On January 18, 2025, the Kyoto Shimbun hosted a workshop titled “Learning About Copyright – What Future Creators Should Value” at the Aeon Mall KYOTO Koto Hall in Minami Ward, Kyoto City. CODA was invited to participate as a lecturer at this event.
This workshop is part of the Kyoto Shimbun’s annual “Illustrating Stories” contest, which has been held since 1971. Now in its 54th year, the contest encourages participants to express their impressions of a book through art. Given its theme of “reading books (engaging with copyrighted works)” and “creating illustrations (producing new works),” the contest also includes related events that promote awareness about copyright.
This year’s workshop targeted elementary school children and their parents, providing an opportunity to learn about copyright. Yuguchi, CODA’s Director of Project Management, participated as a lecturer, representing CODA’s efforts to promote education and awareness regarding intellectual property rights and the legitimate distribution of content.
During the workshop, the children began by introducing their entries for the contest, sharing details about the books they had read and the scenes they chose to illustrate. Following this, they learned about topics such as “What is a copyrighted work?” They also explored the idea that, as creators themselves who made illustrations, their works are considered copyrighted materials.
Next, the workshop featured a group activity where parent-child pairs took on the perspectives of both creators whose rights were violated and consumers who inadvertently infringed on those rights. They discussed “Why is it wrong?” and “What can we do about it?” This exercise encouraged participants to internalize these issues, reflect on them personally, and actively share their thoughts as a group.
At the end of the workshop, participants shared positive feedback, such as, “It was very easy to understand and enjoyable,” and, “I would love for this to be held in elementary schools as well.”
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About CODA
CODA (Content Overseas Distribution Association) was established in 2002 at the call of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Agency for Cultural Affairs to promote the overseas development of Japanese content and take anti-piracy measures. Japan’s proud content, including music, movies, anime, broadcast programs, video games, and publishing, plays an important role in enhancing the nation’s international presence and economic growth. As digital technology becomes more widespread, it is even more significant to protect Japan’s content from increasingly artful copyright infringement and promote the content industry’s development. CODA contributes to the deterrence and detection of online and other piracy, by sharing knowledge with relevant government agencies, organizations, and companies in Japan and abroad, to engage in direct and indirect anti-piracy measures, as well as public relations activities. Visit https://coda-cj.jp/en/activity/ for more information on CODA’s projects.