Make an educational version of JASRAC.

DiTT, the Digital Textbook Teaching Materials Council, held a symposium on copyright.

The speakers included the Agency for Cultural Affairs, members of the House of Representatives, local government, and lawyers.

The copyright problems surrounding digital textbooks and teaching materials has increasingly become a point of focus.

I have been continuously advocating the systematic implementation of digital textbooks at the Intellectual Property Headquarters and Council for Cultural Affairs

The systematic implementation of digital textbooks has finally begun, and discussions regarding copyright by the government have also become full-fledged.

However, even if the system works, there are many difficulties in handling copyright.

Therefore, DiTT has made and discussed copyright WG.

On the organizational side, 1) digital textbooks are recognized as regular textbooks, and exceptions to copyright laws also apply, making it easier to produce textbooks. 2) Teaching materials will also be able to be used in distance education providing compensation is paid.

After this system is implemented, the environment will be prepared to allow for the smooth use of teaching materials = handling of copyright and copyrighted materials.

This is the next role of the private sector = DiTT.

In the interim report, three principles were set up:

1) Appropriate distribution of digital textbook teaching materials

2) Payment of rightful consideration to rights holders

3) Simple handling via the likes of systemization.

The actions of DiTT are the following three points.

① Organization: Create an organization to produce teaching materials which comprehensively confronts rights holder organizations, and consult with rights organizations and educational institutions about the likes of compensation and rights handling methods.

② Systematization: Create and demonstrate a system structure which allows rights holders, producers of teaching materials, and users (such as schools) to handle rights easily.

③ Education: Carry out training and education regarding the correct use of copyrighted materials for schools and Boards of Education.

The plan is to create an “educational version of JASRAC.” We will unify the handling of rights, and prepare a system in which teaching materials can be produced and used with any special effort.

However, solving this problem is difficult.

That’s because, in the case of teaching materials, it is necessary to coordinate the interests of three parties: 1) the rights holder (the original rights holder of sentences and photographs), 2) the producer (companies which produce the likes of entrance examination questions, sets of problems, and textbooks), and 3) users (such as schools). 

It’s a case of solving simultaneous equations.

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The sharing economy now

I asked the Cabinet Secretariat’s IT Strategy Office about the situation of the sharing economy.

It is a field that is predicted to grow from $15 billion worldwide in 2013 to $330 billion worldwide in 2025, and expectations are rising not only for convenience but also for industry.

However, Japan's intention to utilize it is lower than that of other countries, and the challenge is raising the level of awareness.

The government has held sharing economy meetings from July 2016, formulated private independent rules and models/guidelines, and decided to proceed with a joint regulation model linking the public and private sectors.

In response to this, the Sharing Economy Association has established a structure for certification marks, and as the first step, has certified the likes of Uber Japan and Space Market.

Be that as it may, the government office still lacks nerve.

I would like to raise the number of local governments tackling this to about 10% of the total, approximately 200 municipalities.

The central government wants to increase the use of promotion in addition to that of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

The Cool Japan policy and digital education policy took a few years until the ministries, government offices, and local governments involved became proactive. The shared economy is on the way to aiming for that too.

We want to make visible the merits and expand, including improving services for residents, reducing administrative costs, and creating new industries.

Evaluate government offices and personnel who have achieved results, and praise them. 

I think this it is what the private sector should do.

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