SSY
06-14-2010, 05:34 AM
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-06-14/14-year-old-arrested-for-leaking-manga-on-youtube
Kyoto's High-Tech Crime Task Force and other police units have arrested a 14-year-old middle-school student on Monday for allegedly distributing One Piece and other manga on the YouTube website before the manga's official release dates. The unnamed male suspect comes from Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture southwest of Tokyo. According to the police, this is Japan's first arrest for alleged copyright infringement on YouTube.
The teenager is suspected of uploading One Piece, Naruto, Major, and one other work as videos between December 22, 2009 and February 9, 2010. The suspect reportedly admitted to photographing the manga, page by page, and uploading the images as videos without authorization. The police are investigating the details of how the suspect obtained the manga before release.
The America-based YouTube is the world's most-visited video-sharing website. Over 10 million people use the site in Japan alone. The public relations department of Shueisha, the publisher of the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine that runs One Piece and Naruto, told the Yomiuri Shimbun paper, "These acts of copyright infringement are truly regrettable. To protect manga culture and the rights of manga creators, we're taking every available measure."
Sources: Mainichi Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun
Update: In May of 2007, Kyoto's High-Tech Crime Task Force and other cooperating authorities arrested three male suspects in Tokyo, Morioka, and Osaka, and searched their homes for unauthorized file-sharing of manga before release. One of those arrested was a 17-year-old Tokyo student who allegedly uploaded Weekly Shonen Jump every week on the Thursday before the official Monday release date from February 15 to April 5, 2007. All three reportedly used the Winny peer-to-peer file-sharing network to distribute the scanned manga.
Japan's Copyright Law prohibits unauthorized uploaders but expressly allowed people to download for private use until this year. Last June, the Japanese parliament passed an amendment that will make it illegal to knowingly download copyrighted material without authorization for the first time. The new law went into effect on January 1, 2010.
The years of the alleged copyright infringement have been corrected in the article above. Thanks, Twilightmaster and Kurisu-kun.
Update 2: According to what the police told the Sports Nippon newspaper, the suspect used the Twitter social networking site to announce the four times he is known to have uploaded manga.
Update 3: According to the Asahi Shimbun paper, the fourth manga that the 14-year-old suspect uploaded frame-by-frame was Gintama, another Weekly Shonen Jump manga title. Major runs in Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine.
Kyoto's High-Tech Crime Task Force and other police units have arrested a 14-year-old middle-school student on Monday for allegedly distributing One Piece and other manga on the YouTube website before the manga's official release dates. The unnamed male suspect comes from Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture southwest of Tokyo. According to the police, this is Japan's first arrest for alleged copyright infringement on YouTube.
The teenager is suspected of uploading One Piece, Naruto, Major, and one other work as videos between December 22, 2009 and February 9, 2010. The suspect reportedly admitted to photographing the manga, page by page, and uploading the images as videos without authorization. The police are investigating the details of how the suspect obtained the manga before release.
The America-based YouTube is the world's most-visited video-sharing website. Over 10 million people use the site in Japan alone. The public relations department of Shueisha, the publisher of the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine that runs One Piece and Naruto, told the Yomiuri Shimbun paper, "These acts of copyright infringement are truly regrettable. To protect manga culture and the rights of manga creators, we're taking every available measure."
Sources: Mainichi Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun
Update: In May of 2007, Kyoto's High-Tech Crime Task Force and other cooperating authorities arrested three male suspects in Tokyo, Morioka, and Osaka, and searched their homes for unauthorized file-sharing of manga before release. One of those arrested was a 17-year-old Tokyo student who allegedly uploaded Weekly Shonen Jump every week on the Thursday before the official Monday release date from February 15 to April 5, 2007. All three reportedly used the Winny peer-to-peer file-sharing network to distribute the scanned manga.
Japan's Copyright Law prohibits unauthorized uploaders but expressly allowed people to download for private use until this year. Last June, the Japanese parliament passed an amendment that will make it illegal to knowingly download copyrighted material without authorization for the first time. The new law went into effect on January 1, 2010.
The years of the alleged copyright infringement have been corrected in the article above. Thanks, Twilightmaster and Kurisu-kun.
Update 2: According to what the police told the Sports Nippon newspaper, the suspect used the Twitter social networking site to announce the four times he is known to have uploaded manga.
Update 3: According to the Asahi Shimbun paper, the fourth manga that the 14-year-old suspect uploaded frame-by-frame was Gintama, another Weekly Shonen Jump manga title. Major runs in Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine.