[Article / Copyright] Appeal: Reiwa 4 (Ne) 10019; first instance: Tokyo District Court, Reiwa 2 (Wa) 24492, “Tweets pointing out tracing plagiarism” (久村吉伸, Patent, February 2024)
Updated: 2 hours ago
Article information
Categories: Copyright
Topics: Quotation / Moral rights
Published on this website: 2026-09-29
[Article / Copyright] Appeal: Reiwa 4 (Ne) 10019; first instance: Tokyo District Court, Reiwa 2 (Wa) 24492, “Tweets pointing out tracing plagiarism” (久村吉伸, Patent, February 2024)
(1) Reproduction and public-transmission rights (quotation defense)
The purpose of attaching images to critical tweets was criticism. Quoting Y’s illustrations to identify the subject of criticism was held to be within the extent justified by the quotation’s purpose and therefore a lawful quotation under Copyright Act Article 32(1).
Where multiple illustrations were attached, the first-instance court found infringement for lack of necessity; the appellate court recognized the legitimacy of the critical purpose and denied infringement.
(2) Right of integrity (unavoidable-modification defense)
Automatic cropping on Twitter timelines was found to be a modification deemed unavoidable under Article 20(2)(iv), and infringement of the right of integrity was denied for these reasons:
Timeline display is determined by Twitter’s specifications, not freely set by the poster; at posting, the poster cannot know how it will appear; changes to Twitter’s specifications may alter timeline display; and clicking the timeline image displays the entire image. In light of these circumstances, displaying only part of an image on the timeline constitutes a modification deemed unavoidable in using Twitter.
Relationship with Heisei 28 (Ne) 10101 (Retweet case)
The Retweet decision had affirmed infringement of the right of integrity.
The different outcomes are thought to be influenced by the different premise of whether the original act of tweeting itself constituted copyright infringement.
Originally posted on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7510496145211703296/
Comments