Japan's Biggest Publishers File Lawsuit Against Popular Manga Pirate
It is no secret that piracy is a massive industry, and the manga community has encountered its fair share of issues with the trend. For decades, popular manga has been pirated and shared online to the dismay of creators. As the medium has grown in popularity so to have websites looking to infringe on manga globally. And now, a new report has confirmed several of Japan's biggest publishers are filing a $14 million USD lawsuit against a massive manga piracy service.
The news comes from Japan as reports confirmed a joint lawsuit against the site Mangamura has been filed. Shueisha, Kadokawa, and Shogakukan have come together to pursue the piracy service. According to the Tokyo District Court, the lawsuit filed is for $14.2 million in damages from 17 total series.
According to the lawsuit, the manga mentioned in its damages are One Piece, Kingdom, Yawara, Dorohedoro, Overlord, Sgt. Frog, Wise Man's Grandchild, The Rising of the Shield Hero, Trinity Seven, Hinamatsuri, Erased, Mushoku Tensei, Golden Rough, Kanojo wa Uso o Ai Shisugiteru, Karakuri Circus, Kengan Ashura, and Tasogare Ryuseigun.
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If this site sounds familiar to you, then that is hardly a surprise. Mangamura is one of the largest sites hosting illicit manga on the Internet. It has also come into legal trouble before as Romi Hoshino, the site's alleged administrator, was found guilty of copyright infringement in 2021. Other lawsuits have been filed against the site by creators such as Ken Akamatsu. And now, it seems several of Japan's biggest publishers are now going after the website itself for millions of dollars in damages.
What do you make of this latest legal play against manga pirates? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.