Time For Change: The Importance of Copyright for Manga and Anime

Copyright law is key to the creative industries and plays a vital role in shaping the relationships between authors, commercial intermediaries, and audiences. However, the law significantly deviates from the social norms and expectations prevalent in the creative industries, leading to under-researched but key areas of misunderstanding and conflict.

This article seeks to address this gap by providing a copyright law starting-point for those interested in the creative industries. First, this article provides a basic overview of copyright law and its features; in particular, how it applies to manga and anime. Second, the effect of copyright on the marketization and exploitation of copyright works is outlined. This includes the law's effect on manga and anime distribution patterns, the role of digital rights management in shaping market structures, and the gap between fan expectations and what is legally permissible.

This article argues that more interdisciplinary work connecting legal scholarship to the humanities is urgently required to address these gaps between the law, social norms and expectations to the benefit of a more effective copyright law, flourishing industries, and active fan engagement.