Japan: Lawsuit over alleged aiding of copyright infringement through content delivery network services (Kadokawa and others v Cloudflare)

Progress

Current status
in force
19 Nov 2025 in force

Scope

Implementers
Japan
Policy Area
Intellectual property
Policy Instrument
Copyright protection regulation
Regulated Economic Activity
infrastructure provider: cloud computing, storage and databases
Government Branch
judiciary
Government Body
court
Implementation Level
national

Timeline of events

19 Nov 2025
in force

Tokyo District Court found Cloudflare liable for aiding copyright infringement through CDN services

On 19 November 2025, the Tokyo District Court awarded approximately JPY 1.265 billion to Kodansha, Shueisha, and Shogakukan, and JPY 1.214 billion to KADOKAWA after finding Cloudflare liable for aiding copyright infringement. The case concerned two …

Source
Event type civil lawsuit
Action type ruling
Government branch judiciary
Government body court