[IP Practice Online] Joint Reading Festival for “A Sham Selection of One Hundred Copyright Cases” (Subaru Tomori)
Updated: 6 hours ago
Article information
Article type: Lectures and videos
Category: Copyright, Unfair competition law
Topics: Defamation
First published on this website: 2026-11-01
Display and classification checked: November 2, 2026
Originally published on Ameblo: 2025-12-14 (Japan time). Full English translation.
[IP Practice Online] Joint Reading Festival for “A Sham Selection of One Hundred Copyright Cases” (Subaru Tomori)
1. “The Complete Suicide Mania”
A parody of the cover design of “The Complete Suicide Manual.”
The specific expressions differ (for example, a coffin versus a gravestone), and what they have in common amounts only to “ideas,” such as layout, or “commonplace expression.”
The defendant's “boomerang strategy” succeeded: it submitted evidence that the plaintiff, too, had published numerous parody books consisting merely of puns without critical content, such as “Noruwei no Omori” (Norwegian Large Helping), a parody of “Noruwei no Mori” (Norwegian Wood).
2. “Time Does Not Betray Dreams”
The line at issue appeared in a 1996 sequel and was not well known, and it was found unlikely that Mr. Makihara had relied on it (or encountered it).
Moreover, the expressions “must not betray” used by Mr. Matsumoto (a wish or admonition) and “will never betray” used by Mr. Makihara (a categorical statement or conviction) convey different meanings.
⇒ A number of Mr. Matsumoto's statements were held to constitute defamation, and the dispute was settled with Mr. Matsumoto apologizing to Mr. Makihara.
3. LINE Creators' Stickers, “Urusee Tori” (Noisy Bird)
The plaintiff asserted similarities such as “an oval head,” “eyes consisting of black dots,” and “a white shirt with a red tie.” All of these, however, were merely ideas or commonplace expression, so the scope of protection as a copyrighted work was narrow. Because the specific expressions differed, infringement was not found.
4. “Doeraimon Encyclopedia”
Shogakukan sent a warning under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, alleging that the cover of “Doeraimon Encyclopedia,” a book introducing counterfeit Doraemon toys, imitated the cover design of the Doraemon comic books.
The response centered on the practice of parody in the publishing industry and the differences in specific expression, citing examples such as Fujiko F. Fujio himself having drawn a Star Wars parody (R-3D-3).
5. “One Hundred Selected Copyright Cases”
An editor of the fourth edition was excluded from editing the fifth edition.
The publisher (Yuhikaku) responded that “the professor's name was merely on the cover, and the professor was not a substantive author of the fourth edition.”
Internal emails and other evidence showed that the contribution amounted only to advice, and the professor was found not to qualify as an “author.”
Translator’s notes (editorial)
Book, sticker and program titles are translated or romanized; original Japanese spellings remain in source_title_ja, source_text_ja and source_body_html_ja.
Update history
The first-published date remains unchanged. Display maintenance, classification changes, related-article updates, and text corrections are recorded separately.
November 1, 2026: First published on this website.
November 2, 2026: Added article information, classification, topics, language navigation, related articles where the same case was confirmed, consultation guidance, and SEO. The original text and first-published date were preserved.
Comments