November 11th, 2007 well now

apparently parody in japan is too much. on komiyama yuhi’s blog today, a big long statement from both hoff dylan members apologising for the pulling of the jacket for their next single, which was designed to look like an old single the band released previously (see previous post):

no specific party was named, but maybe the record company was afraid of the repercussions, or even spelling entertainment didn’t like the idea. who owns the rights to a likeness? would luke perry object? the photographer who took the 90210 promo pictures? (-edit- according to this, it was the licensing group behind beverly hills 90210 who objected)

under plagiarism laws in the west, parody is generally accepted if it makes comment upon the original, moreso in a humourous and creative manner. on the other hand, the japanese supreme court previously has stated in a case:

To use another person’s work without his permission is legal only when one uses it in such a manner as not to cause the essential characteristics in the expressive form of the work to be perceived directly as such. In this case, however, essential characteristics can be perceived , so the use is unlawful.

if comedian nagadi takeshi is thought to look too alike the picture of dylan mackay/luke perry then his parody is not equated with fair use under Japanese law. but without looking similar, how can anyone get it?

up until now the single was to be released on the 21st of november, so now they will have to take some more time to come up with new artwork. but who could beat that photograph? sigh.