We live in a world where most people don’t hesitate to post detailed spoiler articles or video details of the latest blockbuster movie or TV show. However, this month, the Tokyo District Court sentenced a website administrator who posted detailed spoiler articles about movies and anime online to an 18-month suspended sentence and a 1 million yen fine.
as discovered by dexertoA 39-year-old man has been charged with violating Japanese copyright law for posting a detailed article summarizing the first episode of the 2018 anime “Overlord III” and the 2023 movie “Godzilla Minus One.” These articles were written by contractors and posted shortly after the original release date of the anime and movie.
The main issue in this case was whether these articles constituted adaptations, as pointed out in . Asahi Shimbunreporting of the incident. Under Japanese copyright law, only the rights holder (or those who have obtained prior permission from the rights holder) are allowed to adapt existing works.
Prosecutors pointed out that the “Godzilla Minus One” article contained more than 3,000 characters in Japanese (equivalent to about 1,300 to 1,400 words) and covered the entire plot of the 2023 film from start to finish. The Overlord III Episode 1 article included sections of in-text dialogue in addition to numerous still images. They argued that the article was detailed enough to qualify as an adaptation and therefore infringed copyright.
The defense argued that the work could not be considered an adaptation, arguing that merely summarizing the characters and plot in text did not convey the “essential characteristics” of the original work. They argued that the emotion and element of surprise that movies and anime evoke can only be experienced through a combination of visuals, music, and acting. The defense also pointed out that visuals and music are especially important for individuals to fully experience monster movies like the Godzilla series.
However, as explained in detail, Yomiuri ShimbunContrary to the report, the final judgment held that the article contained sufficient information to enable readers to grasp the “essential features” of the work without actually seeing it. The judgment claimed that these articles were posted near the release dates of the anime “Overlord III” and the movie “Godzilla,” thereby “depriving the copyright holder of the opportunity to receive fair compensation.”
In addition, the website administrator earns revenue from advertisements on the site, earning more than 38 million yen (approximately $238,600) in 2023 (the year Godzilla Minus One was released) alone. The judge therefore concluded that the article had been posted with the “selfish” intention of profiting, and held that the defendants were “deeply responsible.”
A lawyer for Toho (the rights holder of Godzilla) told reporters, “The article is a malicious attempt to undermine the efforts of the (film) producers, and it is no surprise that the court has ruled that such behavior cannot be tolerated.”
Toho and KADOKAWA (owner of the rights to Overlord) are both members of Japan. coda (Content Overseas Distribution Association) is working on countermeasures against pirated copies. In recent years, some cases In it, CODA and its members successfully took action against serial uploaders of so-called “speed movies”, speeded-up videos of cartoons and movies with narration summarizing the overall plot. In this latest case, it appears that contributors who write summaries of Japanese movies and anime may be subject to similar legal scrutiny, especially if they are found to have profited from their content and timing.
Last year’s CODA Called by OpenAI to stop unauthorized training of Sora 2 will be discontinued soon Members include video game companies such as Square Enix and Bandai Namco.
Image provided by: Toho Co., Ltd.
Verity Townsend is a freelance writer based in Japan and previously served as an editor, contributor, and translator for the gaming news site Automaton West. She also writes about Japanese culture and film for various publications.
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