TOKYO (TR) – Law enforcement in Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture have arrested two men over the alleged distribution of adult video (AV) productions whose content was modified to make it appear that the stars are female celebrities, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Oct. 2).
Takumi Hayashida, a 21-year-old university student living in Kumamoto Prefecture, and Takanobu Otsuki, a 47-year-old systems engineer living in Hyogo Prefecture, have been accused of violating the Copyright Act.
Between last December and July, the suspects allegedly distributed so-called “deepfake” videos in which the faces of the actresses had been changed to those of two celebrities on a site hosted on an overseas server.
Police have also accused only Otsuki of distributing videos edited to star two other celebrities between this past April and July.
Artificial intelligence
The editing was completed through the use of an artificial intelligence technique. The pair uploaded a total of around 1,250 videos, police said.
In addition to infringement of copyright, police allege that the distribution of the deepfake videos also defames the celebrities.
Hayashida said that he “did it to make money.” However, Otsuki said, “I wanted to receive reviews about [the quality] from around the internet.”
Actresses from TV dramas
In a separate case, Kyoto Prefectural Police have arrested Koya Nomaguchi, a 30-year-old resident of Oita Prefecture, for the same crime.
The suspect is alleged to have uploaded adult videos doctored to star actresses from television dramas in December. Similar to Hayashida, Nomaguchi carried out the crime for “money-making purposes.”
Police have confirmed that more than 3,500 such videos featuring about 200 celebrities are available on the internet.
