Sources: Japanese Labels Looking To Ban Imports

The Recording Industry Assn. of Japan (RIAJ) is lobbying the Japanese government's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to give labels the right to block imported repertoire, sources confirm.

The RIAJ declined to comment on the issue.

The labels' concerns center on the possibility of Japanese repertoire being exported to Japan from other Asian countries, such as mainland China and South Korea. The latter country will remove its remaining restrictions on Japanese music on Jan. 1.

Japanese labels operate under a government-approved fixed-price system for recorded music. South Korea and China have no such constraints, and Japanese labels have expressed concerns about cheaper "gray imports" of Japanese repertoire pressed in those territories flooding the home market.

The sources say that the RIAJ, along with other industry organizations, is seeking a legal way to block imports of local repertoire while continuing to allow imports of non-Japanese material.

Retailers fear that giving labels such a right would give them excessive leverage over music stores. "We are seriously concerned about the implications of a blanket restriction on imports," says HMV Asia-Pacific president Paul Dezelsky.

Tower Records Japan estimates that imports account for roughly half of its annual sales.