The issue focused on illegal copyright theft and copyright litigation and copyright infringements and copyright litigation rights and damages in copyright litigation cases in Japan. Although copyright litigation rights are legally recognized and legally protected by Japan's Constitution and Law of 1988, copyright infringement lawsuits have increased dramatically over the past decade and copyright infringement litigation cases have gone from fewer than 100 lawsuits per year in 1999 to almost 500 lawsuits per year in 2008. Legal courts have permitted defendants to sue copyright holders with copyright infringement lawsuits when courts determine that defendants illegally copied works or