A male business owner who had been arrested and indicted by the Miyagi Prefectural Police Headquarters and the Tome Police Station on suspicion of violating the Copyright Act—by transcribing, without authorization from rights holders, the full storylines of films and other copyrighted works into text and posting them on a website he operated together with related images—was found guilty at a hearing held at the Tokyo District Court on April 16. The court sentenced him to 1 year and 6 months of imprisonment, suspended for 4 years, and imposed a fine of 1 million yen.
Between January 2023 and February 2024, the defendant transcribed, without authorization from the rights holders, detailed elements of the entire storylines of the film Godzilla Minus One, copyrighted by TOHO CO., LTD., and the anime Overlord III, copyrighted by KADOKAWA CORPORATION and others. These transcriptions included character names, dialogue, actions, settings, and plot developments, and were prepared by outsourcing work to external writers, among other means. He then published these texts as articles on his company’s website along with related images. Through these articles, he attracted a large volume of traffic and generated illicit advertising revenue. In addition to the charges in this case, a considerable number of similar articles have also been confirmed.
This case was arrested following an investigation by the Miyagi Prefectural Police, with CODA coordinating among the affected rights holders. The swift investigation by the Miyagi Prefectural Police Headquarters and the Tome Police Station led to the case being brought to light. The police investigation further revealed that the defendant had been operating the website in an organized manner for profit.
A male writer who was also arrested and indicted in connection with this case was sentenced to a fine of 500,000 yen on July 16, 2025, and the judgment has since become final. Meanwhile, the business owner who operated the website denied the charges in court and contested them in full.
Text extraction sites, as seen in this case, are sometimes perceived as less harmful than piracy websites that directly distribute copyrighted content. However, the act of posting detailed descriptions of a story from beginning to end as the primary content clearly exceeds the scope of permissible quotation and constitutes a serious infringement of copyright, and thus a serious criminal offense.
CODA hopes that the arrest and conviction in this case will serve as a strong warning against the operation of such text extraction sites and contribute to deterring similar infringing activities. CODA will continue its efforts to ensure the proper protection of copyright.
This activity was part of a project entrusted from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry(METI).
■ Reference: First Arrest for Operation of Text Extraction Site from Movies and Other Works
https://coda-cj.jp/en/news/589/
(Translated using an automatic translation system.)
About CODA
CODA (Content Overseas Distribution Association) was established in 2002 at the call of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Agency for Cultural Affairs to promote the overseas development of Japanese content and take anti-piracy measures. Japan’s proud content, including music, movies, anime, broadcast programs, video games, and publishing, plays an important role in enhancing the nation’s international presence and economic growth. As digital technology becomes more widespread, it is even more significant to protect Japan’s content from increasingly artful copyright infringement and promote the content industry’s development. CODA contributes to the deterrence and detection of online and other piracy, by sharing knowledge with relevant government agencies, organizations, and companies in Japan and abroad, to engage in direct and indirect anti-piracy measures, as well as public relations activities. Visit https://coda-cj.jp/en/activity/ for more information on CODA’s projects.