Photo/Illutration Kumamoto prefectural police display copies and images of manga works illegally posted online and other seized items at its headquarters on Feb. 4. (Kei Yoshida)

KUMAMOTO—Two foreign men were arrested on Feb. 4 on suspicion of copyright infringement for publishing pages from Weekly Shonen Jump online before the popular manga magazine’s release.

The suspects arrested by the Kumamoto prefectural police’s cybercrime division are a 36-year-old business owner who lives in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward and a 34-year-old company employee who resides in the capital's Bunkyo Ward.

Police will also refer the company owned by the 36-year-old suspect to prosecution of the same charge.

According to police, the two suspects conspired to publish the latest chapter of a manga serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump on a website around March 15, 2023, before the magazine came out.

They also photographed and copied the latest chapter of the same magna with a smartphone on Jan. 31 this year, several days before the magazine came out.

Both suspects denied the March 15 charge, saying, “It wasn’t me,” but admitted to the Jan. 31 charge, agreeing, “That’s true.”

Police believe that the two suspects obtained a copy of Weekly Shonen Jump before it was released from a wholesale store in Tokyo.

Police have also confirmed that popular manga such as “One Piece” and “Jujutsu Kaisen” were posted on several other websites before the weekly magazines were released and are investigating whether the two men were involved.

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