A group of seven Japanese intellectuals and activists has sued the director and the distributor of a documentary film that covers the political debates over "comfort women," demanding the screenings be terminated and seeking compensation totaling ¥13 million.

The term comfort women is a euphemism used to refer to women who provided sex, including those who did so against their will, for Japanese troops before and during World War II. The film is titled "Shusenjo: The Main Battleground of the Comfort Women Issue."

The plaintiffs, including scholar Nobukatsu Fujioka, journalist Yoshiko Sakurai and lawyer Kent Gilbert, allege that director Miki Dezaki used videos of their interviews for a commercial film in violation of written agreements.