FTC punishes publishers for violating freelance law
Shogakukan Inc. and Kobunsha Co. (The Asahi Shimbun)
In the first recommendation issued under the new freelance law, the Fair Trade Commission on June 17 cited major Tokyo-based publishers Shogakukan Inc. and Kobunsha Co. for their mistreatment of freelancers.
The two publishers were reprimanded for failing to pay freelance magazine writers and photographers on time and failing to specify the terms and conditions of transactions.
The FTC issued a recommendation and demanded that they prevent a recurrence of violating the freelance law, which protects freelance workers.
According to the FTC, Shogakukan did not specify the terms and conditions of transactions, such as payment dates, when it outsourced work to 191 freelance writers, photographers, illustrators, and hair and makeup artists for the production of monthly and weekly magazines from Dec. 1 to Dec. 31, 2024.
The company also failed to pay their compensation by the due date.
Kobunsha committed similar violations in transactions with 31 freelancers between Nov. 1, 2024, and Feb. 27 of this year.
Freelancers are workers who are not employed by a company or other organization, and work alone to receive orders for work.
According to a 2020 survey by the Cabinet Secretariat, there were an estimated 4.62 million freelancers in Japan.
The freelance law was enacted in November 2024.
Under the law, before placing an order for work, the client is required to clearly state the nature of the work, the amount of compensation, and the payment date in writing or via email.
The FTC said that in Shogakukan's cases, more than half of the transactions in which there were violations were commissioned orally, and, in some cases, the amount of compensation was not clearly indicated.
In principle, the due date of compensation must be set to 'the earliest possible date within 60 days' from the date of receipt of the deliverables, and if not set, the due date is the date of receipt of the contracted work.
The two companies did not set a due date and did not pay any compensation even after receiving the work.
Kobunsha also had a violation where it was approximately 90 days late from the due date.
Some freelancers asked for clarification of business terms and demanded payment of compensation, but the situation did not improve, the FTC said.
The law also stipulates seven prohibited acts for those who place orders for work lasting more than one month, such as refusing to accept the final product, reducing compensation, returning the product, abuse of buying power, and asking for an unfair do-over.
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