Japan JFTC News (EN)

Market Study on Fair Transactions Between Performers and Entertainment Agencies

The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) released findings from its comprehensive market study examining transactions between performers in music and broadcasting (artists, actors, talents) and entertainment agencies or production companies. The study employed three methods: questionnaires sent to 2,628 entertainment agencies with 810 responses (30.8% response rate), voluntary interviews with 95 persons and entities from April to November 2024, and 901 submissions via an online information submission form launched in April 2024.

JFTC Orders MC Data Plus to Cease Interference with Competitor Transactions

The Japan Fair Trade Commission issued a cease and desist order on December 24, 2024 against MC Data Plus, Inc. for violating Article 19 of the Antimonopoly Act (Unfair Trade Practices, paragraph 14: Interference with a Competitor's Transactions). The company designed its GREEN-site labor safety service to prevent users from exporting employee data (exceeding 100 items per employee) in machine-readable format, rejected data transfer requests from users from around 2020, and took steps to block competitors Shelfy and RVSTA from receiving user data. The violations occurred since July 1, 2015, with active interference measures implemented from 2019–2020.

Seki Furniture Faces JFTC Resale Price Maintenance Order

The Japan Fair Trade Commission issued a cease and desist order against Seki Furniture Co., Ltd. for violating Article 19 of the Antimonopoly Act through resale price maintenance of Ergohuman-branded chairs. The violation involved requiring retailers to sell at a reference price, monitoring online prices to identify discounted sales, and penalising non-compliant retailers by raising their shipment prices. Seki Furniture must immediately cease all conduct that maintains or restricts the retail price of Ergohuman products.