World IP Day Special Screening with WIPO Japan Office and Embassy April.26.2022

On April 26th, 2022, Japan and International Motion Picture Copyright Association (JIMCA) hosted a screening event celebrating the World Intellectual Property Day. With support from U.S. Embassy corporation from the Walt Disney Company Japan, “West Side Story” (released in Japan on February 11th, 2022) was screened.

We usually invite the public to this event, however, this year it was limited to those involved in intellectual property and students studying intellectual property.
An event was held before the screening, and we had Mr. Raymond F. Greene, Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy, Mr. Tomoki Sawai, Director of the World Intellectual Property Organization Japan Office and Mr. Atsushi Meguro, Vice President/General Manager of the film distributor Walt Disney Japan give a speech, reaffirming the importance of intellectual property right. Mr. Charles H. Rivkin, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) also gave a video speech.

Summary of Mr. Raymond F. Greene’s speech:
World Intellectual Property Day offers a unique opportunity each year to join with people around the globe to reflect on the ways intellectual property or “IP” contributes to making our lives easier and more enjoyable. When we talk to our loved ones over the phone, listen to our favorite music, or get on the train, we owe it to intellectual property protections.
I would like us to reflect on the opportunity IP protection offers us to enjoy this film and how it creates economic opportunities for people.
At each stage of the film’s production, these copyright, patent, and trademark protections have positive and powerful ripple effects by providing jobs and creating a chain of economic opportunity for smaller businesses through film festivals, streaming licenses, sales of trademarked action figures and even the popcorn that some of you are eating here today. 
Industries such as the motion pictures business rely on our establishment of strong intellectual property laws, and its workforce relies on their enforcement, including anti-piracy and infringement guidelines.
The United States and Japan have worked together over the years to promote and protect intellectual property rights, because we recognize the value of innovation and creativity.
There are both economic and cultural benefits of being able to assure our citizens that their ideas will not be stolen, and that they can be compensated fairly for their creations and work.
This year’s World IP Day theme is ‘IP and Youth Innovating for a Better Future.’
I believe protecting intellectual property will enable our youth to be the creators, innovators or leaders they ought to be. That is because it builds a sustainable future where broad respect for IP rights can continue to drive innovation and creativity.

Summary of Mr. Tomoki Sawai’s speech:
WIPO, the United Nations specialized agency in charge of intellectual property systems such as the patent system and copyright system, designates April 26 of each year as World Intellectual Property Day as an opportunity to learn about the role of the intellectual property system. For example, in recent years, the President of the United States has issued an World IP Day Proclamation to convey the importance of the intellectual property system.」
In this time of great change, what pushes this change towards a better future is the innovative and creative mind of young people.
Please, have the passion to share your ideas to the world, and give them shape.
And at the same time, it is essential that we maintain respect for other people’s idea and contents.
We, the WIPO Japan Office, will strongly support young people’s challenge for innovation and change from the aspect of intellectual property.

-Video Message-

Summary of Mr. Atsushi Meguro’s speech:
The film West Side Story was a dream for Steven Spielberg to produce and was released worldwide starting in the Unites States last December. It was released in Japan this February 11th recording one billion yen at the box office and it was highly praised by many people.
It won the highest three awards at this year’s Golden Globe Award for Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Ariana DeBose won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress last month.　This film has won many awards showing greater presence as a legendary musical and will again go down in history. Steven Spielberg sends us a message whether we can go hand in hand regardless of different conditions and describes issues that all humans living in this splitting society are now facing. For those who sympathize with this universal theme, I hope you perceive the meaning of this film’s vivid revival.

Summary of Charlie Rivkin, Chairman & CEO of the Motion Picture Association’s speech:
I’d like to welcome you all to this celebration of World IP Day. I’d like to thank Ambassador Emanuel and the United States Embassy in Tokyo for all of their ongoing support and partnership. I had the pleasure of speaking with Ambassador Emanuel recently, and we discussed (among other things), the importance of strong intellectual property rights for the creative community. And I’d also like to thank our MPA member studios in Japan for often providing us with terrific films to screen on these occasions. When the lights go down, and the music starts, I ask you to take a moment to think about what sort of personal impact movies have had on your life. It may be that some films have really resonated with you – or connected with you at a particular moment in your life. As you enjoy the story, I’d like you to consider just how much work goes into making a feature film production. Imagine the time and energy that has gone into the creative process to bring the final film to the silver screen. For filmmakers to continue to innovate, we need to ensure they are incentivized for their work.
They need to receive the financial reward for their labor. 　
And the best way for all of us to contribute to that environment is to respect their work and pay to access their films and TV shows through legitimate channels – whether at the cinema, on TV, or on one of the many new online services available. I commend the Japanese Government for its commitment to tackling this existential threat to our industry, and in time, we hope that site blocking will be adopted in Japan.」

-Video Message-

World Intellectual Day was established in 2000 by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) celebrating its 23rd year. We are to continuously hold events including screening in the future in order to have more people learn about the importance of promoting and protecting intellectual property.

We have also created following special infographics to help better understand copyright and film-related IP.