We all know that Japan actually takes Godzilla very seriously. The character isn’t just another giant monster stomping through cities; he’s become part of the culture, like the country’s very own personal mascot. It’s no surprise then that the Japanese court took accusations of Godzilla Minus One spoilers (including plot breakdowns that border on copyright infringement) very seriously. 39-year-old Wataru Takeuchi had to find that out the hard way.
We also know that pirating films or posting cam rips is illegal in most places in the world. But most of us wouldn’t have guessed that simply posting spoilers could land you in the same kind of trouble as pirating movies. Takeuchi, who ran a site that covered summaries of movies and anime, posted images and dialogue from films and TV shows, including Godzilla Minus One and the anime Overlord III. And yes, they covered the beginning, middle and end of all the films they featured.
That was a big no and more than enough for the Tokyo District Court to hand out a hard, and maybe harsh, sentence of 18 months in prison and a 1 million yen fine to Takeuchi.
It all began when the film’s rights holders, Toho and Kadokawa Shoten, filed complaints through the Content Overseas Distribution Association, arguing that Takeuchi’s articles actually crossed a line. According to them, this wasn’t just commentary but actually full-blown “adaptations.”
The court agreed.
See, under Japanese law, an adaptation isn’t just a remake or just a spin-off. It can include anything that recreates a work while keeping its main look or theme the same. Some of Takeuchi’s summaries stretched past 3,000 characters and actually revealed entire films scene by scene. There wasn’t a critique or analysis here. It was just a copy and paste of the movies through stills and dialogue.
Worst of all, the site was largely successful before they were busted. In 2023, it made around 38 million yen, roughly $240,000, through ads. The prosecution focused on that detail during the trial, framing the business as commercial exploitation rather than fandom.
And, of course, it won’t end here. CODA (Content Overseas Distribution Association) has already promised that more sites like this could be targeted next. They promise to stomp through the internet like Godzilla—crushing all spoiler-heavy content sites in their way.
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