bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Four major Japanese manga publishers said they will sue a US company accused of hosting servers for a piracy site, in the latest offensive against illegal copies of their graphic novels.
Piracy is a long-running problem for Japan’s internationally renowned manga industry, with publishers saying they lose millions in revenue as a result.
The publishing giants will file the lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court this week, a spokesman for Kodansha, one of the publishers involved, said Monday.
The four leading publishers – Kodansha, Shueisha, Shogakukan and Kadokawa – accuse web infrastructure company Cloudflare of copyright infringement for its role in hosting sites that distribute pirated copies of manga titles.
Woman in China arrested after running 49 red lights in ex’s car
They will seek a combined 400 million yen (US$3.5 million) in damages, according to a source with knowledge of the suit.
The site Cloudflare is accused of helping, by providing a server that can handle significant online traffic, has an estimated 300 million views a month and distributes about 4,000 manga titles, the source added.
Piracy sites, where copies of graphic novels are distributed for free, have long tormented publishers of manga epics such as One Piece and Attack on Titan, with losses estimated at millions of dollars in Japan alone.

Cloudflare did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but it is not the first time it has come under fire from manga publishers. In 2019, the same four companies reached a settlement with the US firm after it agreed it would stop providing its services for a piracy site.
Kodansha spokesman Tomoyuki Inui said publishers were determined to take legal action to protect the rights of artists.
“All the profits made from those manga piracy sites go straight to their illegal operators, with nothing going to the bookstores, publishers and manga artists who have dedicated their lives to creating these works,” said Inui.
“We must put a stop to piracy sites to protect the Japanese culture of manga.”


No more overworked Japan? New figures show employees clock fewer hours

Trump’s neo‑royalist world order and ‘weaponised interdependence’: Abraham Newman

China’s Type 095 nuclear submarine spotted for first time in new satellite images

Japan youth share photos to show before and after cosmetic surgeries, raise copycat concerns

Japan

Japanese publishing giants to sue US firm over manga piracy

A still from manga’s Ghost in the Shell (1995).

Screen grab of manga comic book art.

Smartphone-ready Korean webtoons displace Japanese manga in global comic fans’ affections

A still from Itaewon Class, a popular South Korean webtoon. Similar to Japanese manga but digitally formatted for viewing on a smartphone, they have begun to displace the former, which need downloading to view. Photo: Daum Webtoon

A still from the webtoon Now at Our School. Photo: Naver Webtoon

Rafael Zerbini is a Brazilian graphic designer and a big fan of Korean webtoons. Photo: Courtesy of Rafael Zerbini

A still from the webtoon True Beauty. Photo: Webtoon Entertainment

“The webtoon’s digital format is something the French market hasn’t seen before,” says Frenchwoman Adelaide Lucena, another webtoon fan. Photo: Courtesy of Adelaide Lucena

China tech crackdown: most exclusive copyright deals banned for digital music platforms

Chinese authorities have banned the country’s music streaming platforms from striking most exclusive copyright deals. Photo: AP Photo

New Hong Kong copyright law must take interests of all into account

A move to overhaul Hong Kong’s copyright legislation has been triggered partly by Beijing’s support for the city to become a regional intellectual property trading centre. Photo: Bloomberg

Japan looks to clarify cosplay rules to prevent copyright violations

Cosplayers pose for photographs during a game show. Some Japanese cosplayers have called for a framework to obtain copyright holders’ permission for costumes. Photo: AFP

Cosplayers take part in a costume event in Hanoi on January 10, 2021. (Photo by Manan VATSYAYANA / AFP)

News

Asia

East Asia

World

United States & Canada


The four leading publishers – Kodansha, Shueisha, Shogakukan and Kadokawa – accuse web infrastructure company Cloudflare of copyright infringement
Piracy is a long-running problem for Japan’s internationally renowned manga industry, with publishers saying they lose millions in revenue as a result



Four leading publishers – Kodansha, Shueisha, Shogakukan and Kadokawa – accuse web infrastructure company Cloudflare of copyright infringement; it is not the first time it has come under fire from manga.


Manga

United States

US-Japan relations