Thirteen major film production companies filed a civil lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court on Thursday alleging that three people had created 10-minute edited versions of their films — known as "fast movies" — and then uploaded them to YouTube without consent.

The three have already been convicted in a separate criminal case, but the latest case is seeking compensation from the defendants. Toei Co., Toho Co. and Shochiku Co. are among the 13 plaintiffs in the lawsuit seeking ¥500 million ($3.88 million) in damages, according to the Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA).

In a first of its kind, the case involves three defendants ー two men and a woman ー who have already been convicted by the Sendai District Court for uploading fast movies in violation of the Copyright Act. The ruling has been finalized.

The plaintiffs reviewed edits of 54 domestic films uploaded by the trio, including “Shin Godzilla," and discovered that one of the videos had 2.65 million views, NHK reported.

The plaintiffs determined that the damage was ¥200 per view, which amounts to about ¥2 billion in damages based on the number of views logged by the trio's YouTube channel. Afterward, they decided to seek ¥500 million in damages for the lawsuit.

As of June 2021, the trio's fast movie videos reached a total of 480 million views, with damages estimated to be ¥95 billion, said CODA, a Tokyo-based industry organization for fighting piracy.

The film industry has blamed fast movies for being partly responsible for a decline in moviegoers, resulting in damage to their business.

“We will continue to take resolute action toward such violations and enforce the copyright protections of precious movies and, in the long term, protect the future of the film industry,” Toei said in a statement.