In a new landmark ruling, the Tokyo District Court has sentenced 39-year-old Wataru Takeuchi to 1.5 years in prison and imposed a 1 million Yen ($6,300) fine for posting "spoiler articles." The defendant ran a website that shared detailed plot summaries of movies and anime, often describing the entire story from start to finish. Prosecutors argued these articles were infringing on copyright because of their strenuous detail.
The case was filed by CODA, on behalf of Kadowaka Corporation and Toho's complaints. It surrounds two specific articles written between 2018 and 2023. The first article was about an episode of the anime Overlord that aired in 2018, owned by Kadokawa. The second article detailed the movie Godzilla Minus One, which came out in 2023, owned by Toho, the largest studio in Japan, and a name infamous for stringent trademark protection.
