The jig is up. According to information from the Anime News Network website, the Japanese government considers cosplayers ' earnings through copyright laws , meaning that cosplayers who earn money from this activity have to hand over a portion of their income to the organizations.
The report states that the government is currently investigating the situation, seeking opinions from both copyright holders and cosplayers; however, no legislation has yet been proposed. This would only affect cosplayers who earn money from their activities, and would not affect people who cosplay purely for leisure.
Currently, many cosplayers earn money through various activities, such as subscription services, selling photos and videos, and receiving fees for participating in events. The current issue within the Japanese government is whether cosplay violates copyright law by reproducing content, or adaptation rights law – something that has been debated within the cosplay community for some time.
Finally, Tarō Yamada, a member of the Japanese government and leader of the "Freedom of Expression Protection Party," said it is possible to maintain the "ecosystem" that benefits both companies that own image copyrights and cosplayers fairly, and that, as one of the government members dealing with this issue, he is investigating a way to uphold Japanese copyright laws in the era of "user-generated content."
