Legal issues related to portraits uploaded on the Internet: Through analysis of court cases

Abstract

This paper explains when portraits uploaded on the Internet infringe on the subject’s “portrait rights” (in Japanese, “Shozoken”) through an analysis of court cases. In 2005, the Japanese Supreme Court presented a method for comprehensively considering various factors as criteria for judging infringement of portrait rights. This method is also applicable when considering infringement of portrait rights on the Internet. Therefore, this paper introduces infringement and non-infringement cases for each of the factors for consideration set forth by the Japanese Supreme Court, and explains the practical points and issues specific to the Internet.