Man faces prison after writing movie spoilers online

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A Japanese court has given a website owner a prison sentence and a hefty fine of one million yen for simply posting movie summaries online – something many people do every day without thinking twice.

In late 2024, Toho (the studio behind Godzilla Minus One) and Kadokawa (known for the Overlord anime) filed a legal complaint against the operator of a certain website through the Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA). However, the complaint wasn’t about piracy itself.

The case turned on a narrower and more unsettling question: can a written plot summary be a crime?

Japanese court rules movie spoiler sites are illegal copyright adaptations

On April 16th, a Tokyo court gave Wataru Takeuchi, a 39-year-old who runs a website, an 18-month prison sentence that will be suspended for four years. He was also fined 1 million yen, which is about $6,300.

The court ruled that the articles on his website, created by freelance writers and published from 2018 to 2023, were unlawful copies of existing works.

The Godzilla Minus One recap was a detailed, lengthy piece, covering the entire movie from beginning to end. The Overlord III article was even more comprehensive, including screenshots and quoting dialogue directly from the film.

Takeuchi’s legal team claimed that simply presenting text couldn’t fully represent the original works, because those works relied on visuals, music, and performance – all key parts of what made them unique under Japanese copyright law. However, the court disagreed with this argument.

The Asahi Shimbun reported that Takeuchi earned over 38 million yen (approximately $239,000) from advertising in 2023. Prosecutors highlighted this income to argue that his actions were motivated by profit, not simply fan support.

Japanese copyright law defines an “adaptation” as a new work based on an original, where creative changes are made but the core idea remains the same. The original creator holds the exclusive right to create these adaptations. Unlike the US, Japan doesn’t have a wide-ranging “fair use” rule, meaning there are limited exceptions that would allow things like commentary or quotes to be used without permission.

CODA, the organization that previously worked to block quick video summaries of movies, is now applying the same rules to written summaries and spoiler sites. They believe these sites hurt the original content creators by discouraging people from paying to see the full movie or show, and they plan to target similar platforms in the future.

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2026-04-21 17:19