Used Game Sales Upheld in Japan
- May 29, 2002 12:01 PM PST
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The Japanese Supreme Court dismisses an appeal by software companies to regulate the sale of used games in the country. Gamers and storeowners rejoice.
A Supreme Court judge in Japan has dismissed an appeal by a coalition of game companies to regulate the sales of used games in that country, upholding previous rulings by lower courts that claimed such sales did not violate copyright law. The ruling ensures the freedom of Japanese gamers and storeowners to continue selling used games, a right that Enix, Konami and other major game makers have tried to regulate for the past few years.The coalition of software publishers claimed that video games should be treated the same as movies in the eyes of Japanese law, enjoying the same right to control redistribution of their product as movie studios in Japan do. However, Supreme Court judge Kazutomo Ijima wrote that the game companies' right to charge money for a new product ends when a customer buys the product, and does not extend to when the customer decides to sell the game to someone else.
Yasuyuki Fujita, a lawyer for of the used-game store owners sued by the coalition, welcomed the ruling at a press conference today. "The judge has refused to satisfy certain game companies' nearsighted pursuit of profit, and decided instead to consider what copyright law was truly created for? Why should game makers be allowed to control the distribution of their products until the end of time in Japan?" A spokesman for the coalition's side said the companies would continue pursuing other avenues to control used-game sales in Japan.
$4.6 billion in game software was sold last year in Japan, nearly a third of which were used games. Japanese software companies have long sought some way to control sales of used games, which they say reduce the market for new games and prevents the industry from expanding. The industry successfully banned game rentals in Japan during the 1980s, but the legality of the ban will now be put into question as a result of this ruling.
