[Article] The Limits of the Concepts of “Publicly” and “the Public” under Copyright Law: The Happy Science Prayer Scripture Case (Takuto Hirasawa, 2015
Updated: 12 hours ago
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Article type: Publication review
Category: Copyright
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First published on this website: 2026-11-01
Display and classification checked: November 2, 2026
Originally published on Ameblo: 2025-01-13 (Japan time). Full English translation.
[Article] The Limits of the Concepts of “Publicly” and “the Public” under Copyright Law: The Happy Science Prayer Scripture Case (Takuto Hirasawa, Intellectual Property Law and Policy Journal, Vol. 46 (2015))
Right to prohibit recitation: “The author has the exclusive right to recite the author's literary work publicly.” (Copyright Act, Article 24)
Copyright Act, Article 2(5): “the public” includes a large number of specified persons.
⇒ Cases often concern playing recordings of recitations of works, but this case (Tokyo District Court, 2012 (Wa) 24933) concerned the recitation itself.
The issue was whether the recitation to persons who visited the defendant after being introduced by E could be said to have been made “publicly.”
⇒ “Whether the use of the work is directed to the public should appropriately be determined in accordance with generally accepted social norms, taking into account not only the strength of preexisting personal ties but also the type and nature of the work, the manner of use, and other factors.”
• The court found that there were five or six people and held that this was not a “large number.”
• The court held that the persons were not “unspecified”: their number did not increase or decrease under arbitrary conditions; the money was not consideration for the prayers; and the readings occurred at most ten times, not regularly or continuously.
⇒ In conclusion, the “publicly” requirement was not satisfied.
*These factual findings also appear in the context of rejecting the plaintiff's arguments, and their relevance to applying the “unspecified” criterion is unclear.
Translator’s notes (editorial)
The source title is truncated after the year without closing punctuation; the body heading is complete.
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