The Japanese government is about to introduce a law that could change cosplay culture forever

Mentioning Japan without mentioning the culture cosplay is a shortcoming.​

Currently, anyone living in Japan has the freedom to dress up as their favorite manga or anime (aka cosplay) characters. However, this seems to be changing slightly, writer and translator Matt Alt said the Japanese government is reviewing regulations related to income from cosplay and may include it in the Copyright Law. Accordingly, the cosplayer Professionals will have to pay a fee to use the character image.
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Cosplayer Enako – People who earn 90,000 USD per month from cosplay.​

Cosplayer can be considered a stable income business in Japan. Professional cosplayer Enako earns more than 90,000 USD per month from public appearances, selling merchandise, photo books or participating in chat sessions under the guise of manga characters. Other cosplayers also make a decent income from selling photos or videos of them dressing up as favorite manga or anime characters to manga websites or stores. However, the creators of these characters are not currently receiving any money even though many people are using the images of their brain children to make a lot of money.

According to Kyodo News, Japan’s copyright law stipulates that cosplay activities that are not for profit are not illegal, so if this law is put into effect, most cosplayers will not be affected. However, some behaviors such as posting cosplay photos on social networking sites may be considered illegal.
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Taro Yamada, a member of Japan’s lower house of parliament and leader of the Freedom of Speech Party, said the Japanese government can maintain an ecosystem that benefits both copyright owners and copyright owners. copyright owners and cosplayers. He is currently scrutinizing the direction for Copyright Law in the “age of user-generated content.”

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