“Mitsurei 27”

• 1. Where a country that is not recognised by Japan as a State (here: North Korea) has acceded to a multilateral agreement (here: the Bern Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works) already in force in Japan, such country’s accession to the agreement does not directly give rise to rights and obligations under the Agreement in relation to the country not recognised as a State, unless the obligations arising under the Agreement are considered of universal nature under general international law.

• 2. In the absence of a notification by the government concerning the accession of North Korea to the Bern Convention, nationals of North Korea do not enjoy protection of their works as foreigners of a Convention Country under Sec. 6 Copyright Act and Art. 3(1)(i) Bern Convention.

• 3. Where a work is not protected under the Japanese Copyright Act because its author is a national from a country where no obligation for protection exists (here: North Korea in relation to Japan), the use of such work without permission cannot be considered an act of tort unless there are special circumstances whereby legally protected interests are affected.