Global InformationWinny copyright infringement case information
| Winny copyright infringement case | |
|---|---|
| Court | Supreme Court of Japan |
| Decided | Dec. 19, 2011 |
| Court membership | |
| Judge(s) sitting | Kiyoko Okabe, Kohei Nasu, Mutsuo Tahara, Takehiko Otani, Itsuro Terada |
| Keywords | |
| Copyright infringement, peer to peer file-sharing, criminal case | |
Winny copyright infringement criminal case in Japan was a Japanese criminal case in which Isamu Kaneko, the developer of P2P file-sharing program Winny, was indicted for aiding in copyright infringement. This was the first case in which a computer program developer faced a criminal charge for assisting in the copyright infringement of the program's users. In 2006, the Kyoto District Court found Kaneko guilty and fined him ¥1.5 million.[1] On appeal, the Osaka High Court in 2009 overturned the lower court's decision, acquitting Kaneko.[2] Finally, in 2011, the Supreme Court of Japan upheld the acquittal, holding that Kaneko did not intentionally induce infringement and was therefore not responsible for the users' unlawful actions.[3]
- ^ "Winny creator guilty in copyright violations", The Japan Times ONLINE, Dec. 14, 2006
- ^ "Winny developer acquitted", The Japan Times ONLINE, Oct. 9, 2009
- ^ "Winny creator's acquittal upheld", The Japan Times ONLINE, Dec. 21, 2011