Japanese publishers misplaced an estimated 381.8 billion yen (about $3.5 billion) in 2023 as a result of free studying materials on manga piracy websites, the ABJ reported.
This estimate was revealed throughout a gathering on anti-piracy measures earlier this 12 months by the Cultural Affairs Company.
Whereas this determine is decrease than the 506.9 billion yen misplaced in 2022, it stays considerably larger than the pre-pandemic degree of 210 billion yen in 2020.
ABJ attributed the preliminary rise in piracy to elevated house web use throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
The injury attributable to free studying on manga piracy websites had elevated throughout the pandemic as individuals stayed house, peaking at about 1.19 trillion yen in 2021. Since then, it has been on a downward development because of the successive crackdown on main pirate websites. .
The largest efficiency carried out consists of that of –
- Mangamura – the place the Tokyo District Court docket ordered the previous operator of the manga piracy web site to pay 1.7 billion yen in damages to 3 main publishing homes: Shogakukan, Kadokawa and Shueisha.
- 13DL – the most important manga piracy website in Japan that was not too long ago shut down by CODA.
As well as, two foreigners suspected of leaking manga panels to leakers had been additionally arrested.
Nonetheless, as of January 2024, ABJ recognized 1,176 energetic pirate websites, a quantity that had solely grown by late 2023.
Of those, many have been translated into languages aside from Japanese, indicating that these web sites had been aimed toward a worldwide viewers.
ABJ warned that new websites had been continuously rising and their techniques had been changing into extra subtle. The group known as for continued cooperation with all stakeholders to fight the persistent drawback of manga piracy.
The affect of piracy is felt not solely by publishers, but in addition by the creators themselves, who lose out on royalties and income.
The Japanese authorities, along with worldwide companions, is actively working to fight piracy by way of authorized measures and technological options.
The Cultural Affairs Company had additionally created video tutorials for highschool college students to show them the disadvantages of studying manga on piracy websites.
90% of highschool college students and above owned smartphones in Japan. The goal was to show college students that ‘simply studying’ may also result in copyright infringement.
Supply: Nikkei
