Two foreigners in Japan have been arrested on suspicion of copyright infringement for releasing the contents of a popular weekly manga anthology online before the sale of the magazine.

One of the two men is 36-year-old Moussa Samir, whose Tokyo-based company Japan Deal World sells goods related to popular anime.

The two are suspected of having uploaded images of popular manga series featured in Weekly Shonen Jump in March last year before the start of sales.

They were arrested by police in the western prefecture of Kumamoto last month and sent to prosecutors on Monday.

NHK has learned that the manga images were translated into foreign languages, colored, and uploaded in multiple sites and social networks.

Police suspect the two purchased the weekly magazine through routes that enable sales in advance of its official date of publishing.

Police say the two have partially denied the charge, saying they did not release the manga images.