Piracyis more prevalent now than ever, with individuals and larger, more cohesive organizations distributing stolen content of all varieties, including anime and manga. In an attempt to combat piracy, anti-piracy groups, like CODA, and the companies that create and publish this content, such as VIZ Media and Toho Animation, are taking measures to stop this behavior in its tracks.
AOne Piecenews X account,@sandman_AP, just posted about the most recent piracy attempt,where an individual released chapters of theOne Piecemanga unofficially.The person responsible was convicted, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that Japan is not afraid to make moves to crack down on piracy.
An Individual Who Pirated the One Piece Manga in Tokyo Was Just Convicted
Other Companies Like Shueisha, VIZ Media, and Toho Animation Have Taken Similar Legal Action
New chapters of theOne Piecemanga come out on a weekly basis, and are released in Japan first, then later translated to English and released in the U.S. The individual who pirated the manga not only globally distributed it, but translated the Japanese version to English himself. Japan took action against this person, discovering his identity and convicting him for his crime. The punishment this person faced makes it clear thatJapan is very serious about fighting back against piracy,whether it emerges from the efforts of one individual or larger piracy websites that post content daily.
In @sandman_AP’s X post, they mentioned that the incident “may impact future spoiler summary ofOne Piece,“which reveals even more potential consequences piracy can cause, aside from the obvious fact that those who pirate content are accessing it illegally. Lately, many people have been punished for piracy-related incidents, particularly in the manga, anime, and webtoon industries. This January 2025,Weekly Shonen Jump publisher Shueishafiled a subpoenain the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in order to uncover the identities of the most active pirates in the manga space right now, hoping to end this behavior.
Manga Piracy Is a Divisive Topic That Demands Action
The Piracy Battle Within the Manga Industry Has Caught Everyone’s Attention, but the Outcome Is Uncertain
Shueisha’s legal action against piracy was not an isolated incident, as countless publishers and anti-piracy groups have stepped up as of late tobattle against similar instances of anime piracy. Various animation studios, likeToei Animation, Funimation, Aniplex, and others even recently contacted Google directly,requesting that they deactivate over 10 billion URLs that would lead users to anime piracy websites. Google obliged, making a sizable dent in the number of piracy links that are active on their search engine. As new piracy websites crop up under different names, these organizations and franchises continue to stand firm and bring any illegal websites they find to justice.
Watch Out: Japan Is Spending $2 Million on AI to Squash Anime Piracy
Japan is finally taking the initiative to squash anime piracy for good with plans to develop an AI-powered piracy detection system worth $2 million.
Piracy is a complex problem, and consumers, mangakas, and other companies all take vastly different stances on the topic. Some authors have stated that they believe piracy is permissible, and are happy to spread their work to as wide of an audience as possible. Other companies and individuals in the industry have expressed their dislike of piracy in any form though, pointing out its illegality and seeing it as unethical stealing. Regardless of personal opinions on piracy, it is definitely becoming an issue that demands attention and action, andthose who disagree with piracy are stepping forward to fight it like never before.
