GoKawiilis a reporter focusing on film, TV, and pop culture. Before The Verge, he wrote about comic books, labor, race, and more at io9 and Gizmodo for almost five years.
Though it’s very common for entertainment writers to describe some narrative elements of the films and shows that they’re covering, a Japanese court has determined that the practice can sometimes be tantamount to copyright infringement.
Last Thursday, the Tokyo District Court ruled that 39-year-old Wataru Takeuchi was guilty of violating Japanese law that prohibits the creation of “a new work by making creative modifications to the original while preserving its essential characteristics.” Takeuchi worked as administrator of a website that published lengthy, spoiler-heavy descriptions from popular movies and series. And two of Takeuchi’s “articles” — one about Godzilla Minus One and another focused on the Overlord anime adaptation — prompted Toho (owner of the Godzilla IP) and Kadokawa Shoten (the publisher behind Overlord) to file joint lawsuits through the Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA).
In a Japanese statement (which we’ve run through translation software) about the case, CODA described how Takeuchi and two other men were first arrested back in 2024 due to concerns about how posts on their “spoiler site” featured large chunks of transcribed dialog and numerous images. CODA acknowledged that fair use gives entertainment journalists the ability to publish some pieces of copyright material. But the organization argued that, because the website’s posts contained so much detail, they were essentially the same thing as adaptations that could cause “significant damage to rights holders” because of their potential to discourage would-be customers from paying to see the film / series.
“Numerous websites that extract text from movies and other content have been identified and are considered problematic as so-called ‘spoiler sites,’” CODA said. “While these actions tend to be perceived as less serious than piracy sites or illegal uploads that upload the content itself, they are clear copyright infringements that go beyond the scope of fair use and are serious crimes.”
As Tom’s Hardware notes, one of the more damning aspects of CODA’s argument was the fact that Takeuchi’s website ran ads on its posts, which meant that it was able to monetize the publication of copyrighted IP. Though Takeuchi reportedly did not write any of the infringing posts himself, in 2023 he was able to rake in 38 million Yen ($239,254.04) from the site’s ad sales. And now, he has been sentenced to a one year, six month stint in prison and ordered to pay a 1 million yen ($6,296.16) fine.
Even if you don’t buy CODA’s argument that looking at a combination of transcribed dialog, scene description, and press images is the same thing as seeing a movie, the court’s landmark decision is significant because of the way it’s tackling some of the thornier elements of modern entertainment coverage. Sites like Takeuchi’s are the products of an online media landscape where writers are fighting desperately to capture readers’ attention, make money, and keep traffic up as search engines make their content less discoverable. Brazenly posting spoilers under the guise of making commentary has become one of the more common ways that people try to drive engagement on their social media profiles. Just last week, the entirety of Paramount’s forthcoming The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender leaked online, and people were quick to begin sharing it around. And at a time when many online fandoms seem more interested in consuming leaks / disseminating spoilers than meaningfully engaging with the art they supposedly love, sites like Takeuchi’s have a prime chance to thrive.
Though there are plenty of other publications like Takeuchi’s, CODA has said that it plans to “strive for the proper protection of copyrights and implement effective measures against similar websites.” The organization might not be able to fully stamp out this aspect of modern spoiler culture, but it’s sending a clear message to the public that these kinds of posts can come with big consequences.