News Releases

March 10, 2014
Japanese Society for Rights of Authors,
Composers and Publishers
(JASRAC)

Two men in Kobe City selling unauthorized recordings through
Internet auction websites arrested for copyright infringement

The Cybercrime Division of Chiba Prefectural Police Headquarters and the Kimitsu Police Station arrested a 32-year-old man residing in Tarumi Ward, Kobe City on January 30, 2014, and a 42-year-old man residing in Suma Ward, Kobe City on March 6, 2014, for selling unauthorized recordings (DVD-Rs) containing music works administered by JASRAC through auction websites on the Internet.

JASRAC took legal action against the man living in Tarumi Ward on January 28, 2014, and the man living in Suma Ward on January 29, 2014, for copyright infringement (distribution of unauthorized recordings).

According to the police investigation, it was found that they sold more than 250 unauthorized DVD-Rs respectively, and the man residing in Tarumi Ward had received approximately 580 thousand JPY (between April and November, 2013), while the man residing in Suma Ward had received approximately 720 thousand JPY (between June and October, 2013).

The DVD-Rs sold by the above two men use several common audio-visual recordings as masters, all of a popular male music group, which included concert footage streamed live over the Internet or recorded illegally at the concert. There were between 10 and 15 distinct recordings, all of which are clearly pirated products that have no legitimately distributed counterparts.

Pirated products using the same audio-visual content as those sold by these two men had been previously distributed illegally through Internet auction and music sharing sites. The fact that the infringements involved these men obtaining pirated products and selling copies of them as "rare items" using similar tactics sheds light on the chain-reactive proliferation of piracy.

With an aim to eradicate acts of distribution of pirated items, JASRAC will continue to request Internet providers operating Internet auction sites and music file exchange sites to delete information on pirated and counterfeit items, and to issue cautions and warnings against those individual users. JASRAC will also seek to raise copyright awareness through public relations activities to promote the legitimate use of music.

END