'Attack on Titan' publisher awarded damages in Russia copyright suit
Kodansha said IQ Art Management LLC exhibited panels and merchandise from manga works it holds the copyright to at the event from April to October 2023. The publisher filed a lawsuit in July 2024, alleging infringement of copyright.
The arbitration court ruled that the copyrights of 15 out of the 18 manga works featured at the event were infringed by the organizer.
"The ruling clearly indicated that knowingly infringing on copyrights and attempting to generate revenue at an unauthorized event is unacceptable, and is a significant decision concerning global copyright protection," Kodansha said in a release.
© KYODO
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Kyodo News
3 hours ago
- Kyodo News
China puts off release of movie on Japanese biological warfare unit
BEIJING - The release of a Chinese movie on the Imperial Japanese Army's notorious Unit 731, which was originally scheduled for Thursday, has been put off in a possible move by Beijing to avoid fanning anti-Japan sentiment and damaging bilateral relations. The release date of the film on local movie ticket purchase apps has been changed from July 31 to 2025, while millions of people online have expressed their interest in the film about the unit, which according to historians conducted biological and chemical warfare research in China during World War II. The movie's production company has declined to comment on the postponement. Those waiting for the release have shown support for the movie in online posts, saying "history should not be forgotten." This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Sino-Japanese conflict, which Beijing calls the 1937-1945 War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. Set in China's northeastern region, the movie conveys an anti-war message and aims to "reveal the crimes" of Unit 731 through a focus on ordinary individuals, according to media reports. The unit's research is believed to have included lethal experimentation and testing on humans. Prisoners of war were secretly experimented upon to develop, among other things, plague and cholera-based biological weapons, according to historians. The Japanese government says it has not found any evidence confirming the unit conducted experiments on human subjects. In 1997, Japan's Supreme Court, in a ruling concerning state screeners' objection to a history textbook's description of the unit's actions in China, said "the view had been established within academic circles to an undeniable extent that Unit 731 had killed many Chinese people through biological experiments."
SoraNews24
3 hours ago
- SoraNews24
Brand-new theme park in Japan charges foreign tourists 25 percent more than locals for tickets
Welcome, to two-tier pricing park! On July 25, a brand-new theme park opened in the town of Nakijin in Okinawa Prefecture. Called Junglia, the park is obviously looking to highlight its lush greenery and outdoor activities, but it's clear from the preview video that Junglia also wants to present itself as a sort of real-world Jurassic Park, only achieving its dinosaurs through animatronics instead of cloning. Junglia also offers luxurious resort accommodation and spa amenities, boasting the Guinness World Records-certified largest infinity public pool on the planet, dance performances, and dazzling fireworks shows. As you've probably noticed, these are all things with pretty universal appeal, not the sort of thing one needs an intrinsic connection to or studied understanding of Japanese culture to enjoy. And sure enough, Junglia's official website has full English, Chinese, and Korean support, showing that the park is ready to receive visitors from overseas. Oh, and it's also ready to charge foreign tourists significantly higher prices for tickets. If you hop onto the Junglia website's top page, clicking the menu icon in the top right will bring up a spot to click for ticket information. If you're navigating the page's Japanese-language version, it'll inform you that the after-tax prices for tickets to the amusement park area are: ● Adults: 6.930 yen ● Children age 4-11: 4,950 yen However, if you're looking at the English, Chinese, or Korean Junglia site, it'll instead tell you that the prices are: ● Adults: 8.800 yen ● Children age 4-11: 5,940 yen That's because Junglia has an official policy of charging higher admission prices for foreign travelers. The deciding factor isn't ethnicity, but residency, as foreign residents of Japan are eligible for the lower prices. The website indicates though, that they will need to be able to show proof of residence in Japan, with the list of admissible documents and associated stipulations listed as: ● Individual Number Card ● Driver's license, Health Insurance Card, Passport ● Certificate of residence ● Student identification card ● Residence card ● Other official identification cards issued by public