Interest
Man Making Thousands Selling Fake Love Live Pins Arrested
posted on by Carlos Cadorniga
The girls of μ's would greatly disapprove.
44-year-old Eichiro Wakiyama was arrested on July 6 for illegally selling fake Love Live! pins in bulk under copyright violations.
While normal pins are traditionally made with metal, Wakiyama's pins were made with a cheap plastic. The fake pins were sold at four for 1,280 yen (about US$11), while one real pin costs 600 yen (about US$5). Furthermore, he made over 500,000 yen in a month by selling these fakes (US$4,087). Wakiyama was arrested by the Cyber Crime division of the Ibaraki Police Department.
Love Live! studio and copyright holder Sunrise had their suspicions about Wakiyama's pins as far back as March of this year. After buying and inspecting 13 pins, they were confirmed to be bootlegged.
Reportedly, police seized over 700 pins to be processed as evidence. Police believe he may have earned as much as 2 million yen (US$16,300) between the end of last year until April.
[Via Sankei]
