👩‍💼📙Legal Analysis: Why HotPepper Beauty’s Practices Would Be Illegal in the U.S.—and Why Japan Must Act

In the United States, HotPepper Beauty’s current practices would almost certainly be unlawful.

1. Misappropriation of Personal Name (戸籍上の名前の濫用)

Using another person’s real legal name for commercial purposes without consent constitutes a violation of the Right of Publicity.

U.S. courts have repeatedly recognized this as a serious infringement, allowing both injunctions and damages.

2. Free Riding and Trademark Law

Even if the name is not a registered trademark, exploiting someone’s identity for commercial gain is considered unfair competition.

Under the Lanham Act, such conduct may also qualify as false endorsement—misleading consumers into believing there is an association that does not exist.

3. Unfair Business Practices (ステルスマーケティング)

By attaching commercial content to independent social or cultural expression (e.g., X posts, YouTube, blogs), HotPepper Beauty blurs the line between genuine expression and advertising.

In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) strictly regulates such deceptive marketing, often imposing heavy penalties.

🇯🇵 Under Japanese Law

Japan lacks a clear "right of publicity" statute, but these practices still fall under existing legal frameworks:

Antimonopoly Act (独占禁止法): Abuse of dominant market position and restriction of fair competition.

Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations (景品表示法): Misrepresentation by linking unrelated personal names to commercial promotions.

Consumer Protection Law: Misleading consumers by creating the false impression that personal expression is tied to commercial services.

📌 Why This Matters

A person’s legal name (戸籍名) carries special weight in Japan. To have that name forcibly linked to a business I never consented to—especially in a purely commercial context like HotPepper Beauty—causes serious reputational and personal harm.

My own publications and online presence are based on knowledge-sharing and expression, consistent with international standards such as Wikipedia’s editorial policies. These spaces are not commercial platforms.

To forcibly attach my identity to a commercial service undermines both my freedom of expression and the integrity of public information.

👉 Japan must urgently reform its legal system to close these gaps.

Free riding, misattribution, and stealth marketing should not be tolerated—especially when they exploit an individual’s legal name without permission.