Film Piracy: Operators of Text-Based Portal Sentenced

A Japanese court has sentenced four people involved and the operating company of a portal that published detailed accounts of the plots of more than 8,000 films as text. The verdict was delivered on August 3, 2026, at the Sendai District Court, after the defendants had already admitted the charges at the first hearing.

As Anime!Anime! reports, citing the Japanese anti-piracy organization CODA, the pages did not contain mere summaries. The operators had character names, dialogue, actions, locations and complete sequences of scenes recorded and combined these texts with images from the films. Affected titles included "Godzilla Minus One," "Shin Kamen Rider," "Shin Ultraman" and "Kubi."

Suspended Prison Terms and Fines

The managing director receives two years in prison, suspended for three years, along with a fine of one million yen. An employee is sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years. Two participating authors must pay fines of 500,000 and 300,000 yen respectively. The court also imposes a fine of one million yen on the operating company.

The investigation had found that the portal was run commercially and generated revenue through advertising. The police and prosecutors therefore acted not only against individual authors but also against the responsible company. CODA describes the proceedings against the legal entity as a particularly rare case.

Full Plot Retelling Not Considered Permissible Quotation

CODA classifies the offering as a text-based variant of so-called Fast Movies. According to the organization, the almost complete reproduction of a film's plot clearly exceeds the scope of permissible quotation, because readers can understand the content without watching the film itself or using a legal service.

The verdict therefore concerns more than merely copying individual images or dialogue. What matters is the systematic reconstruction of entire works and their commercial publication. CODA expects the decision to deter similar offerings and to strengthen the position of rights holders against text-based piracy portals.