The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has been discussing issues that the content industry will face in the future since this January in the  Study Group on the Content Industry’s Growth Strategy. 

The results of discussions have been compiled into a report and released.

1. The current status of and challenges for the content industry

Products of the Japanese content industry are highly popular overseas, and the industry has the potential to grow to ¥20 trillion from the current ¥14 trillion in sales. The wider acceptance of Japanese content in the global market is expected to have a positive impact on other services and products provided by Japanese companies.

However, Japanese content companies have been suffering a loss of potential profits overseas because of their failure to take full advantage of business opportunities, and a flood of pirated contents. The industry faces several domestic challenges as well, such as the decline in internal demand due to falling advertisement expenses and the shrinking child population, the need to develop professional creators, and rights management in the content business.

2. Outline of the Study Group

To address these challenges and implement the New Growth Strategy, which was approved by the Cabinet in December 2009, METI has been conducting discussions since this January in the Study Group on the Content Industry’s Growth Strategy.

A report compiled by the Study Group is hereby released.

3. Key points of the report

> Development of human resources to enhance Japan’s creative capacity
> Emphasis on human resource development, financing, information gathering, and publicity, in order to expand Japan’s presence in overseas markets
> Promotion of measures to combat illegal content in Japan and abroad
> Creation of an environment that allows production companies to receive a fair share of profits
> Laying the ground for business creation suited to the new media environment, including electronic media

Reference

Summary of the Report by the Study Group on the Content Industry’s Growth Strategy (PDF:228KB)

May 14, 2010

Media and Content Industry Division, Commerce and Information Policy Bureau