TOKYO – The Tokyo District Court on Thursday handed a 39-year-old man a suspended prison term for violating the Copyright Act by publishing detailed “spoiler articles” of films, including the blockbuster hit “Godzilla Minus One.”
Wataru Takeuchi, the representative of a website operating company, received a sentence of one year and six months in prison, suspended for four years, along with a fine of 1 million yen, reports Fuji News Network (Apr. 16).
Takeuchi was accused of writing and publishing highly detailed text summaries online. The articles heavily transcribed the plotlines, scene developments and character dialogue of copyrighted films without authorization.
In issuing the ruling, the presiding judge acknowledged the copyright infringement, noting that the content essentially served as an unauthorized text-based adaptation.
Set in postwar Japan, the 2023 film is the 37th in the “Godzilla” franchise. Ryunosuke Kamiki stars as a former kamikaze pilot suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after encountering a kaiju monster named “Godzilla.”
“By maintaining the identical essential characteristics of the original works while newly expressing them creatively, readers were able to grasp scene developments through text, which can be considered an adaptation,” the court stated.
The judge strongly condemned the defendant’s motives for monetizing the copyrighted works.
“The crime was based on unique and selfish thinking, committed with the purpose of gaining advertising revenue, and the responsibility is heavy,” the judge added.
