I have posted a pdf-file of a new book (again in German) yesterday. I might do a printed version some time later.
This one is for the most part about fundamental theory and some new moves in the Japanese game of Go that I am playing at the KGS go server.
The last chapter however discusses copyright issues related to the game, with a focus on the protection of game records under Japanese copyright law.
My position on this might be summarized as I did already in this earlier post:
One interesting aspect is the fact that there is no such copyright protection in China or Korea. That, however, neither limits the popularity of the game in those countries, nor does it restrict the income of Chinese and Korean professional Go players, who obviously can find ways to get paid very well without copyright protection.That seems to be some empiric evidence against the ex ante justification of copyright that without a copyright system there is no sufficient incentive to create.
On the other hand, if you have a copyright system at all, I really don't see any reason to discriminate against the creative effort of chess or Go players. There is much more thought expressed in Go games than in most writings or photographs.
Japanese copyright law seems to protect game records, and Japanese media companies respect this copyright protection. However, since the law doesn't seem to be very clear right now, I would object to applying penal provisions of the Japanese copyright law to infringements, for example unauthorized re-broadcasting of Go games over the Internet.
Posted by Karl-Friedrich Lenz at July 28, 2004 11:26 AM | TrackBack