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A man from Japan’s Gunma Prefecture is facing legal action on the grounds of copyright infringement after uploading Studio Ghibli’s 2013 animated film Kaze Tachinu (The Wind Rises in the West) to a public website in July and November last year, the Yomiuri Online reports. When questioned, the accused individual remarked that he uploaded the film “to be popular”, proving once again that crime, especially the dumb kind, does not pay.

Hideaki Yamaoka (34) uploaded the film to FC2, which along with being a popular blogging host is Japan’s third-most popular video site after YouTube and Niconico Douga, potentially allowing the site’s millions of visitors to enjoy Ghibli’s new film from the comfort of their home long before its release on DVD and Blu-ray.

Japan’s sharing and copyright laws received a major shake-up in 2012, though a year after the government promised to crack down on those illegally sharing or uploading copyrighted material, not a single person was known to have been prosecuted as a result.

When questioned about the charges, Yamaoka reportedly said that he “wanted to be popular” and that “it felt good to be looked upon favourably by others [for sharing the film]”. We hope his new-found friends stick around to help him out with the inevitable fine…

Source: Yomiuri Onlne (Japanese)
Featured image via Animation Magazine