Japan’s Using AI to Fight Manga & Anime Piracy

Despite sales thriving with One Piece as the best-selling manga of all time, piracy for both the print and anime medium remains at large. As anime’s popularity continues to boom across the globe, so too do the rates of video piracy, as sneaky fans will do anything to avoid paying for their favorite shows. Japan is now cracking down on anime and manga piracy with revolutionary new technology.

Per NHK, the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs has allocated 300 million yen ($2 million) to fighting online piracy and investing in new AI software. The program is still in development, but the aim is for AI to detect pirated material as soon as it is posted online. According to statistics released by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, anime and manga piracy causes an estimated 2 trillion yen ($133.8 million) in yearly damages.

The AI will reportedly be able to detect pirate sites by studying advertisement formatting, which allows these sites to operate for free. Additionally, the software will also allow rights holders to quickly apply for pirated content to be removed. In a statement, the Agency for Cultural Affairs said, “There are limitations to finding pirated sites with the human eye, as it takes time and cost. We would like to develop effective countermeasures to reduce pirated sites and protect rights holders.”

[RELATED: Animators, Industry Pros Speak Out Against Anime’s Worst Leak to Date]

Netflix Is Also Cracking Down on Anime Piracy

Online anime and manga piracy is a global problem, and the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs is far from the only organization funding new anti-piracy software. WEBTOON has developed the Toon Radar, which embeds information into the code of webtoons. This then allows them to track down the source of leaks.

In August, Netflix and Crunchyroll were the targets of one of the biggest anime leaks ever. Then unreleased projects like Terminator: Zero, Dandadan, and Ranma 1/2 were shared online, with the watermarks blurred. To combat this, Netflix recently issued a subpoena to the online messaging app Discord. The subpoena compelled Discord to pass on “information sufficient to identify the individual user(s) of the account @jacejohns4n, responsible for the unauthorized posting of a copyright-protected image on or around November 12, 2024,” and demanded their legal name, home address, telephone number, e-mail, and IP addresses.

As tempting as you may find it to want to watch a free show, online piracy hurts the creators most of all. This is especially true in the anime community, where most manga-based shows are the vision of a single artist; online leaks drastically damage the overall success of a series. Studios look at viewership and sales figures to determine if an IP is popular enough for renewal. So, if you want to get your hands on more seasons of your new favorite, you’re best off watching them the official way.

H/T: NHK