Japanese film production companies behind the film Shin Godzilla and zombie film I Am a Hero, and others have sued companies for condensing feature films into new “10-minute fast movies” that are a growing market and concern for the anti-piracy organization, Content Overseas Distribution Association, based in Tokyo. As “fast movies” become more and more popular with younger viewers, the companies seek $3.9M in damages and a copyright lawsuit.
13 companies are listed as the defendants in the suit, including Toho, Toei Company, and Shochiku, and the civil lawsuit “alleging that three people had created shorter versions of their films and uploaded them to YouTube without consent to generate advertisement fees.” One media analyst claims that after seeing “fast films,” “The audience does not come back to original works and revenue is not returned to the copyright holders.”
“Most companies usually give up filing a lawsuit after considering the effort and cost of the action,” Koichi Oyama, one of the attorneys acting for the studios, told the Financial Times.
“Masayuki Saito, a media content analyst at Mizuho Bank, said the latest lawsuit could deter pirates from uploading fast movies for Japanese consumers. “This case could be precedent-setting,” he said.”
– Excerpt from an article for Financial Times. Read the full article here.
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