On January 28th, at the fourth hearing held at the Osaka District Court in Japan, a man who had been arrested and indicted by the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters and the Toyonaka Police Station on suspicion of violating the Copyright Act for selling pirated DVDs of classic black-and-white films that he had unlawfully colourised and reproduced through flea market websites and other platforms was found guilty. The court sentenced the defendant to one year and six months of imprisonment, suspended for three years, and imposed an additional fine of 500,000 yen (€2,727.50).

According to CODA’s investigation, this case represents the first arrest and criminal conviction in Japan for copyright infringement involving the use of AI in non-adult, general film works.

The defendant advertised the products by claiming that he was “selling restored DVDs of black-and-white films converted into colour works using advanced AI-based video technologies,” and sold pirated DVDs that had been unlawfully colourised and duplicated, including the black-and-white film Godzilla, for which TOHO holds the copyright.

This case was initiated following requests from four CODA member companies. CODA compiled the details of the damages and, through the National Police Agency, formally requested the Osaka Prefectural Police to pursue the matter as a criminal case.

At the first hearing held on September 12th 2025, the defendant fully admitted to the charges, stating that although he knew his actions constituted copyright infringement, he continued selling the DVDs for financial gain.

CODA said that it will “continue to make every effort to ensure the proper protection of copyright and to implement effective measures against similar infringing activities going forward”.

Other posts by :

1. Russia postpones Starlink rival
2. Why don’t lawmakers like Netflix?
3. Viasat taps Ex-Im Bank to finance satellite
4. Bank: TeraWave not a direct threat to AST SpaceMobile
5. SpaceX lines up banks for IPO
6. SES to FCC: “Don’t auction more than 160 MHz of C-band”
7. Morgan Stanley downgrades Iridium
8. SpainSat-NG II a total loss
9. SES warns of risks for airlines adopting Starlink

Categories: Articles, Content, Piracy

Tags: DVD, Godzilla, japan, piracy