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Movie pirate sentenced to eighteen months in prison for distributing movie via internet

  • 13Dec 2010

On December 6, the Kyoto District Court sentenced a 37-year businessman living in Namegata City, Ibaraki Prefecture, to eighteen months imprisonment for violation of Japan’s copyright law. In addition to the prison term, the court sentenced the man to a further three years probation.

On September 27, officers from the High-tech Control Office of Kyoto Prefectural Police Headquarters arrested the man on suspicion of infringement of the rights of public transmission. According to police, on April 7, 2010, the man downloaded the Paramount movie Shutter Island via the Internet using "Share" file-sharing software, and then illegally uploaded the film using “Winny” file-sharing software.

Following the amendment of copyright law at the beginning of 2010, this case was the first instance in Japan of prosecution for downloading a movie for the purpose of distribution. Previously, downloading for personal use was permissible under law; the amendment facilitates prosecution of those who use file-sharing software to distribute movies without the rights holders’ permission.

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Consortium against Copyright Infringement via File-Sharing Software (CCIF) operating by right holders associations and ISP operation bodies provide raising awareness activities against users who share contents infringing of copyrights on the network of file-sharing software. JIMCA is a member of the Consortium and joins in the anti-infringement activities.

"Honto? Honto! Fair in Akihabara" Anti-counterfeiting campaign
Stop! Counterfeiting brand goods & pirated goods, Illegal downloading

  • 03Dec 2010

On November 28, Sunday, Anti-Counterfeiting Association held the 24th campaign targeting counterfeiting goods at AKIBA SQUARE, the event space on the second floor of Akihabara UDX building. The campaign appealed to stop infringements of intellectual property which have been on a potentially dangerous situation with the development and proliferation of the Internet.
The street campaign was held at the birthplace of the young culture, Akihabara, to eliminate counterfeiting and pirated goods, and illegal activities on the Internet.

Also, a popular talent, Miki Fujimoto, and an idol group, Smileage, joined in as the leader and the cheering party. More than 3,000 attendees enjoyed their performances and joined in quiz show, "Which is which: legal or pirated goods?"

Co-operators are: Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters; National Police Agency; Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ministry of Finance; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Agency for Cultural Affairs; Metropolitan Police Department.



MPAA's Bob Pisano Calls On Japan To Address Online Copyright Infringement

  • 29Oct 2010

Graduated Response Mechanism And Site Blocking Best Bet To StopThreat Of Illegal Filesharing Online

Singapore/Tokyo - In his keynote speech at a forum on measures to tackle online piracy at the Tokyo International Film Festival on 21 October, Bob Pisano, President and Interim CEO, Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) called for "forward-thinking" initiatives such as the introduction of a Graduated Response mechanism and Site Blocking that countries around the world are increasingly using to combat the problem of illegal online infringement and the best bet to stop threat of theft of intellectual property on the internet.

Graduated Response is a method of dealing with illegal online file sharing by an escalating series of sanctions against identified repeat infringers. Pisano highlighted France, Korea and Taiwan as countries that have recently passed legislation implementing Graduated Response as such a system provides a fair and reasonable measure which avoids litigation and balances the need to protect creative industries while taking into account the responsibilities of ISPs and Internet users. He also spoke of Governments in the United Kingdom and New Zealand that are also currently working on introducing Graduated Response program in their respective countries.

Pisano called the increase of online intellectual theft "alarming" and an "epidemic" and while MPA focuses on outreach and education of the dangers and consequences of online file sharing, Pisano said he believed the adoption of measures such as the Graduated Response and Site Blocking will "slow the spread of the disease".

"We know there cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach to the problem; that there are cultural and practical issues requiring different approaches from one nation or region to another," said Pisano. "But what we do feel is that the basic belief underlying all of our efforts should be the same - that individual awareness and responsibility are essential if we are to continue to make progress."

In Japan, lawmakers have amended Article 30 of the Copyright Law to make it illegal to download music or movies distributed on the Internet without the authorization of right holders. "We applaud that development," said Pisano. "At the same time, we feel that a robust Graduated Response deterrent scheme, involving all ISPs is also essential."

