Man arrested for selling pirated copies of Godzilla that he colorized using AI

by

An elderly man, aged 66, was apprehended due to his actions of disseminating unauthorized, colorized versions of the movie ‘Godzilla,’ which he modified with artificial intelligence.

As a gaming enthusiast, let me share an interesting fact: On June 17th, I learned that Japanese authorities nabbed a 66-year-old guy for peddling unauthorized DVDs of the iconic Godzilla movie. Although the original flick was in black and white, it’s been rumored that Toho Studios never officially launched a colorized version of their legendary monster masterpiece.

Even though this might seem unexpected, the advent of AI software has provided enthusiasts with the necessary tools to try their hand at colorizing the films themselves. At Godzilla Festival Online 2020, an unauthorized colorized trailer was presented, offering fans a sneak peek at how Honda’s classic movie could appear if such a project were approved.

Nevertheless, the part-timer, Miyamoto Ippei, showed a strong desire to meet fan expectations, and began selling illegally colored versions of the 1954 Godzilla movie.

Man arrested for selling Godzilla 1954 DVDs

Based on reports from The Asahi Shimbun, it’s been reported that Miyamoto was detained under the presumption that he had sold an unauthorized copy of Godzilla on DVD, through a flea market online platform, to an individual in Tokyo, during November of the previous year.

The 66-year-old gentleman shared that he utilized a popular video editing software featuring artificial intelligence (AI) for colorizing the footage.

Miyamoto’s site additionally offered colorized versions of old black-and-white movies that were colored by him himself. He marketed these as transforming black-and-white cinema into color, specifically for films where the copyright term had lapsed.

Additionally, the police discovered that identical DVDs were being advertised as “legal” on various online flea markets. The colored versions of these DVDs were priced between 3,000 to 30,000 yen, equivalent to approximately $20 to $206 each.

Officials verified that Miyamoto earned approximately 170 thousand yen ($11,716) in profits from January of the previous year up until May of the current year.

Although details about the allegations against him remain undisclosed, the authorities have confirmed that the copyright protection for the 1954 version of Godzilla will persist until 2031.

Read More

2025-06-18 12:18