Japan has more strict copyright laws since today. Where the country of the rising sun has already very heavy penalties on uploading copyrighted content, the country now also heavily penalizes those who illegally download music and video. For uploading of illegal content pirates risked a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to 130,000 USD. Now with the new law in place, downloaders risk a lower but still hefty fine of maximum 26,000 USD and two years in jail.
The Japanese market is the second largest music market after the United States and according to the RIAA, for nearly every legally purchased song there are ten illegal downloads. The Japanese music industry successfully started a lobby campaign to get the law passed, which the Japanese government did in June and the law became effective starting today.
