Man found guilty of sharing copies of foreign movies before their Japan release date
A man who created and shared a Japanese-subtitled video file of the movie “Wanted” has been found guilty of violating copyright law:
The court sentenced 33-year-old Kazushi Hirata to two years in prison, suspended for three years, for violating the copyright law by making the films with Japanese subtitles downloadable to users of the file- sharing software Winny.
Prosecutors had sought a two-year prison term for Hirata, a resident of Sendai, for unauthorized distribution of copyright materials.
Judge Katsuaki Irie said in handing down the ruling that the defendant “committed the act by editing the films himself and inserting his own signature as a so-called subtitle craftsman. It is self-centered, habitual and malicious.”
Hirata’s actions were viewed as particularly damaging because he put his translation of the movie on the net months before the film was slated for theatrical release in Japan. “Wanted” was released in June/July in the UK, USA, Iceland, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Thailand, Bulgaria, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Hong Kong, Lithuania, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Italy, Indonesia, Israel, Portugal, Belgium, Egypt, France, Kuwait, Taiwan, India, Pakistan, Australia, and Peru. It didn’t hit theaters in Japan until September 20th.
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my god, TWO YEARS!
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Wanted is quite possibly the shittiest film I have ever seen. He deserved more than 2 years for helping to spread it.
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And using Winny to spread it for that matter. You would think this guy would have known that Winny isn’t safe anymore…
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I went back-packing in Cambodia and I came back to Fukuoka, they search my bags (surprise there). Not once did they ask me about the 13+ dvds I bought back with me. They were movies that came out in America that didn’t make it to Japan.
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Damn, two years is crazy. wouldn’t get that much for stealing a dvd.
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Yeah, so many movies are released in Japan 3 or more months later than their original release date. Some even don’t reach Japan at all (“The Condemned”, “The Pathfinder” ). While these two movies aren’t top intelectual achievments, they are not worse than the numerous trash you would encounter in Tsutaya or Geo.
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This was especially infuriating with Lord of the Rings as I got to here how totally amazing they were and have to sit through months of incredible reviews before I even got to see them.
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I always wanted to know where I could get Japanese subtitles so I can watch xvid movies with my girlfriend….
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Keep in mind that “suspended” sentence here means that if he doesn’t commit any other crimes during the suspension period, he won’t actually go to jail.
In a way, this is good news for the typical downloader. If the law is using their resources to go after the actual “pirates” who are making these copies, rather than the casual downloader, and the pirate is dumb enough to get caught by the J cops, we don’t really have a huge problem.
But yes, the root of the problem is Japan’s strange scheduling system as far as delaying many big movies 3 months after the rest of the world [although it might be the American studios rather than Japan's fault, easier to let the actors promote the movie in the US/Europe first, then send them to Japan later on and make more money]
Other problem is the terrible accuracy problems regarding the subtitles. Fansubs can often be better. If you know who Natsuko Toda is, you know what I mean.
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Well, Nacchan is one of the more infamous people out there, and I’ve had the joy of sitting through a couple of her exercises in “creative interpretations” … but I’ve read an article where the professional movie subtitlers claim audiences are getting increasingly dumber.
映画字幕で業界が四苦八苦 若者の知的レベル低下が背景か？
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/entertainments/entertainers/080510/tnr0805101825007-n1.htm
They say young people today don’t know what a Nazi or the Soviet Union is, making historic films — or most any with a big bad enemy — confusing and unattractive, as well as younger people increasingly claiming that they can’t keep up with the subtitles, which was originally calculated to be well within the range of human reading speed.
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In Soviet Russia, subtitles read you!
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Toda Natsuko is one of the best actually. I have also seen interviews with her when she talks about how it is done for many movies – often, she is not even allowed to see the movie – large parts are blacked out, and she is given the bare minimum of information required. No wonder there are errors, if half the time the translator cannot be allowed to know exactly what is going on.
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In a way, this is good news for the typical downloader. If the law is using their resources to go after the actual “pirates” who are making these copies, rather than the casual downloader, and the pirate is dumb enough to get caught by the J cops, we don’t really have a huge problem.
Downloading copyrighted material isn’t actually illegal yet in Japan, though the Agency for Cultural Affairs is lobbying hard to get a law passed.
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so has there been any other news regarding those who download a movie/video from online resources. I mean, if the cops had used those who were downloading to track the IP of the pirates, than what do they do with the people that they used as sources. I just now went back to reread the above article, was some of it cut? I thought I remembered more info there. . .
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2 years for non-commercial copyright infrigement. You don’t even get that much for some violent crimes. In other news, “justice” in Japan is still a travesty.
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Sharing is caring, japan’s net world should start the fight!
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Haven’t your heard? They’ve already automated the process!
Everyone’s been sharing their sensitive data and personal photos with the rest of the world via Winny or Share using ingenious programs like the Kintama Virus and all its variations.
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Why……………………do yo think it’s interesting ???
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