Police sergeant in Japan arrested for illegally recording anime movie
While Japan’s recent passage of strict anti-piracy laws have quickly led to several arrests, but the latest is a criminal they did not expect. In a twist of irony, a 38 year old police sergeant was arrested in Fukushima Prefecture this week after he was caught using a digital camera to record an anime movie while it played in a theater. And it wasn’t even the first time he did it.
The prefectural police announced the charges against the sergeant on Thursday, and added that in response, his salary would be reduced by 10% for one month. The middle-aged man was bused for trying to make his own illegal copy of the long-titled Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha the Movie 2nd A’s, which is anime about, well, brightly colored magical girls with J-pop music. Don’t worry, we’ve got the trailer for you below.
Investigators found out the sergeant had recorded the movie over three separate locations, each in a different theater. He was reportedly caught by staff at the Fukushima City theater while setting up his camera and audio equipment in his seat. In his admission, he said that the copy was for his personal use, and he had no intention of selling it. Recording audio or video from a movie playing in a theater less than eight months after its release was already prohibited in Japan by a law passed in 2007. But the new copyright protection laws, passed earlier this year, make the use of hidden recording devices in theaters an offense, and add severe fines and even prison time to illegally downloading content from the internet.
[via Anime News Network]
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