It looks like anime piracy is on the rise yet again. For decades, the industry has worked to cut off the growth in piracy, but the battle has only just become. As anime and manga continue to become more popular, new routes pop up daily to illegally access all kinds of content. And now, a new report has confirmed online piracy has cost Japanese entertainment more than $15 billion USD.
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The report comes from The Content Overseas Distribution Association as its latest data on piracy was shared recently. It was there fans learned in 2021 more than 2 trillion yen or $15 billion USD was lost because of piracy. This total is more than 5x the amount registered in 2019, so you can see why experts are alarmed.
According to the report, the watchdog group suspects the rise in piracy was so sharp because of the pandemic. People were isolated in their homes, and this rise in indoor recreation likely directed netizens to piracy. After all, consumption is not cheap, and streaming is hardly affordable when you start collecting services left and right.
This report accounts for all sectors of Japan’s entertainment sector, so everything from anime to manga and video games were accounted for. The watchdog group believes the most conservative estimate of piracy loss lands at 1.9 trillion yen, but at worst, the total edges past 2.2 trillion yen. That means more than $15 billion USD of content was pirated,. Of this total, anime was thought to account for the highest amount of loss with up to 1.4 trillion lost. Manga and other media is said to have accounted for under 850 billion yen.
Of course, these totals are massive, but they could be worse. Watchdog groups have stepped up their monitoring of piracy sites globally, and a number of big-time sites have been shut down. From Brazil to China and even the United States, anime pirates have been targeted by international coalition. Some of Japan’s biggest manga publishers have also teamed up to target pirates, so official are also getting in on the hunt. So as it seems, the only pirates Japanese media will give a pass to are those in One Piece.
What do you think about this latest report on anime piracy? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.
