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Pirate sites that translate Japanese manga and anime into foreign languages without permission and post them on the internet are rampant overseas. The international monitoring system must be strengthened and measures to deal with the issue must be swiftly implemented.
Japanese content, such as manga and anime, is very popular overseas.
The government has set a goal of increasing its overseas sales from ¥4.7 trillion in 2022 to about ¥20 trillion in 2033. To achieve this goal, it is essential to reduce the damage caused by pirated copies, which is estimated at about ¥2 trillion.
According to the Authorized Books of Japan, an anti-piracy body formed by Japanese publishers and others, there are more than 1,300 manga and other pirate sites based in Japan and abroad.
Of these, visits to sites aimed at Japanese viewers have dropped to nearly a quarter of their peak. The strengthening of police crackdowns and the court orders for significant compensation in civil trials have probably served as a deterrent to some extent.
The problem is foreign-based sites for overseas viewers, on which residents of foreign countries translate Japanese content into their local languages and disseminate it. Works are translated into 10 or more languages, including English and Vietnamese, and are posted without permission. These sites account for about 60% of all pirate sites.
Some pirate sites cannot be viewed from Japan, making it difficult to understand the actual situation.
The Content Overseas Distribution Association, which includes major publishing and video companies, is working with overseas investigative authorities and others to take measures against such pirate sites. So far, 22 people have been exposed for operating foreign-based piracy sites and 50 sites have been shut down.
Last year, Brazilian authorities, working with the Japanese side, rounded up people who were operating pirate sites for Japanese anime. Japan and Vietnam have agreed at the summit level to work together to combat pirate sites.
However, in some countries, authorities lack the ability to crack down on pirate sites, and there is also a lack of awareness of the problem of copyright infringement and the need to develop legislation, among other issues. For effective measures to be taken, it is necessary to respond to pirate sites in an integrated manner through an international special organization.
There is also a need to consider establishing a mechanism at the initiative of Japan to understand the situation and grasp the extent of damage caused by pirate sites, in cooperation with investigative agencies and other organizations of other countries.
The major platforms that allow sites to be set up freely also bear a heavy responsibility. The operators of illegal sites are able to earn unjustified revenue from ads. The platforms should be aware that this infringes on the rights of creators and others.
If a court orders the disclosure of information on site operators, the platforms must respond in good faith.
Japanese publishers and others are working to distribute authorized versions of manga and anime. There should be no room for pirate sites to proliferate through the implementation of such measures as distributing works in multiple languages and releasing them simultaneously overseas.