Pisano also called for Japan to adopt its own Graduated Response approach to address online P2P infringements on localized, anonymous networks such as Winny and Share. "As global industry leaders, your country is clearly in a position to move aggressively to protect your intellectual property, your creative community, the people who have been the driving force of your economy," he added.

He urged rightholders in Japan to talk to the ISPs about their role in protecting online content and in partnership with them to develop a solution aimed at insuring that users can continue to enjoy the full benefits of broad legal access to the internet while preserving the ISPs' business model.

Pisano spoke to an audience of 120 that included Japanese government officials, film makers, music industry representatives and media, who also heard from participants from around the world including Nicolas Seydoux, Chairman Association de Lutte contre la Piraterie Audiovisuelle (ALPA); Hong Kong film producer Nansun Shi; and New Zealand actor Temuera Morrison, about how different countries and local creative communities are addressing the threat of online infringements.

Man and woman arrested for distribution of pirated DVDs at the internet auction site

  • 18Oct 2010

On October 7, Masuda Police Station, Shimane Prefecture, arrested a 28-year man and a 36-year woman living in Osaka City for suspicion of violation of the copyright law. Also, police seized 609 pirated DVDs, 3 PCs printer and others at their residence.

They duplicated a popular animated film of Disney, "Toy Story 3" and exhibited them on mobile phone auction site. With police, they admitted their illegal activities and said that they reproduced pirated goods for the cost of living.

Masuda Police Station identified suspicious exhibitions during their cyber patrol on the internet in the last summer and started investigation.

"Pirated goods on mobile phone auction site are seldom identified……", have you heard it?
Illegal activity on mobile phone auction site is same with that on the internet auction site. They are on the same internet environment. The difference between desktop computer and mobile phone is terminal equipment. Please immediately stop your illegal activities!

Man arrested for distribution of pirated DVD-Rs at the internet auction site

  • 03Sep 2010

On September 2, Hokkaido Prefectural Police Headquarters and Muroran Police Station, Hokkaido Prefecture, arrested a 27-man living in Sasayama City, Hyogo Prefecture, for suspicion of violation of the copyright law. Also police seized about 890 pirated DVD-Rs, 3 PC sets, 14 HDDs, a duplicator and others.

The man reproduced a popular TV series of the 20th Century Fox Corporation, "Prison Breaks IV" , and distributed them via mail to customers living in Hokkaido Prefecture and others between May and August, 2010. JIMCA identified the illegal distribution and sent him warnings and request of stopping of illegal duplication and distribution, but he disregarded them.

With police, he did illegal manufacturing and distribution of pirated animated titles about five years ago and recently started popular TV series illegal reproduction. The man purchased legal sell-through goods and recorded them on DVD-Rs or HDDs that were used as the master for pirated goods. The revenue from these pirated goods was around 15 million yen.

Woman arrested for distribution of pirated DVD-Rs at the internet auction site

  • 14Jul 2010

On July 13, Hokkaido Prefectural Police Headquarters and Iwamizawa Police Station, Hokkaido Prefecture, raided a residence of a 33-woman living in Osaka City for suspicion of violation of the copyright law, and arrested her. Also, police seized more than 8,000 pirated DVD-Rs, 2 PCs, 2 Hard Discs, 250 blank discs, 2 duplicators, a DVD writer and others.

The woman duplicated popular US TV drama series including "Prison Break" of 20th Fox; "Lost season 1" of Disney;"Super Natural: 3rd season" of Warner without authorization of copyright owners, and distributed the pirated DVD-Rs at the internet auction site for five months between March and May 2010.

With police, she exhibited the pirated goods at the auction site mainly midnight zone and frequently changed her IDs or auction site so as not to be traced by police. Also, she had no fixed occupation and the sales of the pirated goods were used for daily living expenses

JIMCA identified the woman on the auction site in August 2007 and have frequently sent warning letters. The source of the pirated goods was the cable TV and she used the recorded files of the popular TV dramas for reproducing pirated goods. While we have been checking her illegal business, Hokkaido Prefectural Police Headquarters identified her as well during cyber patrol.

