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  • Attorney

    TANABE Kotaro

    TANABE Kotaro

    Professor Tanabe
    03-6868-3050
    03-6747-6862
    Daini Tokyo Bar Association
    Dai-ni Tokyo Bar Association
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    Specialty

    I've loved anime since I was a student, and characters have always been close to me in my life.
    As a result of my passion, I am thankful to now be able to help people involved in the character business in my daily work.
    With the development of not only overseas expansion, distribution services, games, live events, pilgrimages to sacred sites, and the use of archives and intermediate results, but also the recent development of the metaverse and AI, I believe the environment surrounding characters is at a major turning point.
    Please feel free to contact us with any questions that arise daily and we hope to turn those "I wish I had asked" thoughts into "I'm glad I asked."


    Education / Work

    • Graduated from Meiji University School of Law in 2011
    • 2013 Graduated from Keio University Law School
    • 2014: Registered as an attorney (Tokyo Bar Association)
    • 2014-2020 Tokyo law firm
    • 2020 - Mimura and Komatsu Law Office
    • 2024- Intellectual Property Strategy Promotion Secretariat, Cabinet Office (concurrent position)

    Affiliation/position, etc.

    • 【Affiliation】
    • Copyright Law Society
    • Japan Trademark Association
    • Intellectual Property Association of Japan
    • Intellectual Property Management Technician Association (First Class Intellectual Property Management Technician (Content Specialist))
    • Arts and Law
    • Intellectual Property Lawyers Network
    • Entertainment Lawyers Network
    • 【post】
    • Deputy Counsellor, Intellectual Property Strategy Promotion Secretariat, Cabinet Office (2024-)
    • Auditor of the Japan Voice AI Learning Data Certification Service Organization (2024-)
    • Manga Award Jury Member (2024-)
    • Legal consultation hotline for those involved in the character businessCharacter-Business and Law" Director (2023-)
    • Attorney at Law, Japan Anime Film Cultural Association (2023-)

    Project record

    • Copyright infringement lawsuit based on unauthorized use of illustrations by an international illustrator
    • Preparation of legal opinions regarding similarity of character illustrations, infringement/non-infringement appraisal
    • Contractual legal matters with overseas distribution service providers regarding the use of famous anime works
    • Contractual legal matters with animators, voice actors (agency), and other parties involved in the production of anime
    • Contractual legal matters with film production committees, directors, screenwriters, and other related parties
    • The company providing the distribution platform will formulate a revenue distribution scheme for each creator involved in the production of the work, and implement it in each contract.
    • Contractual legal matters regarding the use of master recordings with music publishers
    • Advice and support regarding the creation of board games using IP
    • Contract law related to the development of PC and smartphone games using IP and the implementation of e-sports tournaments
    • Legal response to threats against event venues
    • Advice and response to various flame wars
    • Advice for creating works using generative AI
    • Other matters include various labor-related issues, dealing with various types of harassment, dealing with third-party committees, and dealing with criminal complaints.

    Books and papers

    • "Key Points of the Interim Report of the Intellectual Property Rights Review Committee in the Age of AI," Law & Technology No. 105, Civil Law Research Association
    • "Considerations on the protection of 'voice' in the age of generative AI," Paving the way for the future of intellectual property law, a collection of essays in commemoration of Professor Ryoichi Mimura's 70th birthday (co-authored), Nippon Hyoronsha
    • “Annual Report on Intellectual Property Law 2020-2021” (co-editor) Nippon Hyoronsha

    Media