Specialty
Professionals
Attorney
TANABE Kotaro
TANABE Kotaro
03-6868-3050
03-6747-6862
Daini Tokyo Bar Association
Dai-ni Tokyo Bar Association
03-6747-6862
Daini Tokyo Bar Association
Dai-ni Tokyo Bar Association
Specialty
I've loved anime since I was a student, and characters have always been close to me in my life.
That passion has grown to the point where I now have the opportunity to support the daily work of those involved in the character business.
As anime, manga, games, and other such genres gain worldwide support, the environment surrounding characters is constantly changing, with the rise of VTubers and the development of the metaverse and AI. In addition, the content industry has come to be positioned as a core industry for the country, and it seems that there are more and more situations in which we need to consider collaboration with the government and lobbying for policy.
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."
That passion has grown to the point where I now have the opportunity to support the daily work of those involved in the character business.
As anime, manga, games, and other such genres gain worldwide support, the environment surrounding characters is constantly changing, with the rise of VTubers and the development of the metaverse and AI. In addition, the content industry has come to be positioned as a core industry for the country, and it seems that there are more and more situations in which we need to consider collaboration with the government and lobbying for policy.
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
- 2022 Completed Music Copyright Administrator Training Course (Japan Music Publishers Association)
- 2024- Intellectual Property Strategy Promotion Secretariat, Cabinet Office (concurrent position)
- 2025: Completed the Global Entertainment Producer Program (short-term education program) (Information Management and Innovation Professional College x Arizona State University Thunderbird Graduate School of Global Management)
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
- Japan In-House Lawyers Association (4th Division)
- 【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-)
Project record
- Copyright infringement lawsuit based on unauthorized use of illustrations by an international illustrator
- Patent infringement lawsuits, lawsuits to revoke trial decisions
- Representing animators, manga artists, voice actors, VTubers, etc.
- 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
- Advice on lobbying the government
- 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
- "Introduction to Intellectual Property Law Q&A - From Basic Knowledge to Contracts, Applications, and Infringement Responses" (co-authored), Civil Law Research Association
- "Learn about the Use of Generative AI and Legal Affairs through Consultation Cases" (co-authored), Yuhikaku
- “Annual Report on Intellectual Property Law 2024-2025” (co-editor) Nippon Hyoronsha
- "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
Lectures and presentations
- "Understanding Voice Generation AI and the Current State of Voice Protection from Scratch" (Mimura Komatsu Law Offices, December 2025)
- "Training to Prevent Violations of the Revised Subcontract Act (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Contract Transactions Improvement Act)" (In-company training / November 2025)
- "Emerging Technology Nite #35: The Future of Intellectual Property in the Age of Video-Generating AI — What Went Wrong with Sora?" (MIT Technology Review, November 2025)
- "AI and Intellectual Property Rights: Government Review and Latest Issues (Protection of Voice Rights, etc.)" (Kanto Chapter of the Japan Patent Attorneys Association, October 2025)
- "Symposium commemorating the launch of the 'IP Production Course' - The power of IP that shines globally" (Kobe Shoin University / October 2025)
- "Learning the Basics of the Policy Formation Process: An Introduction to Lobbying for Companies" (Mimura and Komatsu Law Offices/June 2025)
- "Voices of Voice Actors Used Without Permission and Voices Created Without Permission - NOMORE Unauthorized Generative AI and How to Use Thinking Technology" (SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025 Public Day Event / May 2025)
- "Understanding the Advancement of AI Technology and 'What the Nation Expects from the Private Sector' - Generative AI and Government Initiatives" (hosted by the Association of Copyright for Computer Software, March 2025)
- "Advances in AI Technology and Understanding the Current State of Copyright: Generative AI and Voice" (hosted by the Association of Copyright for Computer Software, December 2024)
- "Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Right to a Voice" (Corporate Seminar/November 2024)
- "Learn about the forefront and future of 'construction DX' accelerated by generative AI: Resolving labor shortages! AI utilization course in the construction industry" (hosted by Nikkei Crosstech, Nikkei Computer, Nikkei Architecture, and Nikkei Construction / November 2024)
- "Latest Trends in Character Business and Intellectual Property Protection Practices: How to Deal with Characters in the Light of the Latest Trends in VTubers and Generative AI" (Sponsored by New Social Systems Research Institute, Inc./September 2024)
- "Legal knowledge that people in charge of doing business with VTubers should know ~ A compact guide covering essential knowledge and key points for those who want to request projects from VTubers and those who want to run a VTuber business~" (Sponsored by the Financial and Monetary Affairs Research Association / July 2024)
- "Learn with concrete examples! The risk of rights infringement lurking in your use of generative AI" (Mimura and Komatsu Law Firm/December 2023) etc.
