Man Pirates Anime At Movie Theater To Watch At Home, Gets Arrested

A fifty-year-old man has been arrested in Osaka for filming the anime feature Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet with his smartphone at a shopping mall movie theater.

Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet opened in Japan this past April and is the 24th Detective Conan feature animated film.

MBS News reports that the suspect works at the tax office in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, which is one of the most expensive and exclusive areas in the Kansai region. He has been charged with violating the Japanese Copyright Act. 

While Detective Conan was playing, other theatergoers spotted the man filming the anime. He has since confessed saying, “Because it [the movie] was interesting, I filmed it stealthily so I could watch it at home.”

This incident has made national news in Japan. Which isn’t that surprising, I guess, because, before every movie in Japan, warnings about piracy are shown, such as the one below:

Copyright violations like this are taken very seriously. The above public service announcement warns that recording motion pictures can lead to a sentence of up to ten years and hefty fines.

The video-recorder character in these ads has spawned fan art and even cosplay. 

Note that the piracy warning has been updated, and the new spot is EPIC. Have a look: 

So definitely, do not record movies in theaters, because cops with sirens for heads will hunt you down!