A 53-year-old YouTuber accused of violating copyright laws after uploading gameplay videos spoiling Steins;Gate faces a two-year prison sentence and an additional fine of 1 million yen.
The YouTuber Shinobu Yoshida, who was arrested in May, acknowledged the indictment in a court trial, where the prosecution demanded a two-year prison sentence, stating, “He must be punished severely to prevent the further declining of the content industry.”
The defendant Yoshida was accused of violating copyright law after uploading three videos of the adventure game Steins;Gate: My Darling’s Embrace without permission.
According to the prosecution, malicious acts such as spoiling the ending of a game are considered gravely harmful to copyright holders, as it “reduces the willingness to buy” the game.
The prosecution demanded two years in prison and a fine of a million yen in an effort to “protect the content industry” while making an example of the defendant to deter others from committing such crimes.
In turn, the defense requested a suspended sentence as the defendant had taken some measures out of the copyright holder’s guidelines, such as not including background music in his uploads.
A verdict is expected to be handed down on August 7th.
The copyright laws in Japan are absolute garbage. Imagine getting a 2 years in prison for streaming the ending of a game released more than 12 years ago. Also if your game’s sales are dependent on people knowing the ending then you’ve made a shitty game.
It’s not only Japan. Remember that more than a decade ago those goons dragged to court and tried to arrest a single mother in America because her kids downloaded and shared a few songs on a p2p program.
The copyright and legal industry everywhere is filled with the absolute worst scum of any society, leechers. These people do not care about fairness, they want to make fortune by off the rest of working people. They are even worse than politicians.
2 years… that’s more than what corrupt politicians in my country get for stealing millions in public money…
common japanese copyright L
considering it’s not even a single ending game, and doesn’t even have a “main” ending, I’m not sure what’s the probbo
PSP ver has all endings uploaded to Shittube btw.
Clown Legal System.
Copyright needs to be abolished.