Police refer hotel plus owners and employees to prosecutor on suspicion of illegal presentation

  • 06May 2010

On May 6, officers from the Environment and Consumer Protection Division of Hyogo Prefectural Police Headquarters and Ikuta Police Station in Hyogo Prefecture referred a case file involving a hotel management company, the hotel owner and three employees to the public prosecutor’s office. The police suspect the hotel, its owner and its employees were in violation of the Right of Presentation statute, Article 22 of the Copyright Law. It had been since nine years since Hyogo Prefectural Police Headquarters had referred for prosecution a case involving the infringement of the Right of Presentation under the Copyright Law.

The hotel is located in Chuo-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture and the owner is a 43-year-old man. According to police, in January 2010 the owner and three employees showed three titles including The Da Vinci Code and other two titles to hotel guests without authorizations from right holders. The employees connected TV sets in guests’ rooms to a video deck at the front desk of the hotel to show the movies.

The suspects confessed to police that they recognized the illegality of their activity could not afford a legitimate transmission system between the front desk and the rooms and were afraid that without video service in the rooms the hotel would be at a competitive disadvantage.

JIMCA identified the illegal activity by the hotel and sent seven warning letters before finally referring the case to the police.

Man arrested for DVD piracy in Osaka City had previous conviction

  • 05May 2010

On May 5, officers from Miyakojima Police Station in Osaka Prefecture arrested a man on suspicion of violation of the copyright law. Police raided the man’s residence and a shop and seized 888 pirated DVD-Rs infringing many MPA member titles including Columbia’s 2012 and Angels & Demons ; Disney’s Up , Meet the Robinsons and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl ; and Fox’s Avatar and X-Men Origins: Wolverine .

The suspect had been previously arrested on April 23, 2003 following raids by officers from Minami Police Station in Osaka Prefecture, and was found to have been a ringleader of street vendors selling pirated goods in Osaka City. On that occasion he was sentenced to two years imprisonment and three years probation.

The charges against the suspect in the current case are illegal distribution of pirated DVDs and possession of those goods for the purpose of distribution. JIMCA received a request for cooperation in the case from Miyakojima Police Station on April 13, 2010, and during the raid on May 5, a JIMCA investigator examined the pirated DVD-Rs on site, confirming their illegality prior to the police arrest.

Man arrested for uploading movie files using file-sharing software "Share"

  • 31Mar 2010

On March 31, the High-tech Crime Control Office, Kyoto Prefectural Police Headquarters and Joyo Police Station, arrested a 62-year man living in Susono City, Shizuoka Prefecture, for uploading unauthorised movie files on the Internet, using file-sharing software “Share” in violation of the Copyright Law.

The police were able to determine, through the use of a P2P surveillance system, that the suspect uploaded an illegal copy of Avatar on the Internet sometime in December 2009. He had originally obtained a copy of the title from a different P2P site.
The police also had evidence that sometime on March 22, 2010, using the same method, he had uploaded a copy of "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" , and made the file available for downloading.

He admitted to the police that he had uploaded 500 movie titles, both Japanese and international, over the last four years. The police are currently carrying out further investigations into the extent of his activities.

In January 2009, the police launched a P2P surveillance system that patrols file-sharing networks to collect, analyze and search file information. This is the first arrest resulting from information collected from this system.

Pirated goods online shop operator sentenced over 20 million yen

  • 25Mar 2010

On March 19, 2010, Osaka District Court sentenced two suspects involving distribution of pirated goods on the Internet online shop: For the man, 2-year imprisonment with 5-year probation and a fine of 1 million yen; for the women, a year and 6-month imprisonment with 3-year probation and a fine of 800,000 yen. Also, the Court confiscated the amount of 238,000 yen in their two bank accounts and ordered them to pay 19 million yen as surcharge.

