When an executive branch agency or military arm posts copyrighted Japanese animation, everyday takedown mechanics break down. Private platforms frequently hesitate to process standard Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices against verified government entities, and foreign entertainment firms face jurisdictional hurdles inside domestic district courts.
Under the Eleventh Amendment, individual U.S. states often assert sovereign immunity against copyright damage claims in federal court, a defense that public universities and state-level agencies frequently test. The federal government enjoys no such blanket escape hatch. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1498(b), the United States government waives sovereign immunity for copyright infringement:
"Hereafter, whenever the copyright in any work protected under the copyright laws of the United States shall be infringed by the United States, by a corporation owned or controlled by the United States, or by a contractor, subcontractor, or any person, firm, or corporation acting for the Government and with the authorization or consent of the Government, the exclusive action which may be brought for such infringement shall be an action by the copyright owner against the United States in the Court of Federal Claims for the recovery of his reasonable and entire compensation as damages for such infringement..."
If an official Department of Defense account posts unlicensed footage owned by Studio Pierrot or Shueisha, the owners can file suit against the United States in the Court of Federal Claims. Because both the U.S. and Japan are signatories to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, Japanese corporate entities enjoy identical copyright protections on American soil as domestic authors. International IP treaties ensure that Tokyo rights holders do not require a separate U.S. copyright registration prior to the act of infringement to pursue federal remedies.
