Japan has long been known to be adhering to copyright laws. Early this week, a report came out that showed just how serious the government was. That's because 52-year-old Shinobu Yoshida became the first ever in the country to be arrested for illegally uploading gameplay videos on YouTube.
Specifically, Yoshida's uploads were gameplay videos of Steins;Gate: My Darling's Embrace. Now, if that's all there is to it, the issue wouldn't have become this big. Two additional factors played a role and the first one was that the uploaded videos were monetized, which meant that Yoshida was collecting ad revenue. The second was that the videos uploaded contained the game's ending. So, it's not surprising why the publisher was really pissed.
But wait, there's more! Apparently, Yoshida also uploaded videos of the anime adaptation of Steins;Gate along with the anime Spy x Family. These videos may have been "condensed" versions, but Yoshida even added captions as well as narration to some of them.
According to the report, Yoshida admitted to the charges and said that he knew what he was doing was illegal.
Steins;Gate: My Darling's Embrace is a spin-off of Steins;Gate. It was first released in 2011 on Xbox 360 and then re-released in 2019 on multiple platforms.
A Hard Stance
In the US, many content creators often "get away" by claiming "fair use." However, there's no such thing in Japan. This was a lesson that Mark Fitzpatrick, owner of the Totally Not Mark review channel, learned the hard way.
Back in December 2021, Fitzpatrick saw that his YouTube channel, which consisted mainly of giving reviews and analysis about anime, had received copyright claims from Toei Animation; actually, more than 150 of his videos got that. This move had Fitzpatrick even thinking of closing down the channel. Fortunately, he was able to make a concession that flagged videos won't be accessible in Japan.
But another YouTuber by the name of Suede faced a greater challenge. He had made a parody of Pokémon Journey, but instead of getting a complaint through YouTube, he received a court complaint.
What do you think? Was Japan right about arresting the YouTuber?