The suspects opened the online shop, "Gekiyasu no Dendo SHOP DVD", and distributed many pirated DVDs imported from China. The pirated DVDs were illegally copied popular TV drama series of the MPA member companies, such as "Lost" of Disney, "24" , "Prison Break" and "The X-Files" of 20th Century Fox and others. They advertised on the shop that the goods were all Chinese legal ones. Also, they frequently changed auction channel after receiving warning or request of closing of illegal business from JIMCA.

(The news is the follow-up of this case)

Illegal distributor of movies arrested after using streaming software "PeerCast"

  • 23Mar 2010

On February 22, 2010, Cyber Crime Control Office, Kanagawa Prefectural Police Headquarters, and Atsugi Police Station arrested a 32-year man living in Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture, on suspicion of suspicion of violation of Right of public transmission under the Copyright Law.

With police, in the afternoon on August 20, 2009, the man uploaded a Hollywood movie, “Live Free or Die Hard”, on streaming software, “PeerCast”, to distribute it to the public. He said that he wanted to share the movie with many people and enjoyed a chat with them on the Internet.” He proclaimed himself as “Torti” on the Internet, and repeatedly uploaded illegal movie files without authorization of copyright holders since May 2006.

Share user arrested in Nagano on suspicion of violation of the Copyright Law

  • 09Feb 2010

On February 8, High-tech Crime Control Office, Consumer and Environmental Protection Division, Nagano Prefectural Police Headquarters and Nagano Minami Police Station arrested a 38-year food shop owner living in Higashi Tsukuma-gun, Nagano Prefecture, on suspicion of violation of Right of public transmission under the Copyright Law.

With police, the man downloaded a file of movie, “God Father” , on his own PC around November 2009 without the authorization of the copyright owner, Paramount Pictures Corporation. He uploaded the illegal file on the Internet using file-sharing software, “Share”, and made it transmittable to the public.

In September 2009, JIMCA identified illegal files on “Share” during the net patrol and reported it to the High-tech Crime Control Office. The man admitted the suspicion and police continues to investigate him.

Man arrested and sent to the public prosecutor's office for illegal downloading of movies files using "Share"

  • 09Feb 2010

On January 19, 2010, Environment and Consumer Protection Division, Hokkaido Prefectural Police Headquarters, and Hakodate Chuo Police Station, Hokkaido Prefecture, arrested a 31-year man living in Towada City, Hokkaido Prefecture, on suspicion of violation of the Copyright Law.

The man downloaded movie files using P2P file-sharing software, “Share”, from the Internet and illegally duplicated the files on DVD-Rs. With police, he distributed pirated DVD-Rs of movies such as “Prison Break: Final Season” , “24: Season VII” and others seven times to five customers via the Internet auction site between July 2008 and June 2009. During the period, he earned more than 900,000 yen including the sales of illegal copies of business software and sent the pirated goods via mail. He changed his IDs or the ways of exhibitions on the auction site several time for escaping our chase.

At the raid on January 19, police seized 2 PCs, a hard disc, a DVD writer and others.

MPA/JIMCA identified the man on May 2008 and cooperated police for the raid and the arrest. The man was sent to the public prosecutor’s office on February 3 and continued to be investigated by police.

Hotel owner arrested on suspicion of violation of the Copyright Law

  • 04Feb 2010

By January 19, 2010, Environment and Consumer Protection Division, Aichi Prefectural Police Headquarters, and Inazawa Police Station, Aichi Prefecture, arrested a 57-year owner of a business hotel locating in Inazawa City for the suspicion of violation of the Copyright Law.

The hotel possessed many pirated DVDs of movies including “Jumper” of the 20th Fox for the purpose of renting them to visitors for free. JIMCA received some calls about the fact and sent several warning letters to the hotel. However, the hotel continued the illegal activities regardless of the warnings and we submitted a criminal complaint to Inazawa Police Station.

The hotel used file-sharing software to download movie files on the Internet and duplicated them on DVD-Rs without authorizations of copyright holders.

Note: When using movies at other than theaters, it needs to use films with authorization of its right owners or software for business use. Please refer the homepage of the Japan and International Motion Picture Copyright Association (JIMCA) for further information: http://www.jimca.co.jp/compliance/index.htm