Media
- NIKKEI Digital Governance "To what extent is AI dubbing acceptable? Lessons learned from the Amazon scandal"(November 2026)
- Asahi Shimbun, "Video-generating AI spreads, driving Disney to action, CEO says 'Don't miss out on the changes'"(November 2025)
- Nikkei Shimbun: "Disney partners with OpenAI; Japanese companies need 'AI to pay' strategy"(November 2025)
- Nikkei Shimbun: "Cloudflare ordered to pay damages over pirated sites, found to have aided copyright infringement"(November 2025)
- Tokyo Shimbun: "The danger of Sora2, the AI that generates videos so realistically, is fake and used without permission... The manga and anime industry protests copyright infringement"(November 2025)
- TV Tokyo WBS (World Business Satellite) "Open AI "Sora" sees surge in social media posts, possibly illegal"(November 2025)
- Nikkei Shimbun: "OpenAI's video AI "Sora" mass-produces Goku and Pikachu, possibly infringing copyright"(November 2025)
- Senken Shimbun: "Four points to consider when collaborating with anime: The key to success is to have a consistent interpretation with the work"(November 2025)
- Podcast: Picture Book Author's "Picture Book Story" #38: Are you reading the contract properly? Attorney Kotaro Tanabe(November 2025)
- TV Tokyo WBS (World Business Satellite) "AI Companies Stand Up to the Rampant "Unauthorized AI""(November 2025)
- Nikkei Shimbun "'Right to speak' in the age of AI: Actors concerned about unauthorized videos"(May 2025 / Paid article)
- NHK News "Stop unauthorized use of voices by AI" Industry groups including voice actors make statement(November 2024)
- Tokyo MX "Hori Jun's Heated Discussion Summit" ★ "Voice actors say NO to 'unauthorized use of their voices'! Is coexistence with AI possible?"(November 2024)
- Nikkei Business Nikkei ESG "UN: Japanese anime is 'labor exploitation' and could be banned from Netflix etc."(November 2024)
- Real Sound: Lynching, unauthorized filming, showing faces without permission... We asked a lawyer: what should we be careful of when it comes to portrait rights?(November 2024)
- Asahi Shimbun Digital "(Every moment) AI extracts articles, invisible coexistence, unable to cover costs of reporting, 'shaking the foundations of democracy'"(May 2024 / Paid article)
- TBS TV news23 "Voice actor Yuki Kaji talks about 'AI' and 'voice rights'. How can we protect our 'voices' from unauthorized 'AI cover' by commercializing our own voices to prevent misuse?"(November 2024)
- Nikkei Newspaper NIKKEI Film "The era of AI-generated Japanese anime is eroding, and new pirated versions are rampant"(November 2024)
- Nikkei Shimbun "Proliferation of AI-generated animations: Copyright infringement revealed by survey of 9 images"(November 2024)
- Asahi Shimbun Digital "'Sexy Tanaka-san' issue, NTV releases investigation report, 'Disagreement in communication'"(May 2024 / Paid article)
- ITmedia NEWS "The voice of a famous character is reproduced by AI without permission, 'unauthorized AI cover' is rampant. We ask voice actors and lawyers about 'how to protect voices' and the future"(November 2024)
Interview
News
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