DVDレンタル/販売店経営者らを逮捕 （警視庁 組織犯罪対策第一課、本所警察署） July.03.2014

Operation by the First Organized Crime Control Division of Tokyo Metropolitan Police and other multiple police stations

On June 10, 2014, police officers from the First Organized Crime Control Division of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Organized Crime Control Department, along with Honjo, Shinjuku, and Yotsuya Police Stations performed a search of a DVD rental shop/DVD store located in Kabuki-Cho, Shinjuku-Ward, Tokyo, and arrested the 36-year-old male store owner and his employee, a 34-year-old female, suspected of Copyright Act violation. During the operation, more than 10,000 pirated DVD-Rs and the equipment, such as computers, etc., believed to be used for manufacturing illegal movie discs, were seized from the store.

The store had been renting pirated DVD-Rs to customers for a price of 250 yen per copy. However, since there was no time limitation for returns, it was understood that the transaction was equivalent to a sale. Fearing that its illegal operation could be discovered, the store had been renting/selling foreign movies only to their regular customers and hiding the pirated DVD-Rs of foreign movies not visible to other customers.

JIMCA assisted the investigation in indentifying the pirated copies of MPAA member companies’ movies rented/sold at the store and was able to contribute to the search and the arrests this time.

Additionally, the store owner and his employees were also apprehended for violating the Banking Act (running a business without a license), making illegal remittances to Korea and operating as an “underground bank”.