Japanese Youtuber Shinobu Yoshida fined and jailed for leaking video game trailers
It's now a warning for leakers who come up with various leaks regarding games. Will someone dare it to do?
A Japanese court has found Shinobu Yoshida guilty of copyright infringement for uploading gameplay and anime videos without the publisher's consent. As reported by the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, the 53-year-old Yoshida has been sentenced to a two-year prison term and fined 1 million yen (approx $6,700 USD).
Yoshida's arrest in May of this year was the result of his uploading of gameplay videos for the visual novel Steins; Gate: My Darling’s Embrace in 2019. According to a statement from the Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA), a Japanese anti-piracy organization, the complaint arose from Yoshida's monetization of these videos, which violated Japanese law prohibiting the profit-making use of copyrighted material. Additionally, Yoshida uploaded videos that summarized episodes of the Spy × Family and Steins; Gate anime series.
Content Overseas Distribution Agency (CODA) characterized the complaint as "deliberate instances of posting videos containing content and endings (spoilers) without authorization from the rights holders, [...] and unjustly generating advertising revenue through copyright infringement."
Yoshida later in a police statement admitted that he already knew about the illegal things he was doing. Despite being aware of the fact, the leaker continued to carry on with his leaks around the game. Here's what he said:
"I was aware that it was illegal while I was doing it." As a consequence, the 52-year-old has received a substantial fine and has been handed a two-year prison sentence with an additional five-year suspended sentence.
This penalty stands out in contrast to the typical measures of demonetization or content removal frequently employed by online platforms. Nonetheless, CODA is renowned for its stringent stance. A spokesperson stated in a translated press release, "Despite being fully aware that he was infringing on copyright, he persisted in posting content for financial gain."
Now, this news is definitely going to raise major concerns for all the leakers out there. Leaks have always acted as a major source of news for gamers. But sometimes, things need to be limited and oversharing of copyrighted content might put game leakers behind the bar.
