The future of content, freedom, education and technology

■The future of content, freedom, education and technology

Kickoff of the LDP Intellectual Property Research Council Digital Content Subcommittee @ LDP Headquarters.

In the presence of relevant government ministries and agencies, including Takayuki Kobayashi, Takashi Yamashita, Norio Tokai, Taku Otsuka, Taro Yamada, and Ken Akamatsu, they were given the topic of "The Future of Content," and while introducing discussions at the Intellectual Property Headquarters and other organizations, they presented their opinions as follows.

Changes in the content industry environment. Documents from the Intellectual Property Task Force.

・Shift to digital distribution

・The rise of global platforms, i.e. changes in the global market

・Expanding creative talent : the era of all creators

While raising these points, he also expressed the view that content is an intermediate good and a communication consumer good in the economy and society.

The Intellectual Property Task Force has raised the issue of "balancing the facilitation of use with the interests of rights holders" as a future outlook and challenge, based on its recognition of changes such as digital distribution, the global market, the spread of creativity, and intermediate goods in the digital economy.

In other words, the direction is to "establish a creator economy for everyone."

My interpretation.

The word "content" was coined around 1993. In 2003, the Intellectual Property Headquarters was established, and industrial policies aimed at expanding the scale of the content industry.

However, 20 years later, the scale of the industry has not expanded significantly and remains flat, currently worth 14 trillion yen.

The policy is based on two pillars: Internet measures and expansion of overseas markets.

On the other hand, there were two major changes.

One reason is not the scale of the industry, but the explosive growth in the amount of content and creators.

the past decade, the fusion of the 3Cs is progressing, with content at the core, communication becoming more active, and communities being created.

Another reason is that the way the world sees Japan is that it is primarily focused on pop culture and content, such as anime and games. "Cool Japan." Japan is changing its face from an industrial country to a cultural country.

These will evolve through new technologies such as AI, VR, and blockchain, and expand into new areas such as the metaverse and web3.

Current state of the industry. The content industry was hit hard by COVID-19 but is now recovering.

The effects of the policy are being seen in the areas of online and overseas issues.

The online content market share has risen from around 10% ten years ago to 43%.

The overseas market has also grown to 4.5 trillion yen. It is important to involve overseas communities and capture inbound demand.

More importantly, as an industrial policy, is the ripple effect of content. The total value of content and five related fields such as communications and characters is 50 trillion yen, or 10% of GDP. Content functions as an intermediate good. How can Japan incorporate content into its economic ecosystem, following the strategy of Hollywood movies in which people drive American cars and drink coke?

Policy development.

The Intellectual Property Plan 2022 will first set out a content strategy for the Web 3 era, focusing on the metaverse and NFTs.

Regarding the copyright system, the government is aiming to realize simple and centralized rights processing through the establishment of a cross-sectoral contact point and a system through the development of a database.

It also lists strengthening measures against piracy.

We plan to advance these three pillars.

My comments.

In terms of traditional Internet compatibility, it is important for the copyright system to adapt to the digital age.

Now that system reforms have been made to address the convergence of communications and broadcasting and a major industrial policy task has been accomplished, the next major theme is a cultural policy that will make it easier for everyone to use and create content.

With regard to overseas expansion, efforts are being made to combat piracy.

This issue is also one in which efforts are being made across the Diet, the government, and the private sector, with the copyright system now in place and international cooperation also being strengthened.

In addition, measures for the metaverse and web3 are being implemented.

As new technologies such as AI, 5G, VR, and blockchain revolutionize the content industry, related policy themes are emerging one after another.

Moreover, since this involves a borderless virtual space, it needs to be approached as an international strategy.

In addition, I would like to see policies that take into account the three Cs: content, communication, and community, be strengthened.

This is a Cool Japan initiative that promotes so-called "oshikatsu," attracts inbound tourists, and links with food, fashion, tourism, and other areas.

These are short-term policies that we would like to see strong political leadership push forward with, but what I would also like to ask of you is longer-term policies.

I would like to see content recognized as a major national strategy and a sustainable cultural industry policy that makes use of Japan's strengths.

What are Japan's strengths?

There are many, but three to mention are freedom, creativity, and technique.

Freedom. Backed by historical culture, norms such as religion and class are loose, and there are few restrictions on expression. There is an atmosphere where both adults and children can enjoy anime and games.

And the creativity and IP production. From top professionals to amateurs and children, everyone can draw pictures and play the flute. The number of creators is huge.

Furthermore, although some say that the technology is declining, Japan also possesses high technical capabilities in media expression. It is important to maintain and develop these capabilities, and this is what we hope for from politics.

I hope that this cultural environment of freedom will be protected.

I believe this is the source of Cool Japan, and an invaluable source of encouragement for overseas fans to visit Japan out of their affection for it.

When it comes to creativity, education is paramount. Japan has a wide range of arts and crafts and music classes, which are directly linked to creativity.

Furthermore, in Japan, everyone is finally learning digitally at once through Giga Schools. The effects are more evident in expression and creativity than in academic ability. I hope the digital environment for education will be strengthened.

And technology. While maintaining the ability to create technology is important, the ability to use it is even more important.

There are many small businesses in the content industry, and there are concerns that the pace of introducing new technologies will be slow. I would like you to support digital transformation in the content industry.