Three arrested in Japan for posting short versions of full films to YouTube
The suspects are charged with using copyrighted material to create "fast movies," thus violating copyright law.
Three people in Japan have been arrested for allegedly violating the country's intellectual property laws by posting to YouTube "fast movies" -- short, edited versions of copyrighted films. Wednesday's arrests mark the first in the country for posting fast movies online, The Japan Times reports.
Fast movies include clips and still images to provide brief summaries of movies and are edited without the permission of copyright holders such as film distribution companies. The snippets typically last 10 minutes or less, according to the Times, and explain the entire plot of a film from start to end for those who don't have the time or desire to watch the whole thing.
Two of the three people arrested this week are 25 years old and one is 42, according to The Japan Times, which adds that police say the trio is suspected of creating and posting five fast movies between June 7, 2020, and July 21, 2020. Police say the video creators received ad revenue relative to the number of views, the publication adds.
Google, parent company of YouTube, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Copyright laws are complex and vary from country to country, as do definitions of fair use. The Japanese government's agency for cultural affairs says exceptions to Japan's copyright laws "are strictly set so as not to unduly harm the interests of copyright holders and to prevent the normal use of copyrighted works from being hindered."
The Miyagi Prefectural Police Department detected the fast movies during a cybersweep in July 2020, according to the Times. They identified the three suspects in cooperation with the Content Overseas Distribution Association, a Tokyo-based organization "through which contents holders and copyright-related organizations cooperate to reduce piracy around the world, and to actively promote the international distribution of Japanese content, such as music, films, animation, TV programs and video games."
As of June 14, 2021, CODA said, 55 accounts had posted illegal fast movies on YouTube that totaled 477 million views, according to The Japan Times. CODA estimates damage to copyright holders from these videos at around 96 billion yen, or more than $866 million.
Below is a Japanese news report on the arrests. "I watched a fast movie yesterday," one commenter said. "I'm ashamed to say that I'm not going to bother watching the movie now." Countered another, "After watching fast movies, don't people feel like they want to see the whole thing?"