Most people don’t like spoilers, but in some cases sharing them could actually run afoul of the law. One man in Japan learned that lesson the hard way when he was recently sentenced to jail time for posting spoilers that were too detailed.
Wataru Takeuchi was sentenced in Tokyo District Court to a year and a half in prison and a fine of 1 million yen (about $6,300) because his spoilers were found to violate Japanese copyright law. Takeuchi administered an entertainment site that posted articles summarizing TV shows and movies at great length with detailed spoilers. The articles would even transcribe dialog and describe scenes in minute detail, often without commentary.
It was this that ultimately got him in trouble with copyright law. “Numerous websites that extract text from movies and other content have been identified and are considered problematic as so-called ‘spoiler sites,’” said the Content Overseas Distribution Association, a Japanese trade association, in a statement about the case. “While these actions tend to be perceived as less serious than piracy sites or illegal uploads that upload the content itself, they are clear copyright infringements that go beyond the scope of fair use and are serious crimes.”
