14-Year-Old Arrested for Leaking Manga Early in Japan

Joseph Luster June 15, 2010

Though it appears Japanese authorities are still in the dark as to how this type of leak occurred, ANN has been updating the story throughout the day. Kyoto’s High-Tech Crime Task Force joined other police units in busting a Japanese middle-schooler for distributing manga through his channel on YouTube.

The titles scanned and distributed panel by panel include One Piece, Naruto, Major and Gintama. Scans hit YouTube days prior to their debut in the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump (Weekly Shonen Sunday in the case of Major), and the videos were accessed over 8 million times.

This wasn’t a one time thing for the student, either. He also allegedly uploaded up to 118 installments spanning 30 series from both weeklies from December 2009 to this month. Police have taken all into account when assessing the total damages.

The source link below also includes links to various sources providing the specifics, including the Asahi Shimbun and Mainichi Shimbun papers.

This is Japan’s first arrest for alleged YouTube copyright infringement. Who in the world even wants to read a comic over YouTube?

Source [ANN]