The practice of disseminating leaks on Twitter by manga leakers before the publication of a manga chapter may be coming to an end since Japanese police have begun pursuing those responsible for posting leaks online. This week, after the authorities verified their identities and actions, two Shonen Jump manga leakers were taken into custody in Japan.
According to information provided by the authorities, these two people released pictures of editions of Shonen Jump magazine in March 2023, and they were later imprisoned for it. Sharing these “leaks” is susceptible to jail time and is regarded as a copyright law infringement of intellectual property. Prominent leakers are now pledging to take more extreme measures or to stop their activities completely in response.
Leaks on One Piece, Jujutsu Kaisen, My Hero Academia, Blue Lock, and other series were shared by the apprehended leaker. This further detail features the indication that these individuals purchased magazine issues before their date of release. The operation is being thoroughly investigated by the police, who have reason to believe that some more people were involved.
2 Foreigners Arrested Over Manga Leaks
According to NHK, on February 4, 2024, the Kumamoto Prefectural Police’s Cybercrime Division reported the arrest of two overseas nationals on charges of copyright infringement. According to prefectural police, the suspects bought the magazine from a Tokyo wholesale outlet ahead of its scheduled distribution.
[🔔Long tweet] Details about the arrest of the leakers: 2 people, including a Tokyo-based company owner, were arrested by the Kumamoto Prefectural Police on suspicion of violating the Copyright Act by posting images of manga magazines on the Internet before they were released.…
— sandman (@sandman_AP) February 4, 2024
The identities of the other person remain unknown. Still, one of the two has been identified as Samir Musa, a 36-year-old foreigner who manages the limited liability company known as Japan Deal World in Tokyo’s Kita Ward. Using their cellphones, the foreigners captured images of the magazine’s contents, which they then published online for public viewing across the globe.
The police have seized mobile phones and computers belonging to the suspected manga leakers. The foreigners who were detained acknowledged using their phones to take pictures of the magazine’s content. However, they denied posting the pictures online. This is not the first time it has happened; in 2017, three One Piece manga leakers were detained by Japanese police.
Manga Leakers Delay Posting After The Arrest
Immediately following the release of this information, leakers from several communities, including One Piece, Jujutsu Kaisen, and My Hero Academia, tweeted that the leaks would now be released on Wednesday night or Thursday morning rather than Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.
Nonetheless, well-known leaker groups Scanpiea and OPScans, who were both involved in the early mass publication of One Piece chapters, have removed their websites and terminated their X accounts. Information from media sources also states that the police are looking into websites that illegally disseminate stolen works. More people engaged in this illicit activity are being sought after by them as well.
Owner of Weekly Shonen Jump Shueisha made a statement in response to the revelation that their business has suffered significant harm as a result of some individuals spreading the message online. They expressed the expectation that by having police make the spoiler path clear, future damage will be avoided.
