翻訳コラム

「鬼滅の刃」の海賊版がメルカリとAmazonマーケットプレイスで出回っているため、正規品と海賊版の見分け方のポイントが2つ、発行元である集英社ウエブサイトに掲載されています。

【注意】コミックス『鬼滅の刃』紙の海賊版について
(2021年2月18日(株)集英社)
https://www.shueisha.co.jp/info/20210218.pdf

1. 背幅(コミックスの厚み)が薄い正規品より薄いこと
2. 第4巻の表紙カバー裏表紙の定価表記(本体400円+税)が罫線で囲まれていないこと

海賊版は出版社の許可を得ずに複製した著作物であり、ビデオ、ゲーム、電子書籍など容易に複製できる電子媒体の著作物について作成されることが多いです。

しかし「鬼滅の刃」の海賊版は、紙媒体の漫画をスキャンして作成したと思われ、手間と(場合によっては)お金がかかる作業です。このような面倒な作業をしてまで海賊版を制作するメリットがあるのか?と問いたくなります。しかし、大ヒット漫画であること、紙媒体の漫画という著作物の性質により、侵害者は紙媒体の海賊版を制作したのでしょう。

この海賊版は漫画の著作権を侵害するだけでなく、出版社の版面権も侵害しているといえます。しかし、残念ながら版面権は現在の著作権法には規定されていません。出版社は著作者の著作権を根拠に海賊版を取り締まるしかありません。

コピー技術の発達により海賊版の取締りや版面権の規定が一層必要になりますが、海賊版の紙の厚さが正規品より薄いこと、第4巻の価格表示を罫線で囲まなかったことは、侵害者にとって盲点であったかもしれません。

As counterfeit copies of Dragon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba are circulating on Mercari and Amazon Marketplace, two tips on how to tell the difference between genuine products and counterfeit copies have been posted on the publisher Shueisha’s website.

“[Warning] Regarding Paper Used in Counterfeit Copies of Demon Slayer Comic”
(February 18, 2021, Shueisha Inc.)
https://www.shueisha.co.jp/info/20210218.pdf (in Japanese)

1. The spine (comic thickness) is thinner than that of a genuine comic
2. The fixed price (400 yen + tax) on the back cover of the fourth volume is not surrounded by a ruled line

A counterfeit or pirated copy is a work that has been reproduced without the permission of the publisher, and these are often created from works made available as electronic media, such as videos, games, and e-books, which can easily be reproduced.

However, the counterfeit copies of Dragon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba were probably created by scanning hard copies of the original comic, which is a laborious and (in some cases) expensive process. I am tempted to ask whether there any merit in going through all this trouble to produce the counterfeit copies. However, infringers may have created the counterfeit paper comics due to the fact that Dragon Slayer is such a blockbuster comic, and due to the nature of physical comics as a copyrighted work.

It can be said that this counterfeiting not only infringes the copyright of the comic, but also infringes the publisher’s printing right. Unfortunately, however, the current Copyright Act does not provide for the printing right. Publishers have no choice but to crack down on piracy and counterfeiting on the grounds of the copyright of the author.

While the development of copying technology makes it even more necessary to both control counterfeiting and provide for the printing right in the Copyright Act, the fact that the paper of the counterfeit copies is thinner than that of the genuine copies, and the fact that the fixed price on the cover of Volume 4 was not surrounded by a ruled line, may have been blind spots for the infringers.