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INTEREST: Twins Arrested for Selling Kamen Rider Helmet Replicas




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MyrmidonMamori



Joined: 28 Mar 2013
Posts: 18
PostPosted: Thu May 30, 2024 12:01 am Reply with quote
I know it IS a breach of copyright, but if Toei's not making official replicas, why go through the trouble of arresting them? It's not like they're losing money because people buy the twins' masks instead of the official ones that don't exist.
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Doubleclouder



Joined: 07 Jan 2024
Posts: 77
PostPosted: Thu May 30, 2024 1:40 am Reply with quote
MyrmidonMamori wrote:
I know it IS a breach of copyright, but if Toei's not making official replicas, why go through the trouble of arresting them? It's not like they're losing money because people buy the twins' masks instead of the official ones that don't exist.


Not offering the exact same service or item isn't an excuse to ignore copyright violations. Especially if they ever consider doing the same thing in the future but everyone who would have already bought it already has an unofficial one so there's no profit to be made from it. And if said fan items turn out defective or dangerous it can hurt and damage the brand if people mistake it for official merchandise.
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seoulman1985



Joined: 01 Oct 2009
Posts: 110
PostPosted: Thu May 30, 2024 10:57 am Reply with quote
This is the work of Gorgom!

In all seriousness though, if (Premium) Bandai were to design and market replica helmets of the Double Riders, they'd easily fill that niche. Expensive endeavor, sure, but way loss hostile than persecuting unlicensed replicas.
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TarsTarkas



Joined: 20 Dec 2007
Posts: 5925
Location: Virginia, United States
PostPosted: Thu May 30, 2024 11:46 am Reply with quote
Many people has side hustles, to make ends meet. They are over 65 years of age, so I can believe their excuse. Sadly they were not careful enough, and got caught. When you are literally, trying to pay the rent and put food on the table, copyright law (and other laws) are not that quite important anymore.
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Cho_Desu



Joined: 27 Dec 2022
Posts: 238
PostPosted: Thu May 30, 2024 2:43 pm Reply with quote
I feel like every week there's a news article along the lines of "Japan arrests 37-year-old fax machine repairman for selling between 70 and 75 unauthorized Hunter x Hunter fridge magnets."
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NieR



Joined: 29 Apr 2012
Posts: 220
PostPosted: Fri May 31, 2024 4:05 am Reply with quote
I've been curious about what results getting an arrest for copyright infringement. Maybe it's harsher in Japan in particular, but is this case completely different from people selling art/merch that they created based on existing copyright property? Like on etsy, bigcartel, gumroad, storenvy, various shirt websites like shirtpunch & theyetee, and conventions, the individuals selling them are making money off properties they themselves didn't create... Is that completely different from this article's scenario?

Like I've seen Grimoire Weiss [a video game character originating from Japan] replicas on etsy being sold for premium prices, but I guess that's legally allowed? Maybe not if it happened in Japan though.

If the Kamen Rider helmet replicas were made from people not living in Japan, and sold on etsy or non-Japan comic conventions like ones that sell sword and weapon replicas, the people selling them wouldn't get in legal trouble?
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Alan45
Village Elder



Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 10012
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Fri May 31, 2024 7:48 am Reply with quote
@NieR

For a Japanese company, copyright enforcement is fairly easy within Japan. They have to discover it, these guys made that easy selling online, and they have to file a complaint with the relevant authorities. Enforcement in the US is an order of magnitude more difficult. Finding the stuff is harder since it would be sold on English language websites. To find counterfeit goods at a convention or similar would require some one to be there. They would have to hire local attorneys to know the difference in the law and file suit.

Most of what you list is probably illegal under both Japanese and US law. Unfortunately for the Japanese company, the cost of enforcement would be too high to justify the effort. If an operation got too large, they would likely try to shut it down.
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revolutionotaku



Joined: 19 May 2011
Posts: 896
PostPosted: Sat Jun 01, 2024 8:40 pm Reply with quote
Acts of greed (on both sides).
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