Japanese Government is considering a stricter copyright law which will allow the copyright holders to get a cut from cosplayers on income earned doing cosplay activity.
Over the years, Cosplay has become very popular and many people are earning a lot of money from it. Some cosplayers are even making hundreds of thousands from cosplay activities.
The current regulation between cosplayers and copyright holders is very vague. There are no laws in place to protect the cosplayer or the copyright holder. If someone is cosplaying as a hobby and generating no income from it, there are no laws being broken. But if the cosplayer is making money from cosplay activities, there’s an argument to be made that cosplayer is breaking Japan’s copyright law.
The Japanese government is currently looking into this matter, seeking opinions from copyright holder and cosplayers to come up with a solution that will be beneficial for both the parties involved.
Previously, Japan’s highest paid cosplayer Enako blew everyone’s mind after revealing how much she makes from cosplaying. In her tweet, she revealed that she made around $482,000 in a year 2020. It’s quite a feat considering this year’s situation.
