On October 18, Yamagata Prefectural Police announced that they had documented a 38-year-old man, who is the president of a website management company in Fukuoka City, for infringing copyright laws by reposting articles from five major publishers, including Shinchosha and Kodansha, without permission. The man reportedly confessed that he did so to generate advertising income. The documentation took place on October 17.

The police revealed that from October 2020 to August 2023, the man posted articles from magazines and digital editions owned by these publishers on a news aggregation site he operated, allowing unspecified numbers of people to view them. It is estimated that he earned over 100 million yen through this unauthorized operation. The Computer Software Copyright Association, an organization dedicated to protecting digital intellectual property rights, provided information to the police in October 2023, leading to the investigation initiated by the five publishers.

The association reported that as of December 2024, approximately 20,000 articles were published on the man's website. The five publishers issued a statement through the association expressing concern that such unauthorized postings hinder the accurate dissemination of information intended by creators, cause financial losses, and could even lead to a cultural decline. They expressed hope that this case would deter similar incidents in the future.