It can feel like spoilers are everywhere these days—the moment something comes out, clips, plot details, and more spread across social media (or sometimes even well in advance! ). A lot of people, albeit begrudgingly, have accepted this as a fact of online life. But in Japan at least, they’ve found a way to make writing about them go too far in the eyes of the law.

Last week, Asahi (via The Verge ) reported that the Tokyo District Court sentenced Wataru Takeuchi to a year and a half in prison, as well as a 1 million yen (roughly $6,300) fine, for running foul of Japan’s copyright laws.…