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2 Men Found Guilty in Trial for Posting Yowamushi Pedal, Other Manga Online
posted on by Karen Ressler
The Morioka district court delivered a guilty verdict on Wednesday to the two men who were on trial for illegally uploading and offering manga on a foreign website. The two men were sentenced to one year and six months in prison and a 500,000 yen (about US$4,420) fine, but the sentence is suspended for three years.
The judge declared that degree of the copyright infringement made their actions a serious crime, but that they showed remorse for their actions.
The suspects were arrested in October, and indicted on November 8. According to the written indictment, the suspects allegedly uploaded manga, such as Yowamushi Pedal and The Seven Deadly Sins, from at least 13 different magazines, such as Akita Shoten's Weekly Shōnen Champion and Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine, from June to July.
One of the defendants would allegedly scan and upload the manga, while the other would make it available on the site. They both allegedly profited from ad revenue.
Source: NTV News 24
