[Interview with Attorney Miori Hasegawa]
Leveraging the experience of in-house lawyers
Working in the entertainment industry

After gaining experience as an in-house lawyer at Hulu, a service that distributes videos of popular movies and dramas, Miori Hasegawa joined Mimura and Komatsu Law Firm in January 2024. Leveraging her extensive knowledge from her previous job, she is focusing on the entertainment field.
He talked about his career as an in-house lawyer and his future prospects.

While staying close to the site
Supporting your video work throughout its life

-What types of cases do you mainly handle at Mimura and Komatsu Law Office?

I am particularly focused on projects in the entertainment industry. I often receive consultations from video production companies, companies that develop video apps, and companies that deal with novels and manga. I receive a wide range of consultations, from daily contract checks to advice on point payments and rights processing when producing original works, and I feel that I am able to make full use of my experience from my previous job.

-In your previous job, you were an in-house lawyer at HJ Holdings, which operates the video streaming service Hulu. What specific tasks were you responsible for?

The legal team I was part of was small but elite, so we were involved in every process from the creation of a film to its launch.
We believe that the phases in which legal support is provided for video works can be broadly divided into two: "production" and "utilization."

First, "production" is the stage where a video work is actually made. I was in charge of a wide range of tasks, from negotiating terms with the production company, the original author, and the actors' agencies, checking contracts related to the production committee, checking the script from a legal perspective (checking for inappropriate words or product names that require permission from companies, etc.) to dealing with problems that arose during the production process.

"Utilization" is the phase where the video work is used by licensing it to other companies, releasing it on DVD or Blu-ray, holding events, etc. In some cases, it may be necessary to consider licensing it overseas. We worked hard to make the most of the intellectual property (IP) of the video work, including checking the contracts regarding transactions related to the secondary use of these video works.

As a video platform, Hulu is both a licensee of video works from other companies and a licenser of the video works it produces, giving it experience in negotiating contracts from both perspectives.

-By being deeply involved in video production, you were able to deepen your knowledge of the video business..

There are many people involved in the video business, such as video production and IP utilization.
The people involved range from large domestic and international corporations to freelancers, and one of the characteristics of this industry is the wide variety of ways in which people interact, with business sometimes progressing based solely on trust.

In order to consider legal issues surrounding the video business, such as who enters into a contract with whom, who is responsible in the event of a breach of contract, and what to be careful of when expanding overseas, knowledge of the video business, including its characteristics, is extremely important.

I believe that I have been able to gain such in-depth knowledge because I have been involved in video production from start to finish.

--What other duties were you in charge of?

It also covered a wide range of laws, including the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations, the Personal Information Protection Act, and the Payment Services Act.
I was also involved in developing new businesses, including conducting legal research for projects planned by employees and considering business schemes.

It was quite difficult to draw the line that we as a company had to adhere to while being as supportive as possible of the developers and designers' strong desire to deliver the best product to users, but that was also something I was able to contribute as an in-house lawyer.

The strengths of in-house lawyers
Imagination, illustration, speed

After passing the bar exam, I joined a firm that handled general corporate law, but I gradually began to feel that simply commenting on contracts as a lawyer and leaving it at that was a little unsatisfying.

I want to see how my comments are reflected in the actual product and see what kind of product it becomes. I felt that I could do that by becoming an in-house lawyer, a member of the company. With that feeling, I chose a career as an in-house lawyer.
The reason I chose the entertainment industry is because I was interested in dramas, music, etc. from a young age.The simple reason is that I loved entertainment.

By actually becoming an in-house lawyer, I learned that there was a lot of information that I couldn't get from an outside law firm or from books alone, such as what's going on in the field, what people are actually struggling with, and what kind of personalities most employees have.
At first glance, this information may not seem related to the law, but it is this information that becomes an important key when we bring it back to the law.

-What strengths do you have as a result of your experience as an in-house lawyer?

I think it's three things: imagination, communication skills and the ability to illustrate, and speed.

By directly interacting with the people in charge on-site, I realized the importance of imagining their true intentions and thinking about what is behind the conversation, such as, "Is there actually a problem here?" or "Is this the bottleneck?"
Also, in order to work closely with on-site staff, it is essential to meet their eye level. To achieve this, we made sure to use illustrations as much as possible to help them understand visually.
In addition, in order to ensure that the people who would actually be involved in the negotiations had the necessary negotiating skills, we also paid attention to communication, such as carefully explaining the meaning and purpose of the regulations.

The production site is always busy, and we often get requests like "I want an answer right away" or "I don't need deep consideration, just give me the outline", so I think I've acquired the reflexes to respond quickly. It was also very educational to hear the reactions of the on-site staff directly, such as "It's too late", "This was unnecessary", or "This isn't the answer I wanted".

Into a world without rules
I want to accompany the challengers

-What made you decide to change jobs to Mimura and Komatsu Law Office?

I loved Hulu and the work was very interesting, but I had a strong desire to support the entire industry rather than just one company.
For example, in order to tackle issues that need to be resolved across the industry, such as music rights processing or the relationship between large-scale platforms and creators, I think it would be easier to move forward if you were affiliated with a law firm rather than an in-house lawyer at a single company.

I also wanted to take on new challenges with more clients and improve myself.
Therefore, I chose the Mimura and Komatsu Law Office, which has strengths in the entertainment industry and also focuses on litigation and lobbying.

-What do you keep in mind when working at Mimura and Komatsu Law Office?

In today's world, where the environment and technology are changing rapidly, there are many things we need to be concerned about, such as intellectual property issues such as copyright, as well as regulations on personal information and digital services.
Therefore, in order to enable those involved in content creation (such as video works, music, and manga) and technology development to focus on their main work, I aim to provide support that covers issues and solutions that the person seeking advice may not even be aware of.
For example, instead of just creating the requested contract, I imagine what the client wants to achieve through the contract and suggest better ways and points to achieve that. I also ask if there are any problems that the client himself/herself is not aware of, and I would like to support the client in achieving their goals.

-Finally, please tell us about your future prospects.

Actually, the reason I originally wanted to become a lawyer was because I wanted to be involved in supporting legal development overseas.
I have an interest in international cooperation, and when I did a long-term internship in Manila and Cambodia through the student NPO "AIESEC" that I belonged to at university, I heard from people I met there about the legal issues facing each country and the law schools that Japan had established, and I became interested in activities that support the development of legal systems and the training of legal professionals.
After that, I realized that in order to continue to support people, I needed to get a legal license and be able to actually use the law, so I started studying for the bar exam.

After becoming a lawyer, I considered getting involved in legal support immediately, but I felt that in order to properly support overseas legal systems and legal training, I needed to gain sufficient experience as a lawyer and acquire a wide range of knowledge, so I chose to work in corporate law. After that, I decided to pursue a career in the entertainment field, which I had been interested in since childhood, and that's where I am today.
One day, I hope to realize the combination of intellectual property rights and legal support and support even more people.

Personally, I have a great interest in exploring areas where there are no rules and creating new rules (or choosing not to create rules at all) in order to realize people's wishes and aspirations.
Legal support involves establishing rules in places where there are no rules or where the rules are not being put to use, thereby enriching the lives of the people there.

I would be delighted to utilize the experience I have gained in the entertainment industry to serve as a partner to those who boldly take on new challenges in new fields where there are no rules.

【2025.1.9】