For many years, Japan’s strict content-sharing laws have made it difficult for commentators, satirists and other secondary content creators to use anime as a source. However, YouTube and Kadokawa are implementing a new policy that will give content creators, both in and outside of Japan, a significant increase in freedom when working with the anime medium.
Per Oricon US, Japan’s Kadokawa Corporation recently announced a new set of policies governing content creation on YouTube, the world’s most popular video-sharing platform. Effective immediately, YouTube users are now permitted to use anime clips and key visuals when creating various types of secondary content, including “clip compilations,” “commentary or explanatory videos” and unofficial English translations. While commentary and other uses are traditionally covered under America’s “Fair Use” clause, Japan-based companies typically apply Japanese law when striking down or flagging YouTube content for copyright infringement. Consequently, Oricon and other Japanese news outlets are describing this new policy as a “groundbreaking” development in the current era of viewer-generated content.
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Kadokawa Expands Anime Content-Sharing Policy Internationally for YouTube & Social Media
Image via Kinema Cirtrus
YouTube and Kadokawa’s new content policies apply to four specific anime titles released in July 2025. These include New Panty & Stocking With Garterbelt, Rising of the Shield Hero Season 4, Detectives These Days Are Crazy and See You Tomorrow at the Food Court. With the exception of New Panty & Stocking With Garterbelt, YouTube users will be allowed to use up to four minutes of anime footage. In the official guidelines for New Panty & Stocking — a high-profile sequel to one of GAINAX’s most controversial anime comedies — Kadokawa states that it will only permit the use of two minutes of footage. Additionally, all anime usage must also conform with YouTube’s existing content guidelines.
While guidelines for each individual title vary, certain rules apply to each one. Notably, all content creators will have a certain amount of liberty on other social media sites. “For the purpose of redirecting to the eligible or derivative content on YouTube,” creators are allowed to share clips via platforms such as “X, TikTok, Instagram, NicoNico” and others. Additionally, the new guidelines apply strictly to anime clips, not related works such as manga or light novels. Kadokawa also stated that any copyright disputes relating to the aforementioned works will still be “governed and interpreted in accordance” with Japanese law.
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Produced by Studio Trigger, New Panty & Stocking With Garterbelt is a screwball comedy about two banished angels who are tasked with vanquishing ghosts on Earth in order to “buy” their way back into Heaven. Due to their oppositional personalities, Panty — a sex-obsessed playgirl — and her sister, Stocking — a goth lolita with a hardcore sweet tooth — often bicker and argue in between battles. In contrast, Rising of the Shield Hero is a classic isekai tale about a lonely otaku who is abruptly summoned to a fantasy universe. After discovering that he is one of four heroes destined to save the world, Naofumi Iwatani aka “The Shield Hero” sets out on a quest to live up to his newfound title.
Detectives These Days Are Crazy and See You Tomorrow at the Food Court both belong to the popular slice-of-life genre. The former series follows Keiichiro Nagumo — a middle-aged detective who is humorously unversed with modern technology. One day, he is approached by a high schooler named Mashiro with a desperate plea to become his assistant. After she helps Nagumo solve a difficult case, he reluctantly takes her under his wing. See You Tomorrow at the Food Court revolves around Wada, a high school girl who appears to the world as a first-class honor student despite actually having a lazy and unmotivated personality. One day, she strikes up an unusual friendship with Yamamoto, an actual honor student who only appears lazy and unmotivated to others.
Source: Oricon US (pages 1, 2, 3)
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