動画投稿サイト「FC2動画」の悪質アップローダー 『黒岩シネマ劇場』 に有罪判決 （前橋地方裁判所太田支部） September.10.2015

Decision by Maebashi District Court Ota Branch

On September 1, 2015, a 36-year-old male dispatch worker from Ibo-gun Taishi-cho, Hyogo Prefecture was found guilty by the Maebashi District Court Ota Branch of unlawfully uploading a large amount of illegal files of MPAA member companies’ copyrighted movies to video hosting website FC2 Video, and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment with work, a 3 year suspended sentence and a fine of 500,000 yen.

The man had been using the name of “Kuroiwa Cinema Theater” and similar nicknames to set up new FC2 accounts and repeatedly uploaded large volumes of illegal files to FC2 Video. JIMCA reported the incidence to the Gunma Prefectural Police Headquarters Cyber Crime Office and requested a crackdown. As a result, the man was arrested on June 11 this year.

After the verdict was given, the presiding judge admonished the man with harsh words: “It is an illegal offence for the purpose to gain affiliate profit, which not only disrespects the rights but also brings losses to the rights holder and that is a selfish and malicious act.” The judge also said, “The intellectual property rights are of great importance, and such an offence would bring enormous losses to the copyright holders.”

Illegally uploading copyrighted works without rights holders’ permission is banned under Copyright Law. Not only is such an offence punishable as a criminal case but also may be subject to a claim of compensation for the losses from the movie companies.
Do not upload illegally!