On February 4th, Japanese authorities arrested two foreign individuals for releasing Weekly Shonen Jump content early. This marks one of the latest moves in Japan’s crackdown on piracy.
The Japanese government, in collaboration with local publishers and international authorities, has a history of fighting manga pirating for a while. This arrest is another step in the larger battle being waged against content pirates.
Japan VS the Pirates: ‘New’ Law and Other Measures
In 2020, Japan amended its copyright law after years of preparation.
The law took effect in January 2021 and criminalized activities like the unauthorized download of magazines, academic texts, and unlicensed manga. Any person involved in such activities now faces a sentence of up to two years or fines of up to two million yen — or $19,366.
Since 2017, several Japanese media companies have actively fought to eliminate piracy websites. MUSO’s 2023 Piracy by Industry Data Review shows that manga makes up 69.2% of all content on unlicensed publishing sites. In 2020, it became the second most pirated medium, overtaking even piracy of films from the United States.
CODA and Operation Anime
Formed in 2002, Tokyo-based anti-piracy group Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA) has been instrumental in turning the Japanese government’s efforts into a reality.
Initially formed with support from the Agency for Cultural Affairs and the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, CODA now has 32 corporate members, including Studi Ghibli, Aniplex, Toei, and Shueisha. The anti-piracy trade group’s reach extends beyond educational outreach and content monitoring despite that being its focus.
Last year, the agency was involved in multiple international-level crackdowns on Japanese content piracy from February to March. In Brazil, this translated to Operation Anime — an offshoot of the country’s 2019 anti-piracy initiative, Operation 404.
CODA filed a criminal complaint against pirating sites and, alongside Brazilian authorities, shut down 36 websites hosting pirated Japanese content. In China, authorities investigated multiple professional pirates and removed b9good.com — one of the largest websites hosting pirated anime — after CODA submitted a formal complaint.
CODA commissioned a PricewaterhouseCoopers study in April 2023 that determined Japanese media houses lost an estimated 1.95 and 2.20 trillion yen ($14.2 to 16.5 billion USD) to online content piracy in 2022. Comparing these results to 2019 findings reveals a fivefold increase in estimated losses in three years.
Manga and other Japanese media are not the sole targets of pirates; CODA’s study revealed that several mediums — gaming, music, and video — are similarly suffering.
As Japanese manga and anime content piracy continues to grow, CODA has increased its efforts to bring down the industry for good.
The association has signed several memoranda of understanding with international authorities, including one in 2022 with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines and others with Hong Kong, China, and Korea. It aims to use these alliances to counter the illegal distribution of Japanese content locally and abroad.
In April 2022, CODA worked with the Japanese government to create the International Anti-Piracy Organization (IAPO). The organization spans 13 jurisdictions and includes the U.S. Motion Picture Association, a group of industry giants like Paramount, Netflix, and Disney.
This organization aims to create a strategic alliance to launch a many-pronged war against the piracy of Japanese media with the help of local authorities across borders.
The Case of Mangamura and Manga Bank
In 2019, Japanese authorities launched an international search for Magamura’s former manager. At the time, the site had only operated for two years but had cost the publishing industry more than $2 billion in damages, says CODA.
Authorities later arrested ex-operator Romi Hoshino in Manila. In June 2021, the court sentenced him to three years in prison and $650,000 in fines. Yet local publishers were not finished.
In 2022, Shogakukan, Kodakawa, and Shueisha filed a lawsuit against Mangamura, demanding almost $14 million in damages.
Even as Mangamura went down, others like Manga Bank hurried to fill the gap. Shueisha and other publishers doubled their efforts to end the site. In October, Shueisha filed a complaint in U.S. courts asking Google and other internet companies to share site operator details. On Nov. 5, the court ordered Google to comply, and the site disappeared shortly after.
This article was originally produced by Wealth of Geeks.
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