Aozora Bunko

Aozora Bunko (青空文庫, literally the "Blue Sky Library", also known as the "Open Air Library") is a Japanese digital library. This online collection encompasses several thousands of works of Japanese-language fiction and non-fiction. These include out-of-copyright books or works that the authors wish to make freely available.

Since its inception in 1997, Aozora Bunko has been both the compiler and publisher of an evolving online catalog. In 2006, Aozora Bunko organized to add a role as a public policy advocate to protect its current and anticipated catalog of freely accessible e-books.

Origins

This is a explanatory illustration prepared by Aozora Bunko as part of project encouraging Japanese citizens to contact Diet members in effort to express a point-of-view.

Aozora Bunko was created on the Internet in 1997 to provide broadly available, free access to Japanese literary works whose copyrights had expired. The driving force behind the project was one man—Michio Tomita—who was motivated by the simple belief that people with a common interest should cooperate with each other.

In Japan, Aozora Bunko is considered similar to Project Gutenberg.

The Aozora Bunko resources are searchable by category, author, or title; and there is a considerable amount of support in how to use the database in the form of detailed explanations. The files can be downloaded in PDF format or simply viewed in HTML format.

Most of the texts provided are Japanese literature and translations from English literature. This digital library ultimately plans to include 6,000+ works on the site.

A digital library and a public-policy advocacy organization

Aozora Bunko has joined with others in organizing to oppose changes in Japanese copyright law. That opposition has led to encouraging Japanese citizens to submit letters and petitions to the Japanese Cultural Affairs Agency and to members of the Diet.

Graphic icon illustrating Aozora Bunko's public-policy advocacy position—opposing proposed changes to Japan's copyright laws.

Japan and other countries have accepted the terms of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, an 1886 international agreement about common copyright policies. Japan and other countries with laws that do not go beyond the minimum copyright terms of the Berne Convention have copyrights that run for the lifetime of the author plus 50 years. Aozora Bunko has adopted an advocacy role in favor of construing this status quo as preferable to changes proposed by a number of powerful forces.

The evolution of Aozora Bunko from a digital library to a public-policy advocacy organization is an unintended consequence which developed only after the perceived threat to the Aozora Bunko catalog and mission became otherwise unavoidable.

Problems

Aozora Bunko pointed that extension of the copyright term had been influenced from the document, “The U.S.-Japan Regulatory Reform and Competition Policy Initiative.” Through these annually reports, The U.S. Government was requiring that the protected period of copyright should be extended to the Japanese government: 70 years after one’s death for an individual, and 95 years after for a corporation. In response, the Agency for Cultural Affairs in Japan has expressed that a conclusion is obtained at the Council for Cultural Affairs copyright subcommittee by the end of 2007. If the legal revision which extends a protected period will be actually carried out, Aozora Bunko would be forced not to publish books which have already and almost been published because of the 20 years extension of protection of copyright. Therefore, Aozora Bunko released the counter declaration against enforcement of revised law on January 1, 2005; they started to correct the signatures for the petition on January 1, 2007.

Due to the regime change on 2009 in Japan, Japanese government stopped to receive this reports from the U.S. government. Aozora Bunko does not show any responses toward that and their petition calling for opposition against the extension of copyright term stopped from the modification of October 2008. Instead of the document, the website of embassy of the United States inserted the “UNITED STATES-JAPAN ECONOMIC HARMONIZATION INITITAIVE” in February 2011. In the document, The U.S. government still requires the extension of copyright law for protection of intellectual property rights toward Japanese government.

See also

• Wikisource
• List of digital library projects
• Open Content Alliance
  • UK:Gowers Review of Intellectual Property
  • US:Copyright Term Extension Act
• Project Runeberg
• Open Rights Group
• Philosophy of copyright
  • Permission culture

References

• Bovens, Andreas (2005). "Closed Architectures for Content Distribution," Japan Media Review (University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication); Yale University Conference (2004), "Reproduction in Modern Japan" -- paper abstract
• Donovan, Maureen H. (2006). Accessing Japanese Digital Libraries: Three Case Studies. Berlin: Springer. Template:ISBN-13.
• Lessig, Lawrence (2004). Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity. New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 1-59420-006-8, ISBN 978-1-59420-006-9 (cloth)
• Tamura, Aya. "Novelists, others want copyright protection extended", The Japan Times Online. September 30, 2006.
• Tomita, Michio. "Enable Library, Aozora Bunko as an 'Enable Library'". Gendai no Toshokan. Vol. 37, No. 3, pp. 176–181 (1999).
• Tomita, Michio. "Dream of perpetual Aozora Bunko, a private electronic library," Art research (Ritsumeikan University). Vol.2, pp. 49–56 (2001).
• Yamamoto, Shuichiro. "What Is Knowledge That Generates Value?" Science Links Japan web site (2008).

External links

• Template:Ja icon 青空文庫 zip and HTML files of Japanese literature in Aozora Bunko.
• Template:Ja icon うわづら文庫 Uwazura Bunko of the Aozora Bunko are bigger size PDF files of Japanese literature, not the same as those zip and HTML files in Aozora Bunko.
• National Diet Library: NDL Library Digital Archive Portal (PORTA); NDL PORTA analysis
• Copyright Research and Information Center