Three entertainment industry groups plan to launch a new body to collectively handle the rights of entertainment agencies, producers and performers regarding secondary use of TV content on the Internet, industry officials said Tuesday.
The Japan Association of Music Enterprises, the Federation of Music Producers Japan and the Japan Council of Performers' Organizations aim to bring the new body, tentatively called the Video Content Rights-handling Organization, into actual operation next April.
The new organization will meet with performers at the request of TV broadcasters with plans for secondary use of video content. It will also work out guidelines for sharing profits for secondary use with agencies, producers and performers.
Distribution of TV content on the Internet has been hampered by complicated legal arrangements involving performers' rights. Broadcasters would still need to handle rights individually for performers who refuse to join the new body.
In December, NHK launched a subscription service called NHK-on-Demand to handle broadband distribution of the TV programs it airs.
But NHK has found it difficult to contact performers in many cases as their whereabouts was unknown, they said.