3 More Japanese Newspapers Sue City of Gamagori over Copyright Violation

The Yomiuri Shimbun

21:00 JST, November 21, 2025

Three Japanese newspaper companies separately filed lawsuits with the Tokyo District Court against the city of Gamagori, Aichi Prefecture, alleging the city infringed on their copyrights by reproducing their articles without permission and sharing them on its internal network for employees.

In the lawsuits filed on Thursday, The Asahi Shimbun is seeking damages of about ¥146 million, while The Nikkei is seeking about ¥140 million and The Chunichi Shimbun about ¥150 million.

The three companies allege the city reproduced between about 1,000 and 7,000 articles from them and posted the content on its intranet between 2012 and 2024, making it available for its employees to read.

The Asahi Shimbun said the lawsuits were filed “as a measure to maintain the trust in news media,” while The Nikkei stated that “long-term copyright infringement cannot be tolerated.” The Chunichi Shimbun said, “Organized violations of intellectual property rights cannot be allowed.”

The city declined to comment, saying the complaints has not yet arrived.

On Nov. 6, The Yomiuri Shimbun’s three headquarters in Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka, and The Mainichi Shimbun also filed lawsuits with the Tokyo District Court against the city, seeking compensation for damages.