Goldfish, bred for centuries in Japan, are a major business in Nara Prefecture’s Yamato-Koriyama city. Barely used telephone booths are common around Japan. Modern artist Yamamoto Nobuki combined the two to promote water protection in his work “Message” in 2000, and years later he has successfully asserted that his work involves copyright.
In 2014, a local shop cooperative in Yamato-Koriyama, Nara installed a phone booth holding goldfish of its own. Its developers originated with an art college where Yamamoto’s work apparently was known. Eventually, the booth drew the attention of Mr. Yamamoto, who negotiated with the shopping union for a while until agreements broke down.[1] (See pictures of the two booths. Mr. Yamamoto’s work is on the left and the Yamato-Koriyama one is on the right.)
Mr. Yamamoto filed a copyright infrignement suit against those in Yamato-Koriyama identified as using his work in their own phone booth tank in September 2018. He lost at the Nara District Court but appealed. He then gained a reversal victory at Osaka’s High Court in January 2021.[2] Now, as of August 25, 2021, the Supreme Court has announced it was rejecting an appeal by the defendants, giving Mr. Yamamoto the win for his copyright.[3]
Intellectual property commentator Kurihara Kiyoshi reviews the case and argues, contrary to some interpretations out there, that the mere idea of using a telephone booth as a fish tank was not copyright-protected in the minds of either court. The real issue was whether Mr. Yamamoto’s work had elements that were truly creative and had been imitated by the later work. The Nara court held there were no unique (i.e. copyright-worthy) creative traits in the details of Yamamoto’s work. On the other hand, the Osaka court disagreed, particularly in aerating the tank with bubbles sent through the phone receiver. It agreed with Mr. Yamamoto that this was a unique, creative expression worthy of copyright and infringed by the Yamato-Koriyama tank.[4]
Artists are into details, and this time won on the details. It was a close call for the courts to make, but Mr. Yamamoto was thrilled and hoped that even his small victory (about US$5,000 in damages) would raise awareness about copyright and modern art.[3]
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Contact: Taro Yaguchi
Sources
[1] Matsunaga, Yousuke. “金魚電話ボックス問題と「メッセージ」[The goldfish telephone booth and ‘Message’ issue].” https://narapress.jp/message/index.html Updated August 29, 2021. Accessed September 2, 2021.
[2] Endo, Takashi. “Artist behind goldfish-filled phone booth wins copyright suit.” https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14109044 Asahi Shimbun.January 15, 2021. Accessed September 1, 2021. From the Osaka appellate court decision.
[3] “『金魚電話ボックス』著作権侵害を巡る訴訟 最高裁が上告を受理せず原告の勝訴が確定 [‘Goldfish telephone booth’ copyright infringement case: Supreme Court rejects appeal, plaintiff’s victory sealed].” https://www.mbs.jp/news/kansainews/20210831/GE00039919.shtml MBS News. August 31, 2021. Accessed September 2, 2021.
[4] Kurihara, Kiyoshi. “金魚水槽電話ボックス裁判判決逆転の理由について [Why the goldfish tank telephone booth court case was reversed].” https://news.yahoo.co.jp/byline/kuriharakiyoshi/20210114-00217665 Yahoo! Japan. January 14, 2021. Accessed September 2, 2021.
Header image provided by Naramachi Press.
