Taipei – www.focustaiwan.tw – The question of whether porn films should be subject to copyright protection hinges on the opinions of local courts rather than on the country’s Copyright Act per se, an intellectual property rights (IPR) official said Wednesday.

Wang Mei-hua, director-general of the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, made the remarks after lawyers representing Japan’s top eight porn companies urged Taiwan earlier that same day to protect their clients’ copyrighted productions against pirating.

Lawyers retained by the Japanese producers of adult videos (AVs) said at a news conference that an increasing number of their productions are being sold on the local black market, aired on cable television channels in Taiwan and distributed by telecommunications service providers, causing huge revenue losses for the film makers and distributors.

Taiwan police do crack down on peddlers of pirated pornography, but they only punish the sellers for distributing obscene material, not for violating intellectual property rights, the lawyers said.

On behalf of the Japanese companies, the lawyers called for negotiations within one month with local platform and solution providers, cable TV operators and mobile phone service providers on the issue of authorization. Otherwise, the attorneys said, they will bring commercial piracy suits against the Taiwanese platform service providers.

Chen Chien-hung, one of the lawyers, took issue with a 1999 Supreme Court ruling, arguing that Taiwan should grant the same copyright protection to original porn films as to other types of films, regardless of the effect of adult films on social morals and customs.

In a copyright lawsuit brought by Japanese porn companies against Taiwanese pirates in 1999, the Supreme Court ruled that porn films are obscene material and are therefore not entitled to copyright protection.

Commenting on the issue, Wang said the Intellectual Property Office agrees with copyright scholars and experts that intellectual property should be given copyright protection as long as the material is original.

However, the decisions on the issue lie with the local courts, Wang stressed, noting that since the 1999 Supreme Court ruling, the lower courts have followed that lead in a number of subsequent cases.

Nevertheless, Wang said the Supreme Court ruling has not yet become precedent. “It is not impossible that the tide will turn in favor of porn film copyright protection… But all this will depend on the local courts… Our bureau will fully respect the court rulings, “Wang added.