Commemorative screening for “World Intellectual Property Day” was held April.25.2024

As an event to commemorate World Intellectual Property Day on April 26, the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and the Japan and International Motion Picture Copyright Association (JIMCA) held a commemorative screening of the film “All of Us Strangers”
(released in Japan on Friday, April 19, 2024) with the sponsorship of the U.S. Embassy in Japan and the cooperation of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Japan Office and The Walt Disney Company (Japan).
We invited those involved in the intellectual property field, students studying intellectual
property, and embassy staff and their families from six countries, including the U.S. Embassy.
At an event before the film screening, speeches were delivered by Mr. Shintaro Ito, Minister of the Environment, Mr. Evan Felsing, Minister Counselor for Economic and Scientific Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Japan, and Mr. Tomoki Sawai, Director of the WIPO Japan Office. The importance of property rights was conveyed to the audience through the speakers.

Speakers and students studying IP at the commemorative screening.

In his speech before the screening, Minister of the Environment Ito said, “In the 21st century, intellectual property has quite an important meaning and is closely related to the SDGs.
Movies crystallize all kinds of intellectual property. Compared to industrial products made using intellectual property, filmmaking does not produce as much futility or waste. Furthermore, I believe that the impact movies have on society is a thousand times greater than any other industrial product and significantly impacts the well-being of people. Through today’s event, I hope that ideas about intellectual property, movies, and the SDGs will spread widely, that the world will come together to solve international problems, and that we can create a harmonious, peaceful, and global society that is consistent with the SDGs,” he told the audience.

Mr. Shintaro Ito, Minister of the Environment

Evan Felsing – Economic Minister Counselor U.S. Embassy, Tokyo, said, “This year’s theme of “Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development” is a critical one. We need to thoughtfully think out and balance our development efforts.
As you all know, Japan is the third largest box office in the world and is among the largest subscription video markets in Asia.
Add this to Japan’s historical cultural wealth and it becomes an ideal setting to shoot films, contributing to economic growth. I am delighted to see JIMCA opened this event to other diplomatic missions to leverage this as an opportunity to collaborate and share best practices on IP protection. I am delighted to see JIMCA opened this event to other diplomatic missions to leverage this as an opportunity to collaborate and share best practices on IP protection.
The United States Embassy in Tokyo continues to work with the Motion Picture Association, JIMCA, the
Japanese government, and many other stakeholders, to promote intellectual property rights protection and enforcement. On behalf of the U.S. government, I would like to reaffirm our commitment to this important policy agenda.”

Mr. Evan Felsing, Minister Counselor for Economic and Scientific Affairs at the
U.S. Embassy in Japan

Mr. Sawai, Director of the WIPO Japan Office, said, “Since the beginning of this century, WIPO, the United Nations specialized agency in charge of the intellectual property system, has designated April 26 each year as ‘World Intellectual Property Day’ and is making efforts to raise awareness of the increasingly important intellectual property rights system.
For example, it is said that intangible assets account for over 90% of the corporate value of S&P 500 companies, which represent the United States, and the importance of intellectual property system has increased in recent years because intangible assets can be accessed simultaneously and repeatedly.
The use of intangible assets knows no borders.
The movie being screened today is based on a 1980s work by Taichi Yamada, known for works such as ‘Fuzoroi no Ringotachi (Irregular Apples),’ and is said to be a masterpiece that transcends borders and time and was brilliantly arranged by master director Andrew Haigh.
If the intellectual property system had not been established, perhaps this brilliant combination of intangible assets might not have happened.
Although there are research reports suggesting that the intellectual property system has not yet penetrated the Japanese people, we hope that today’s commemorative screening and the commemorative event held by the WIPO Japan Office on “World Intellectual Property Day” will bring the intellectual property system closer to everyone,” which closed his speech.

Mr. Tomoki Sawai, Director of the WIPO Japan Office

Professor Tetsuya Imamura, Meiji University (Intellectual Property Law), who accompanied the IP students to this event, commented, "All of Us Strangers was very interesting learning material for the IP students because they could think about adaptations by comparing it with the 1998 version of the Japanese film.
MPA and JIMCA will continue to raise awareness of the importance of intellectual property rights and contribute to the development and economic growth of the global film industry.

Participants in the commemorative screenings