So I notice quite often that on my local Kyushu news programs, they often use copyright music like the Star Wars theme and Imperial March. I also see random small travel/eating shows where they use the Harry Potter, X-files, and Avengers theme.
I HIGHLY doubt that these small countryside local news programs have paid for the rights to these songs. Do Japanese networks just not care, despite how strict Japanese companies like Nintendo are about copyright?
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The licensing rights holders in Japan sell music licensing rights in bundles to TV stations.
So, you get all those songs together at once to use.
Not that copyright violations don’t happen here, but there likely is some agreement. They probably pay a company that obtains these licenses then licenses the tunes back to the small tv station and others like them. That or this small Kyushu station is part of a larger network that can handle the licensing.
Also, it’s “copyright”.
JASRAC handles all these music licensing stuff here. So there is a good chance that the local tv network license and pay regularly to JASRAC for each use of licensed music. Then JASRAC will distribute back the money to the original copyright owners.
Japan is the strictest country you can find in regards to music copyrights on media. They’re obviously licensed why would you think otherwise? A JASRAC license isn’t that expensive for a TV station.
It’s unlikely they’re using those themes without permission.
Yes, they pay to license the music to use on their shows. Organizations like JASRAC have a reputation for being real bastards about licensing.
The difference is that in Japan it seems as if the rights holders are a lot more willing to license their music out to whoever wants to use it.
Here you’ll see low-budget TV travel shows where d-list talent travel around some bumfuck inaka area and eat the most mediocre looking hamburg steak and they’ll have the Beatles playing in the background. Not a cover of The Beatles, but an actual Beatles song.
In the US, if you were to license The Beatles (that is, if the rights holders agree to let you license it) it would probably cost more than the monthly budget of the same Japanese TV station.
Side note: you cannot copyright colors or atmosphere in Japan. Looking at you. Excelsior Cafe.
I would believe it is licenced but probably for cheap since locals won’t have a clue anyway (especially countryside channels audience xD). May be even cheaper for them to blast star wars theme than any other jpop track who knows.
*copyright
This was explained to me by a TV producer here, as you want to remind the audience of the song, without paying for the rights.
Does Japan not have that 30 second rule where anything after a song starts will need a licence.
Hence when a group of hikers set off,
on a TV show adventure, the Thunderbird march faded fast.