When we talk about collectables things can turn ugly, and when we talk about Dragon Ball things can escalate very quickly, and rightly so, this manga is without a doubt, one of the most influential and important manga in history; it is considered by many mangakas as a milestone in the industry. Thus, it is clear that the first chapters of Goku and Bulma's adventures are highly coveted items that can be worth a lot of money if they are originals.
Well, recently a 50-year-old man living in Sumida Ward in Tokyo, tried to sell a fake copy if the first chapter of Dragon Ball and things didn’t go well for him.
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He “thought” it was genuine
As we were saying, Japanese authorities arrested a man who allegedly broke the Copyright Act by selling a pirated copy of issue 51 of Weekly Shonen Jump, which featured the debut chapter of Dragon Ball back in 1984.
According to police reports, the 50-year-old suspect auctioned and sold the copy of the manga created by Akira Toriyama online to a 30-year-old man living in Ishikawa Prefecture. The auction concluded at ¥180,000, or about $1230.
The buyer, who reportedly owns a genuine copy of the debut chapter of Dragon Ball, noticed that the manga he purchased had a different binding and noted that the paper was from a different material. As expected, he reported the case to local authorities and claimed he was the victim of a scam.
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The alleged criminal denied the charges against him and claimed that he thought the copy of the Weekly Shonen Jump issue was genuine. However, police officers claim that the man was aware that he sold a counterfeit item made without the consent of the intellectual property owner.
This incident reached the ears of Shueisha Inc, the publisher behind Shonen Jump and through a statement on its website, they urged readers to be aware of fraudulent copies, they also reminded fans that the original magazines are staple-bound.
It is no secret that Japan is a very strict country when it comes to copyright and its protection. Trading in copyrighted merchandise without the permission of the owners can result in penalties such as fines and arrests… like this one.
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