organizations Please prepare valid documents that include your name and current address. If your name, current address, etc. are written on the reverse side, that part is also necessary. If these documents alone cannot prove your current address, please also present a utility bill or receipt (issued within the last 3 months) that clearly shows your name and address, such as an electricity, water, gas, or telephone bill. It's unclear if all foreign residents will be required to present such papers before being allowed to enter the park with a lower-priced ticket, or if whether or not to perform checks will be left up to the discretion of employees working the entrance gates. Also worth noting is that in addition to the amusement park area-only tickets discussed above, Junglia also has tickets just for its spa area, as well as combo tickets for both sections of the facility, implying separate ticket gates. These tickets also have tiered pricing for domestic and international travelers, so foreign residents of Japan may need to show their papers twice if they're looking to have the full Junglia experience. ▼ So make sure your resident card doesn't fall out of your pocket if you go ziplining before you hit up that infinity pool. With a 1,870-yen difference between the amusement area adult tickets, Junglia is tacking more than 25 percent extra onto the price for foreign tourists. It's not hard to see why the park's management would be attracted to such a plan. With the yen currently being historically weak against foreign currencies, the difference converts to around US$13, which probably isn't going to seem like all that much when folded into the total cost of an overseas trip. Junglia's managers appear to have designed their pricing plan as a way to maximize revenue by charging foreign tourists a price that locals would balk at, while keeping the prices for domestic guests at a figure they're willing to pay. With overtourism and rising consumer prices being two increasingly common complaints among Japanese people, Junglia's two-tiered pricing hasn't caused much controversy yet. However, unlike other situations that have arisen recently, such as Himeji Castle instilling two-tiered pricing for locals and out-of-towners or Nintendo creating a lower-priced Switch 2 for use inside Japan, Junglia can't claim it's charging overseas tourists more to cope with unexpected maintenance cost increases from a spike in visitor numbers or to prevent international scalping, so this looks like a simple case of trying to boost its bottom line by grabbing some extra cash from foreigners, something that we haven't seen any major theme park in Japan do up until now. Source: Junglia (1, 2), PR Times Images: PR Times ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
The Mainichi
5 hours ago
- The Mainichi
News in Easy English: Japan city to replace scary kappa statue after years of service
FUKUSAKI, Hyogo -- A well-known statue of a "kappa" river creature in Fukusaki, Hyogo Prefecture, will be replaced because it is worn out from many years of surprising tourists. The statue is called Gajiro. To pay for a new Gajiro, the town started a crowdfunding campaign using Japan's "hometown tax" donation program. A town official said, "We hope this will be an opportunity for more people to learn about Gajiro's hard work." People can give donations until Sept. 30. Gajiro was "captured" in February 2014 in the pond at Tsujikawayama Park, a place famous for kappa stories. Gajiro's job is to rise above the pond every 15 minutes during the day. He has "faithfully" done this job every day. Gajiro looks so real that some children cry when they see him. Many people come to see Gajiro, and the number of tourists has become about three times bigger. The statue is about 1 meter tall and made of fiber-reinforced plastic. The second version of Gajiro was made in 2016 and has been fixed many times, but now it is very old. Water has damaged the statue, the surface is peeling, and the hair is turning green and falling out. The town said they "can't bear to keep showing him in this peeled skin condition," so they will make a third version. The town wants to raise 1.7 million yen (about $11,600) and finish the new statue by the end of the year. People can donate through the hometown tax website Furusato Choice. If you give 2,000 yen (about $14), you will get a postcard handwritten by Gajiro. People can also get local gifts for bigger donations. (Japanese original by Nobuya Muramoto, Himeji Bureau) Vocabulary kappa: a creature from Japanese stories, said to live in rivers and ponds crowdfunding: when many people give small amounts of money to help pay for something donation: money given to help someone or something fiber-reinforced plastic: a strong material made from plastic and fibers deteriorate: to become worse or damaged peel: when the outside layer comes off municipal: related to a city or town government
