In 2020 Japan proposed a new law for copyright in relation to anime and manga. They set the date for January 2021.
This was big news at the time and everyone was aware of it.
Once January 2021 came around it seemed almost immediately that Japanese companies and publishers started to “get to work” on silencing, copyright striking, and potentially suing or taking down anime pirates.
KissAnime, Simply.Moe, and other pirates have since disappeared since the topic of piracy resurfaced again.
One arrest took place in 2020 in Japan, actually.
$4K Profit in 2 months from piracy
As pointed out by TF:
“Last month, the Metropolitan Police Department Ayase Station filed charges against a man who operated a linking site that provided links to a pirate site that offered around 30,000 pieces of unauthorized content, including adult animations. The self-employed 37-year-old is said to have earned the equivalent of around US$4,000 in a recent two-month period.”
For profiting of piracy, which is child’s play if you know how to run a website, was $4K profit worth the trouble of potentially being arrested? (which he was).
This 37 year old man may also face a fine of $45K, potentially, and 5 years in prison to top it all off. Making the “crime” seem even more regretful.
Maybe this is a sign of the times, meaning the days of KissAnime making $100’s of thousands of dollars from piracy is less likely now. More so if you’re in Japan.
2500 Japanese movies
QUOTE:
“The platform, which has not been named, reportedly offered links to around 6,000 movies and dramas, including around 2,500 Japanese movies and 3,500 foreign titles. The linked infringing content was uploaded to an overseas online storage site and was available for streaming. Multiple links to illegal uploads were placed for each work so that if one link was removed, another would still work.
For the purposes of the case, two specific works are highlighted as being infringed by the defendant. From local production company Toei, the 2020 movie “Inunakimura” (English: “Howling Village”) is cited and from Toho, the 2019 movie “Tenki no Ko” (English: “Weathering with You”).”
As we know by now, Toei Animation is a stubborn company and they’re not one for playing games or letting people take the piss.
Sometimes they can be overboard, as in a case like this. But in the case of piracy, they’re proactive.
Will dishing out harsh jail sentences discourage anime and manga piracy?
Only time will tell. But the game of whack-a-mole is a painful one, and not one any company of any size can hope to win with just brute force.
My guy’s in Japan don’t see it that way though.
SOURCE: Torrent Freak
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