Man sentenced to prison for posting ‘Godzilla Minus One’ spoilers, and the $239,000 he made doing it made the case hard to win

A Tokyo court has sentenced 39-year-old Wataru Takeuchi to 1.5 years in prison for hosting detailed spoiler articles online. The court also imposed a fine of 1 million Yen, which is about $6,300. This case marks a major shift in how Japanese law handles the line between commentary and copyright infringement.

According to Tom’s Hardware, the legal action was brought by the Content Overseas Distribution Association, known as CODA, on behalf of Kadokawa Corporation and Toho. The case focused on two articles published between 2018 and 2023, one covering an episode of the anime Overlord, and another giving a full play-by-play of the movie Godzilla Minus One. 

Prosecutors noted that the Godzilla article was over 3,000 Japanese characters long, and the Overlord piece even included dialogue copied word-for-word from the episode. The prosecution argued that these articles were so detailed that they worked as a substitute for actually watching the content. 

The money Takeuchi made from ad revenue made it very difficult for the defense to win this case

By reading these recaps, a viewer would lose the reason to watch the project, which directly hurts the copyright owners. The court classified the articles as an adaptation under Japanese law, which defines adaptation as “creating a new work by making creative modifications to the original while preserving its essential characteristics.” Since Takeuchi never got permission to adapt these works, the court ruled his site was an infringement.

The defense argued that a reader cannot fully understand a film or show just by reading a text summary. Even if the court had accepted that argument, the money involved made things very difficult for Takeuchi. 

His website generated over 38 million Yen in advertising revenue in 2023 alone. While he used outside contributors to write the summaries, the fact that he was personally profiting from publishing these plot details worked heavily against him.

Companies often ignore minor copyright issues, but they rarely stay quiet when someone is making money off their intellectual property. CODA, a coalition of 32 Japanese companies, has been aggressive in going after piracy. 

Godzilla Minus One is one of the most celebrated entries in the franchise, and fans looking to explore the full Godzilla film series will understand just how much is at stake for Toho when protecting its stories. The group previously gained attention for getting ten-minute movie recap videos banned on YouTube.

Now that they have successfully applied this same logic to written text, it points to a broader shift in how Japan is dealing with digital media. The Godzilla franchise has a long and complex history, and those interested in how Godzilla’s forms have evolved over time can see why Toho takes the integrity of its storytelling very seriously. 

Japan does not have a broad fair use law like the United States does, and its legal system relies on specific exceptions, such as the right to quote. CODA has made its position very clear, stating that these spoiler articles are “serious crimes that go beyond the scope of citations” and that earning ad revenue from them is “extremely malicious and absolutely unacceptable.”

This ruling sets an important precedent for content creators. Writing detailed plot summaries in Japan could lead to legal trouble unless the writer has permission from the copyright holders. CODA has made clear that it will be closely watching this kind of activity going forward. When copyright-protected material is mixed with a strategy to make money, it becomes a very risky space to operate in, and this case makes that clearer than ever before.