Shueisha Releases Official Statement on Recent Twitter Copyright Takedowns

Shueisha has released an official statement regarding the controversy surrounding a recent slate of copyright infringement take downs on Twitter. Last weekend, anime fans were taken by surprise when many of them had received take down requests for infringing copyright on Shueisha properties such as Dragon Ball, One Piece and more. What seemed to surprise many is the fact that these take downs seemed to note everything from images, gifs, to even some fan-art (one of which belonging to an actual Dragon Ball staff member). Through an update on MangaPlus, Shueisha has now released an official statement on the matter.

Denying involvement with what they refer as a “Copyright Infringement Scam,” Shueisha’s official statement reads as such, “It has come to our attention, Shueisha has been falsely misrepresented by an individual sending copyright and removal requests on Twitter and other social media platforms. Shueisha is currently consulting with the various platforms to investigate what measures can be taken to address this issue.”

Over the last week, reports from various Twitter users pointed the claims toward an individual not represented by Shueisha, but those reports have not been confirmed as of this writing. With Shueisha officially distancing themselves from the copyright claims from over the January 8th weekend, and noting that they were “falsely misrepresented,” the investigation into the matter overall continues as Shueisha looks toward the next steps.

Copyright law is one of the more complicated subjects, and only gets more complicated when considering the laws from two different countries. Shueisha is now investigating the matter, but fans are most likely resting easier following this statement due to Shueisha’s clarification on the issue as a whole. There had been a lot of confusion and misinformation springing up from fans during the initial wave of take downs, but while Shueisha had held off on making a statement then, they have been looking into the issue.

With the take downs seemingly targeting a wide swath of images, gifs, videos and more, fans were worried about what could happen to their own social media accounts if they were to share their love for their favorite manga and anime franchises. What did you think of the surprise copyright take downs? Were you one of the accounts impacted by these claims? Let us know all of your thoughts in the comments!