A Japanese YouTuber has been formally arrested for his YouTube videos which shared gameplay from STEINS;GATE: My Darling’s Embrace.

Shinobu Yoshida from Nagoya has been arrested based on the content of his YouTube channel which also contained scenes from the STEINS;GATE anime and Spy x Family. Despite his other content, Japan Today makes clear that it’s his gameplay of STEINS;GATE: My Darling’s Embrace that landed him in hot water.

The issue with uploading gameplay of visual novels such as STEINS;GATE is that the story is the gameplay. We like to poke fun sometimes that modern western games are like movies, but in the case of visual novels, unless there’s branching paths or some kind of raising mechanic, watching a playthrough is basically the same as playing it yourself.

Japan’s rules on uploading gameplay and “transformative” content that would be covered under Fair Use in the United States are substantially more strict. As a general rule, permission from the owner of the Intellectual Property is required before monetizing content based on a game, anime, or film.