Japanese Authorities Refer 'Spoiler Website' Operators To Prosecutors in Rare Corporate Copyright Case

Japanese police referred five individuals and a company to prosecutors last week for allegedly operating a website that published detailed movie plots without permission from rights holders. The Miyagi Prefectural Police Headquarters and Minamisanriku Police Station sent the case to the Sendai District Public Prosecutors Office on suspicion of violating the Copyright Act.

The Content Overseas Distribution Association described the case as having 'very few precedents for a corporation being referred to the prosecutor's office on suspicion of violating the Copyright Act, making this an extremely rare case.'

The website posted detailed content from films including 'Godzilla Minus One' and four others copyrighted by Toho, 'Shin Kamen Rider' and two others by Toei, 'Neck' and one other by KADOKAWA, and 'Shin Ultraman' by Tsuburaya Productions. The site listed more than 8,000 films with complete storylines, character names, dialogue, and scene descriptions.

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