Shueisha, the prominent manga publisher known for Shonen Jump titles like One Piece, Dragon Ball, and Demon Slayer, is on a mission to unmask the operators behind eight manga piracy websites, and it’s looking to Google and other major companies for help. Earlier this year, following a court order, Shueisha gained access to emails, VISA account details, and PayPal information tied to payments from these sites processed by Cloudflare. Now, according to Torrent Freak, the publisher has taken its case to a California court, aiming to subpoena Google, VISA, and PayPal for more identifying information. Shueisha’s plan is to use these details to pursue civil cases in Japan against the anonymous site operators, seeking damages for copyright infringement under Article 709 of Japan’s Civil Code, as well as injunctive relief per Japan’s Copyright Act and Unfair Competition Prevention Act.
Shueisha is specifically requesting the “name, address, email address, phone number, and name and address on credit cards” for each operator, along with access logs that include IP addresses and timestamps showing when these individuals accessed Google, VISA, and PayPal services. The targeted sites — including “mangakoma01.net,” “mangarawjp.asia,” “mangaraw.onl,” “mangarawjp.onl,” “spoilerplus.net,” “rawkuma.com,” “truyenqqvn.com,” and “mangaspoiler.net” — collectively reached 91.88 million visits as of September 2024 (data from Similarweb, reported by Torrent Freak).
If Shueisha’s subpoenas lead to successful identifications, these operators could face legal consequences in Japan. However, significant prison terms may be unlikely; for instance, Romi Hoshino, once in charge of Japan’s largest manga piracy site (amassing 537 million visits over two years), received a two-year prison sentence and a $11 million fine. For any U.S.-based operators, Japan’s extradition treaty with the U.S. could come into play if the charges exceed a one-year prison term.
In a broader move against piracy, anime studios have also ramped up their efforts. Notably, Aniplex (Demon Slayer, Sword Art Online) and Toho (Jujutsu Kaisen, My Hero Academia) recently obtained a subpoena against X (formerly Twitter), targeting 12 alleged anime leakers. This led to the revelation of those accounts in September, generating considerable public interest and, in some cases, surprise.
Source: https://www.cbr.com/shueisha-manga-pirate-site-hunt-new-american-subpoena/
Shueisha is specifically requesting the “name, address, email address, phone number, and name and address on credit cards” for each operator, along with access logs that include IP addresses and timestamps showing when these individuals accessed Google, VISA, and PayPal services. The targeted sites — including “mangakoma01.net,” “mangarawjp.asia,” “mangaraw.onl,” “mangarawjp.onl,” “spoilerplus.net,” “rawkuma.com,” “truyenqqvn.com,” and “mangaspoiler.net” — collectively reached 91.88 million visits as of September 2024 (data from Similarweb, reported by Torrent Freak).
If Shueisha’s subpoenas lead to successful identifications, these operators could face legal consequences in Japan. However, significant prison terms may be unlikely; for instance, Romi Hoshino, once in charge of Japan’s largest manga piracy site (amassing 537 million visits over two years), received a two-year prison sentence and a $11 million fine. For any U.S.-based operators, Japan’s extradition treaty with the U.S. could come into play if the charges exceed a one-year prison term.
In a broader move against piracy, anime studios have also ramped up their efforts. Notably, Aniplex (Demon Slayer, Sword Art Online) and Toho (Jujutsu Kaisen, My Hero Academia) recently obtained a subpoena against X (formerly Twitter), targeting 12 alleged anime leakers. This led to the revelation of those accounts in September, generating considerable public interest and, in some cases, surprise.
Source: https://www.cbr.com/shueisha-manga-pirate-site-hunt-new-american-subpoena/
