By KENRO KURODA/ Staff Writer
December 2, 2025 at 07:00 JST
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Users of file-sharing apps who illegally download pornography may unknowingly be setting themselves up for compensation demands from copyright holders, the telecommunications ministry said.
Downloading or uploading content without authorization by the copyright owner may violate the Copyright Law.
But the legal system is tougher against uploaders.
When people download data through P2P programs, they may feel they’re just gaining free content. Many of them do not know that the downloaded data is automatically uploaded at the same time so that it can be sent to other users of the same app, the ministry said.
Therefore, a downloader of a porn video on a file-sharing app can also be an uploader.
Under the information distribution platform law, victims of copyright infringement and libel through illegal uploads can “demand disclosure of sender ID information” through internet service providers or by court order.
The information includes names and addresses of the senders of anonymous posts based largely on their IP addresses.
An illegal download alone does not constitute grounds for a disclosure demand.
Disclosure requests related to copyright infringement of porn videos on file-sharing apps have surged in recent years.
A telecommunications ministry survey of internet service providers showed that 95.6 percent of the more than 150,000 disclosure demands filed in 2024 concerned porn videos uploaded on file-sharing apps.
The ministry said porn video production companies and other parties are using names, addresses and other information gained to directly demand the uploaders pay damages or settlement money.
“You could see your ID information disclosed like a bolt from the blue and be slapped with a demand for damages even if you are unaware that you have done something illegal,” one ministry official said.
Officials of internet service providers say there are now too many information disclosure demands for front-line workers to handle, and the requests are starting to hinder the operation of the disclosure system itself.
The telecommunications ministry has set up a (Japanese) website (https://www.soumu.go.jp/dpa/p2p/) to warn the public against copyright infringement and advise them against using file-sharing apps with only superficial knowledge.
“It is no excuse to say the only thing you did was download a video,” the website says. “You are wrong to believe that you will not be identified because you are using the app anonymously.”
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