Frankly, I’m kind of sick of it. Is it because non-copyrighted pieces of work are not sustainable for large publishing houses? Not to mention manga is too. It’s not much of a problem when it comes to individuals, but companies which probably lobby for “eternal” copyright (I know Disney does but that’s not Japanese).
In fact, is there anything from Japan that I don’t have to feel guilty about sharing with my friends and family (but mostly friends)? Or do I literally have to wait until my death for some anime to enter the public domain?
Unexpected? Well, it seems that way from the way I commented. I just want to find one example where something isn’t willingly protected under copyright law in Japan (it’s easier to find such media in the West than the East)
Everything is protected under copyright by default.
Can you provide some examples of western productions that were put into the public domain (which needs to happen through an explicit act)?
Yup, I’m thinking no bueno, chief