• In the discussion of private link, someone questioned whether a situation where “an accessible URL exists but is not publicly available” constitutes a violation of enabling rights.

  • Article 2 of the (Japanese) Copyright Act states that making transmittable means making it available for automatic public transmission.

9-5 enablement of transmission means to enable automatic public transmission by any of the following acts… It says that automatic public transmission is the automatic transmission of public information in response to a request from the public. 9-4 automated public transmission A public transmission that is made automatically in response to a request from the public (excluding … (excluding …). means a transmission that is made automatically in response to a request from the public (excluding …). A public transmission is one that is intended to be received directly by the public. …] for the purpose of being received directly by the public…

A condition where the accessible URL is not published is clearly not “intended to be received directly by the public.”

If this URL is inadvertently and negligently disclosed, it is not a crime under the Penal Code because of the principle in Article 38 [Acts with no intent to commit a crime are not punished. As for the damage caused by the leakage, Article 709 of the Civil Code states “intentionally or negligently,” so even if the leakage was negligent, you are liable for damages under the Civil Code. see Damages for tortious behavior.


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