The Japanese Market for UK Films - BFI

need to be less abstract and refer to actual transactions, be more detailed, and
better known to the public.” 8 Again, there is criticism, but no crucial action has
been taken.
Regarding the relationship between distributors and exhibitors, 20th Century Fox
Japan was warned by the FTC in 2003 about forcing exhibitors to keep
admission fees high, as deliberate price maintenance is not approved for film
admission in Japan 9 . The market price of film is relatively high compared with
major foreign countries including UK, and the FTC is sensitive about the high
price level.
(3) The stance of the Japanese government on WTO and UNESCO
Japan is a member of the WTO and has agreed to the basic concept of free
trade. In 2005, Japan also agreed to UNESCO’s Convention on the protection
and promotion of the diversity of cultural expression. Although Japan’s stance
on the WTO (particularly GATT article 20 th , cultural exception) is not as radical
as France or US, in its formal statement Japan is closer to the US. The
Japanese Ministry of Finance, METI (Ministry of Economics, Trade and Industry)
and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are primarily in charge of WTO matters.
Among the four modes 10 of service trade that GATS defines, Japan promises
not to restrict free trade (“NONE” in table2-3-1) except for mode 4 (presence of
natural persons), a stance that is close to U.S.
Within the framework of the WTO, Japan also joined TRIPS in 1994. The EU and
US requested Japan to revise Japanese copyright law in 1996. Mutual
agreements were made in 1997.
8 METI(2002), The subjects and actions for the competition policy on content
distribution (in Japanese documents).
9 Six items are approved to use deliberately keep prices. (Newspaper, book, magazine
and journal, record disk, music tape, music CD)
10 Mode of supply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial
presence 4) Presence of natural persons
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