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This section of the United States Code prohibits the "unauthorized Fixation and trafficking in sound recording and music videos...without the consent of the performer or performers involved." In other words, it makes it clear that it is illegal to distribute music or music videos, online for example, without consent. According to the language used, it sounds like music videos are defined as recordings of live performances, rather than more abstract videos edited to reflect the content of the music. Elsewhere in the Copyright Code, phonorecords are defined as being separate from audiovisual works. But when music videos are available online, they become one more way for internet "pirates" to obtain a digital "phonorecord" without paying or receiving permission from the artist or copyright holder.
This is the only area where noticeable steps have been taken to stop the distribution of anime music videos. That is, stepping in on behalf of the interests of the musicians to control the distribution of their songs. Record companies are not beholden to the niche audience of anime fans, so are willing to act on the law when an infringement is brought to their attention. For the record company an entire creative work is being reproduced and transmitted in a music video; whereas for the copyright holders of a given anime, only relatively small portions of (if even the "heart" of) their works are reproduced. As they have done in various areas of internet music trafficking, music companies have the (moral or ethical) right perform the same way a domestic anime copyright holder would when faced with illegal distribution of an entire film or series. When a music video is downloaded, it is possible to detach the audio from the video and acquire the song on its own, or even just enjoy it in full as it plays over the video. Therefore using a song in a music video is closer to a clear-cut act of piracy than editing the video.
Call#: Annenberg Library Reserve P94.65.U6 J46 2006
"The studios are now, for the most part, treating cult properties as "love marks" and fans as "inspirational consumers" whose efforts helped generate broader interests in their properties. Establishing the fans' loyalty often means lessening traditional controls that companies might exert over their intellectual properties and thus opening up a broader space for grassroots creative expression" (pp. 191)
And yet, American copyright holders still try their best to limit what kinds of fan fiction can be easily found online, in hopes of keeping some control over the perception (or decency) of their brand. None have tried to actually take a sexually explicit fan fiction author to court for fear of alienating fans and setting the wrong precedent, but they have tried to quash such expression. And the more affinity towards the fanbase, the more the fans will be willing to censor themselves in order to please their benevolent masters (of the copyright).
On page 155 (chapter 4), Jenkins mentions "song videos" as a form of fan fiction. He talks about fan fiction here in contrast to the kind of fan productions LucasFilm endorses, which can only be parody-flavored or about the fans themselves. "Song videos" are often the kind of production preferred by female fans, who take the time to explore and develop certain relationships and themes that may or may not have been present in the original work. LucasFilm acts along the same lines as the law might approach various kinds of derivative works-though it is comfortable with parodies, anything that might be seen as "expanding upon" the original universe could technically be illegal derivative work and therefore to be avoided. The difference between monolithic character properties such as Harry Potter and Star Wars and an entire (niche) medium is also very important to note. Unlike the more specific fan cultures, the anime fan culture is both less mainstream (and therefore even more dependant on the loyal and active few) and unable to be corralled and manipulated by one corporate body. Since an entire genre of cinema and comics are the focus and instead of one copyrightable property, lots of varying interests are at stake and no single one can control fans as a whole.
In 2002, American website Anime Tourist conducted a convention interview with two of the founding members of the respected Japanese anime production company Gainax, Hiroyuki Yamaga and Takami Akai. The two discuss their current and upcoming projects at Gainax, provided some details on their past at the company, as well as explaining some of the themes and such of their more famous works. Finally they speak on American localization of their works and American fandom.
An audience member asks the creators for their opinion on the music videos made from their work by American fans. Akai seems not to have been aware of them (the translation perhaps makes it a bit confusing), but Yamaga appreciates the fan-made works. He discusses the often-pointed-to model of manga and anime creators getting their start in the industry by writing and drawing dojinshi, or unlicensed fan comics based on copyrighted properties: "as Gainax, they got their start doing similar stuff so it's very hard for them to say, ‘No, We won't allow that.'" As a company, they have to plead ignorance that such fan material exists or else even Japanese copyright law would dictate that they shut infringers down. He points to the line between fan/hobbyist and professional as the deciding factor in whether or not infringing work is worth going after legally; in the Japanese manga business, the line is extremely blurred as young artists very often earn their stripes and build their skill on dojinshi before tackling original projects of their own. Japanese creators such as these may not be aware of the American arm of fan's use of their characters and work, but they are used to letting such forms of use slide within their Japanese fan culture.
Lessig writes about the recent development of a record company, Wind-Up Records, requesting AnimeMusicVideos.org (perhaps the largest online collection of anime music videos and "AMV" artists) to remove all links to music videos containing music by their artists. These artists included Evanescence and Creed, bands popular among fans and with a large number of music videos on the site, roughly 3,000. He points to the AMV movement as a sign of the growing read-write culture allowed by the internet and computers that new generations are increasingly participating in. Where content owners try to enforce a "Read-Only" environment where viewers/users can look, but not touch, Lessig advocates the development of creativity and benefits thereof for those (often young) fans who take it upon themselves to add to the artistic tableau of a medium. He even relates a personal anecdote about his son, in which the only way he was accepted to a prominent university was by showing them the AMVs he had made as an example of his artistic talent. Lessig sees the struggle between copyright holders and young, artistically motivated fans as the new battle to be fought, and one in which it should be easy to see which side is in the right. Of course, according to current US copyright law (backed by copyright holding corporations) such employment of "Read-Write" culture is illegal. The internet, however, has afforded both an opportunity to put such artistic expression on easy display and an at least temporary hurdle for content owners to leap in order to stomp down on "unfair" uses due to its expanse and level of anonymity.