDs, have a choice of serving six months in prison or paying a fine of 3,400 yen for violating the Japanese Copyright Law.

The defendants worked at a store in Taipei. The illegal DVDs were purchased from an outside vendor and sold at the establishment for up to 170 yen each.

The verdict is a first in Taiwan. In 1999, a Supreme Court ruling said that due to morality concerns pornographic materials are not subject to protection under copyright laws. However, in this case it was determined that AV content is original material and that the issue of morality should be considered a separate matter.

Japan’s AV producers last year had filed a copyright claim that was subsequently denied. Last week’s ruling came as a result of an appeal.