Manga Publishers Want to Make Their War on Piracy Global

For decades now, the manga industry has been plagued by pirates, and we're not talking about the kind in One Piece. Across the world, you can find hundreds of piracy sites dedicated to manga. In Japan, a number of these services have been targeted in recent years as the manga industry is starting to aggressively defend its assets. And thanks to a new article at NHK, readers have learned publishers want to make the War on Piracy a global one.

The report was released this week in response to data shared by ABJ, an organization in Japan created by manga publishers. According to the group's data from February 2024, it has located 1,207 piracy sites. Of those sites, 913 of them aren't even geared towards Japanese readers but those in other countries.

To be specific, the sites in question use English or Vietnamese translations. AMJ has found more than 70% of the 1,200+ sites found are geared towards global readers. So as you can imagine, the organization is eager to bring anti-piracy measures to markets beyond Japan.

After all, the group's efforts in Japan have been successful. ABJ says the number of visits made to Japanese pirate sites have decreased about 25% in the wake of its injunctions. This trend, however, has not been seen in other markets. For places like Vietnam, piracy usage has grown 5x compared to last year. So as always, the War on Piracy is similar to killing a hydra; You take out one head and three more will grow back.

Speaking with NHK, lawyer Hiroyuki Nakajima broke down the overarching issue with manga piracy outside of Japan. "English piracy sites have huge sites that collect more than 200 million visits per month, and there are also sites that restrict access from Japan so that they are not detected. Piracy apps are also a problem, and if it is distributed on a regular platform, some people may mistakenly download it for an official app," they shared.

"Anime and manga are popular all over the world, and it is a very big problem that the profits that the right holder should have gained in the regular business are lost due to piracy. It is important not only to close the site and app, but also to take measures with the goal of catching the operator and giving them criminal penalties."

What do you think about this manga industry update? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!