Piracy and anime have been linked together since the beginning of this century. It is a subject that continuously indicates the want to watch shows regardless of where you reside.
It was very irritating to numerous fans that they couldn’t get access to particular anime series or read their preferred manga because distribution didn’t bring them into their nation. Fansubs eventually provided millions of fans worldwide the opportunity to explore and like manga and anime.
The publishing industry in Japan has won a big fight against online piracy. The Tokyo District Court told the person who used to run the manga piracy site Mangamura they must pay three important publishing houses – Shogakukan, Kadokawa, and Shueisha – 1.7 billion yen for damages caused by their actions.
Japanese Publishing Industry Secures Landmark Victory Against Manga Piracy
The judgment is the biggest payment for copyright violation ever in the Japanese publishing sector. The publishers had together gone to court against Mangamura, asking for over 1.9 billion yen (equivalent to USD 12 million) in damages because of this website’s unlawful theft of 17 titles owned by these three publishers.
The representatives from the three publishing houses, in a combined statement after the court’s decision, clarified why they initiated the lawsuit. They underlined that it is necessary to take action against those who commit such acts and safeguard the rights of creators.
The representatives stressed how Mangamura has greatly affected the publishing business. Also highlighted that continuous effort is essential for fighting online piracy within country borders as well as globally.
The publishing houses stated,
“As the largest piracy website at the time and a symbol of piracy, we, the three plaintiff companies, jointly filed the lawsuit out of our responsibility to create an environment where authors can create with peace of mind and publishers can fulfill their duty to protect the works they have poured their hearts and souls into.”
They further explain,
“We believe that the significant damage caused by ‘Mangamura’ to published content is still profound and cannot be fully recovered. . However, we believe that the recognition of the plaintiff companies’ claims in this ruling and the determination of the damages of 1.7 billion yen for the 17 works of the plaintiff companies alone is a fair outcome. The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit with the aim of deterring infringements through pirate sites. This lawsuit has once again become an opportunity to address the problem of pirate sites widely. Publishers will continue to take measures against infringements through various means to protect their works, not only domestically but also in countries where serious damages are still occurring.”
The publishers recognized that, though they have seen a reduction in piracy sites within the country’s borders, there are fresh difficulties like spoiler websites and uploads on social media. They shared their dedication to fighting the piracy problem – especially abroad where it is still quite serious.
How Piracy Is Affecting Manga Industry
The worldwide manga market has been experiencing a major growth spurt lately. Way back in 2021, the market was estimated to be worth around $10.9 billion, and this value increased further to almost $11.7 billion by 2022 [Polaris].
However, the manga business also has a big problem – illegal online piracy that harms the publishers’ copyrights. It is widespread now to see piracy of copyrighted materials, where they are copied and distributed on the internet without proper permission. There are really hundreds or maybe thousands of manga piracy websites available on the internet that share this content unlawfully.
And the losses caused by this piracy have been huge. Only in Japan, it was mentioned that the manga industry suffered a loss of around $7 billion due to piracy in the first 10 months of 2021.
