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Doujinshi, as defined on
[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C5%8Djinshi), are self-published
works. While not all doujinshi are derived from other manga, they mostly are,
like the many Touhou and Naruto doujins. The works that they are derived from
are mainly those with copyrights, meaning that the characters depicted in
those original works are also protected and thus cannot be used without
consent of the copyright holders. However, as we can see from Yuru Yuri,
Oreimo and the Comiket in real life, doujinshi are sold in Comiket. When they
are derived from other works and sold, it means that their use is for
commercial purpose, which would be very likely prohibited by the copyright
holders. Yet, they keep selling doujinshi in every Comiket and the police
ain't doing anything about it.

Thus my question: what is the law behind doujinshi? Does every doujinshi sold
in Comiket have a written consent from the copyright holders? Or is it the
case that by labeling their works as doujinshi, they are exempted from the
copyright law? What about the R-18+ doujinshi?


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manga-production copyright doujinshi
Law regarding doujinshi


To understand the Japanese law, you need to learn the idea of
"[Antragsdelikt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antragsdelikt)" (親告罪,
_shinkokuzai_ ). This means if copyright holder doesn't complain about the
doujinshi, it's not illegal.

Most publishers in Japan don't prohibit doujinshi (at least explicitly), thus
it's not illegal. It's because many commercial manga authors also create
doujinshi, and publishers hire manga author from Comiket, so both are in same
ecosystem. If publishers prohibit doujinshi, it also "kills" manga authors.

Some mangas like [_UQ Holder!_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UQ_Holder!) or
[_Knights of Sidonia_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_of_Sidonia)" were
marked explicitly to allow doujinshi.

![Symbol of Doujin Mark License](https://i.stack.imgur.com/HkvKAm.jpg)

Symbol of Doujin Mark License, courtesy of
[Wikipedia](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Doujin_Mark_first_usage_on_UQ_Holder!_title_20130831.jpg#/media/File:Doujin_Mark_first_usage_on_UQ_Holder!_title_20130831.jpg)

Many 18+ game makers like
[_Key_](http://key.visualarts.gr.jp/q_a/q_a_nijisozai.html), _Alice_ or
_Nitroplus_ have explicit permit to create doujinshi based on their game. In
this case, doujinshi is totally legal.

But when a publisher starts to complain about it, doujinshi will become
illegal. For example, there is a doujinshi that titled "The last episode of
[Doraemon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doraemon)". The original author of
Doraemon died before writing the last episode and no one knows the story of
the official last episode. The doujinshi contains a fake last episode. In this
case, the publisher of Doraemon complained and the author of the doujinshi
stopped distributing it.

The future of doujinshi is not clear. If Japan join to the
[TPP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Partnership), it will
enforce US style copyright system to Japan. Many doujinshi authors are afraid
that it means the end of doujinshi world.


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