Upload The New Evangelion Film And Risk Prison, Studio Warns

It often seems inevitable. Whenever a big movie is released, people will pirate the film. Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time is no exception.

Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0 has currently only been released in Japanese theaters, where it’s been setting the box office ablaze.

Khara, the studio behind the film, posted a statement on Twitter regarding pirated versions of the film, acknowledging that there have been incidents of pirated recordings on the internet.

“Recording movies in theaters is a crime according to the Act on Prevention of Unauthorized Recording of Films,” Khara writes. “The uploading of unauthorized recordings of films to YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc., is also a copyright infringement.” Such infringement, the studio points out, can result in up to ten years in prison, a 10 million yen ($92,000) fine, or both.

“It is our company policy to take strict actions against those committing such crimes.”

Khara notes that charges were pressed against one individual suspected of film piracy back in July 2018. Continuing, it writes, “Multiple pirated recordings taken in theaters of the feature film Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0 have been confirmed.” Information regarding these illicit uploads has been collected, the studio adds, and necessary action is being taken.

“The source of even anonymous uploads can be identified.”

Update, 2/15/21, 8.10—The headline of this piece has been updated for clarity.