What are the Copyright laws for DragonBall?

[DSB]

Lets say a website uses images of Goku to sell something completely different, is that copyright infringement?

For example:




Will this Website get charged?

[VegettoEX]

Dragon Ball is no different from any other piece of intellectual property, and is subject to the same rights and restrictions as anything else within the countries it is produced and licensed in.

I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice or analysis:

That is likely unlicensed usage of the material and could very easily be issued a C&D by the franchise's rights holders. That being said, I find it incredibly unlikely that anyone would actually file charges against them.

[sintzu]

Using pictures rarely if ever results in anything but if someone within the right holders' group has a lot of free time on their hands then it's within their right to file a claim against it.

[Esfír Dedragón]

I have a somewhat-related question to this.

I remember watching a video on the nature of Copyright Laws in the United States in relation to famous IPs/franchises.

Since there will be a time when Toriyama and everyone else originally involved with Dragon Ball will be gone, what do Japanese Copyright Laws say about a franchise being transferred over to the public domain, if ever?

Is it similar in the United States in that it can go on indefinitely?

[Cipher]

(Obligatory IANAL, but) In the first post, that example is one-hundred percent, textbook copyright violation. You definitely can't invoke copyrighted likenesses to hawk your goods without the permission of the owner. That's a major, necessary protection.

Now, would they ever actually be charged? Probably not, as it's small potatoes. But if they did receive a C&D , would it have real weight behind it? Yeah.

[KBABZ]

I agree with Cipher; if it were a fan thing then that would slip by, but I would be wary of the depicted use of selling PCs because you're using somebody else's work to sell PC builds.

[LuckyCat]

I have a somewhat-related question to this.

I remember watching a video on the nature of Copyright Laws in the United States in relation to famous IPs/franchises.

Since there will be a time when Toriyama and everyone else originally involved with Dragon Ball will be gone, what do Japanese Copyright Laws say about a franchise being transferred over to the public domain, if ever?

Is it similar in the United States in that it can go on indefinitely?

In Japan, copyrights used to be shorter (50 years), but they've recently changed the law to be more in line with the U.S. so that a copyright extends to 70 years after initial publication.

[TheGreatness25]

But would the new change in Japan's laws affect Dragon Ball? In the US, as the laws have changed, they affect certain release dates. So would this new 70 year law affect Dragon Ball or future works or works after a certain date?

[LuckyCat]

But would the new change in Japan's laws affect Dragon Ball? In the US, as the laws have changed, they affect certain release dates. So would this new 70 year law affect Dragon Ball or future works or works after a certain date?

When the U.S. extended copyright lengths it applied to existing copyrights not already in public domain. I would imagine Japan’s extension is the same, because the only people pushing for extension in the first place are existing copyright holders.

In short, Dragon Ball’s copyright appears to now expire in 2054, whereas it was previously going to expire in 2034.

[TheGreatness25]

Dragon Ball could just do what Disney did. In Copyright class, the professor said something along the lines of Mickey was set to expire and go into public domain, so Disney redesigned him and copyrighted the new design. So maybe in 2054 (or whenever), the DB cast will get an upgrade in look so that hey can be re-copyrighted as the old design enters public domain lol

I'm not an expert on this or anything, and I'm not saying that I know for a fact that Disney did this; it's something my professor said and I thought it was pretty ingenious... Oh, evil Disney empire.