¡Why is the Oricon law suit dangerous to the human rights, especially freedom of speech?¡

One night, your telephone rings. You pick it up, and find itfs a call from an editor/reporter of magazine/newspapers you know. He or she asks you a few questions and you answer them, as earnestly as you believe what you say is the truth. A few months later, you get a letter from district court and learn you are sued and demanded 50 million Yen (500,000 dollars). You have no other choice than paying 7 million Yen (70,000 dollars) to hire a lawyer, even if you win the case.

Can this be called a democratic society? But this is a true story, which is now happening to Hiro Ugaya, a 43 year old freelance Japanese journalist based in Tokyo. If you understand that his human right is being violated, please take any action to save him. Below is a letter of rescue request from Hiro Ugaya.

Dear fellow citizens and colleague journalists;

Please forward this e-mail and keep your friends informed. This Oricon lawsuit case is extremely dangerous to the freedom of speech, expression and press.

This is a letter to report the dangerous abuse of civil lawsuit to bar healthy criticism of corporate action and to disturb freedom of speech in Japan.

On December 13, the oligopoly popular music hit-chart company named Oricon ( President: Wataru Koike )has filed a civil lawsuit against Hiro Ugaya, a veteran journalist and music critic, at@the Tokyo District Court  for@ Ugaya's 20 lines comment published on April 2006 in an article of "Saizo" magazine, claiming that it has damaged their " honor and credibility of polls" and demanding Ugaya 50,000,000 ( 50 million ) Yen compensation.

http://www.oricon.co.jp/

However, the surprising part is yet to come.

This lawsuit is very violently intimidating and abusive because;

1) The simple fact of suing freelance journalist like Ugaya with a demand for damages valuated 50 million Yen automatically brings costs for hiring a defense lawyer to a fee of 7 million Yen in total, according to Japan Lawyers Association, even if Ugaya eventually wins. He needs to first pay his lawyer the requested approximately 2 millionYen ( $20,000 ) as a "start-up fee", before his case can be defended in court. And even if he fortuntaely wins the case, 10% of demanded money must be paid to the lawyer.

This brings financial collapse to the freelance journalist with only a sheet of paper. Moreover, the amount of money Oricon demands can be decided by itfs free will, without legal regulation. Itfs a case of legal abd financial over-kill.

2) Oricon did not sue the publisher. This is the first libel case in which a plaintiff did not sue the publisher or editor in chief of the magazine. Ugaya have to fight alone financially. ( The magazine 'Saizo' has issued a comment to ' support' Ugaya for the sake of free speech on its web site)

http://www.ultracyzo.com/

3) Oricon is also a publishing division and has more than 5 magazines, they did not choose to argue back in print. They did not demand correction or erase of the article either. Thus it is clear that Oricon intentionally abuses civil lawsuit as a tool of intimidation.

4) As a proof of (3), Mr. Koike, the president of Oricon, publicly announces in a press release that the purpose of the lawsuit is to shut up Ugaya and if Ugaya admits "mistakes" and apologizes publicly, they will drop the case. It means they know they are using civil lawsuit as a tool of intimidation.

5) Ugaya did not write a single line in the article that Oricon is suing. Everything Ugaya did was pick up the phone to answer a nightly call from a Saizo magazinefs journalist and answered their 5 or 6 questions (at first Ugaya refused to comment because they asked questions about Johnny's Entertainment, which he doesn't know at all. But Saizo insisted 'general comment is ok.' ) They wrote ( to be accurate, summarized ) Ugaya's comment into about 20 lines and quoted it. Oricon sued Ugaya for the comment.

6) Ugaya's comment is doubly or triply confirmed information so he believes that 100% sure that these informations are true. Inside the music industry community, what Ugaya commented was a "public unspoken secret."

To write to Oricon;

Mr. Wataru Koike

Step Roppongi-nishi,6-8-10 Roppongi, MInato-Ku, Tokyo 106-0032

 Phone;:81-3(3405)5252@@FAX 81-3(3405)8189

ge-support@oricon.jp

webmaster1@oricon.jp

Your help and support would be most appreciated. Ugaya seriously needs your rescue action.

Warmly;

--

Hiro Ugaya

http://ugaya.com/

contact:Fugaya@ugaya.com

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Mr. UGAYA, Hirocmichi ( b. Jan. 1963, Kyoto, Japan ) is a freelance journalist based in Tokyo. After having served as staff writer of Asahi newspaper( one of Japanese major dailies ) and weekly news magazine "Aera" for 17 years, he launched a new career of freelance writer and creative writing educator. Mr. Ugaya specializes in music business in Japan, military and medical issues and contributes to various kinds of magazine. He has published three books on Japanese popular music business and memoir of corruption of media congromaritte. He has a master degree in international security policy srudies from the School of International and Public Affairs ( MIA 94 ), Columbia Univeristy, USA.