Hentaish Copyright

Just to make it simple, if you are the owner off any copyright work, please advice, and contact us, and all the offending works will be removed ^^ with our apologies, we simply don’t have the time to check if a certain product is indeed copyrighted or has become copyrighted, the corresponding text bellow explains in more detail, thank you.

This section pertains to information regarding licensed works and their legality. Hentaish is subject to various laws and restrictions imposed by several International and U.S. Codes. Furthermore, Hentaish respects the wishes and license of American companies. This is why Hentaish has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to licensed materials. All such materials must cease distribution as soon as the license has been made official and public. Fansubs in themselves are illegal, testing our luck when a work has been licensed in our country is asking for trouble.

Even though Hentaish members don’t reside on the United States, their web servers do, it can be seen as facilitating and encouraging such distribution, and we would be held fully responsible.

In a more detailed note, we will outline several of the laws regarding this topic for your perusal.

17 USC Title 17 (U.S. Copyright Code)

17.1.106 (paraphrased): The owner of a copyright has the exclusive right to do and authorize the following:

1) Reproduce the work in copies

2) Prepare derivative works

“…the fair use of a copyrighted work, (…) for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.”

This means that only the owner/creator has the right to reproduce (copy or distribute) any of their works. It also includes ‘derivative’ works which means, anything made from the original is also covered under this. Essentially this means that Fansubs, which are a derivative of the original work, cannot be distributed without the exclusive consent of the copyright owner. Derivative works can also include screenshots, movie clips, and music videos using the works.

Many people try to state that fansubbing is included under ‘fair use’, however it is very specific as to what constitutes ‘fair use’ and translations are not.

Berne Convention Article 2 – Literary and Artistic Works Covered

2.1 The expression “literary and artistic works” shall include every production in the literary, scientific and artistic domain, whatever may be the mode or form of its expression, such as books, pamphlets and other writings; lectures, addresses, sermons and other works of the same nature; dramatic or dramatico-musical works; choreographic works and entertainments in dumb show; musical compositions with or without words; cinematographic works to which are assimilated works expressed by a process analogous to cinematography; works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving and lithography; photographic works to which are assimilated works expressed by a process analogous to photography; works of applied art; illustrations, maps, plans, sketches and three-dimensional works relative to geography, topography, architecture or science.

2.6 The works mentioned in this article shall enjoy protection in all countries of the Union. This protection shall operate for the benefit of the author and his successors in title.

This essentially states that the work of an author in any nation who signed the convention, is protected in every nation under the convention. See below for an entire list of nations included in the convention where these laws apply.

Berne Convention Article 8 – Translation

8.0 Authors of literary and artistic works protected by this Convention shall enjoy the exclusive right of making and of authorizing the translation of their works throughout the term of protection of their rights in the original works.

Translating the works themselves is an exclusive right of the copyright owner. However recent law suggests that the actual translation of dialogue isn’t necessarily illegal, the joining of the translation to the video/audio is. This is still unconfirmed however.

Berne Convention Article 9 – Reproduction

9.1 Authors of literary and artistic works protected by this Convention shall have the exclusive right of authorizing the reproduction of these works, in any manner or form.

9.3 Any sound or visual recording shall be considered as a reproduction for the purposes of this Convention.

Copying and or distributing such works are illegal. This means raws are illegal. Sending it to your friends is illegal.

Berne Convention Article 12 – Right of Adaptation

12.0 Authors of literary or artistic works shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing adaptations, arrangements and other alterations of their works.

Many people believe that by changing the original work, means it’s a completely different work. This is wrong.

Berne Convention Article 14 – Cinematographic Rights

14.1 Authors of literary or artistic works shall have the exclusive right of authorizing:

[i] the cinematographic adaptation and reproduction of these works, and the distribution of the works thus adapted or reproduced;

[ii] the public performance and communication to the public by wire of the works thus adapted or reproduced.

14.2 The adaptation into any other artistic form of a cinematographic production derived from literary or artistic works shall, without prejudice to the authorization of the author of the cinematographic production, remain subject to the authorization of the authors of the original works.

This states that they control the rights to public display.

Berne Convention Article 16 – Seizure of Infringing Works

16.1 Infringing copies of a work shall be liable to seizure in any country of the Union where the work enjoys legal protection.

Many people try to argue that without an actual company in the country of which the illegal act is taking place, that nothing can happen, however this clause proves this wrong.

Does the Berne Convention apply to my country?

As of September 2004, the following states/countries are covered under the Berne Convention:

Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro, Seychelles, ierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.