Three individuals in Japan have been arrested for allegedly violating the country’s intellectual property laws by posting “film summaries” – short, edited versions of copyrighted movies – on YouTube. The arrests on Wednesday mark the first instance in the country for posting such summaries online, according to The Japan Times.
These “film summaries” include clips and still images that provide a brief overview of a movie and are edited without the permission of the copyright holders, such as film distribution companies. The summaries typically last around 10 minutes or less, according to The Japan Times, and these film summaries explain the entire plot of a movie from beginning to end for those who may not have the time or desire to watch the full film.
According to The Japan Times, two of the three individuals arrested this week are aged 25 and 42, respectively. Police stated that the video creators had received advertising revenue based on the number of views.
Google, the parent company of YouTube, has not yet responded to the situation.
Copyright law is complex and varies between countries, as do definitions of fair use. Japan’s government agency responsible for cultural affairs stated that Japan’s copyright law “is strictly regulated to not excessively harm the interests of copyright holders and does not hinder normal use of copyrighted works.”
The Miyagi Prefectural Police discovered the film summaries during a crackdown on online content in July 2020, according to Times. To identify the three suspects, police collaborated with the Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA), an organization based in Tokyo through which content owners and copyright-related organizations work together to reduce copyright infringement worldwide and actively promote the international distribution of Japanese content, such as music, films, anime, television programs, and video games.
As of June 14, 2021, CODA reported that 55 accounts had uploaded 2,100 illegal film summaries to YouTube, with a total of 477 million views, according to The Japan Times. CODA estimates the damages to copyright holders from these videos to be around 96 billion yen, equivalent to nearly 20 trillion VND.
Below is a news report from Japan about the arrests. “I watched a film summary yesterday,” one commenter said. “I’m embarrassed to say that I no longer want to watch the full movie.” Another person countered, “After watching the film summary, doesn’t everyone want to watch the whole thing?”
Do you often watch summaries like this?
Source: CNET