Photo/Illutration An article published on a “spoiler site” (Provided by the Content Overseas Distribution Association)

Miyagi prefectural police on Oct. 29 arrested three people associated with a Tokyo-based company that operates a "spoiler" website on suspicion of violating the Copyright Law.

Police said the three transcribed lines from popular anime and movies before posting them, along with screenshots of scenes, on the website.

This is thought to be the first instance of arrests over a “spoiler site” in Japan.

Wataru Takeuchi, 38, who is the CEO of the company that operates the website and lives in Shibuya Ward, was one of the three suspects taken in, according to prefectural police.

Employee Shuichi Hirata, 33, who resides in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward and part-timer Rihito Baba, 45, who lives in Kodaira, western Tokyo, were also arrested.

Police said Takeuchi and Hirata have denied all charges, while Baba has denied some of them.

The suspects had transcribed lines from the anime series “Overlord III,” and movies “Haikyu!!: The Dumpster Battle” and “Godzilla Minus One,” according to police. 

From January 2023 until February this year, transcriptions were posted on the website along with descriptions of characters, scenes and screenshots.

A total of 12 companies’ copyrights were infringed, police said.

Officers of the prefectural police’s Tome Police Station discovered the website during a cyber patrol in October 2023.

Police believe that Takeuchi and Hirata had Baba and other outside writers create articles and earned advertising revenue from the site.

The prefectural police are investigating additional crimes.

The investigation was aided by the Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA), a general incorporated association that works against piracy.

The CODA said this is the first time that spoiler site operators in Japan have been arrested. 

Fans posting spoilers on online forums continues to be common. 

However, in the past few years there have been a growing number of cases involving ill-willed people operating their own spoiler-focused websites for commercial purposes, according to the CODA.

“Compared to piracy sites that upload the content itself, the degree of copyright infringement tends to be considered light, but this is clearly an illegal act that exceeds the scope of quotation,” a CODA representative said.

The representative urged people to refrain from browsing these sites without careful consideration. 

Kadokawa Corp., which owns the copyright to “Overlord III,” issued a statement on Oct. 30 condemning spoiler sites.

These sites “impede the return of appropriate compensation to creators and lead to the deterioration of the creative environment for future works,” the company said.

Related News