Municipal Website Settles for 352,000 Yen After Using Unauthorized Illustration for 10 Years

WISECODE Take

A Japanese municipal website used an unauthorized illustration for 10 years, settling with the copyright holder on August 27, 2026, by paying 352,000 yen in damages. This highlights the reality that as long as a webpage remains online, the infringement continues. Many mistakenly believe that online images are safe if not caught immediately, but the 10-year duration in this case directly increased the damages. Forgotten old webpages on official sites are often hidden legal landmines. This risk primarily affects companies with poor early outsourcing management; those with original content are unaffected. Wisdom Code provides IP compliance audit services to help inventory authorization statuses of website materials. To mitigate this risk, companies can take two actions. First, inventory historical graphics and texts on websites and social media older than 3 years to verify authorization. Second, include indemnity clauses in outsourcing contracts holding vendors liable for any copyright disputes. Regularly cleaning up or taking down outdated digital webpages is the fundamental way to avoid receiving damage claims years later.