Anime Industry to Crack Down on Piracy

The NHK television network has reported that this month the Japanese government, in collaboration with 15 Japanese anime industry companies, will launch a five-month campaign to reduce anime & manga piracy. The effort will primarily focus on roughly 580 websites based in China that the Japanese Cultural Affairs Agency estimates are responsible for 560 billion yen ($5.5 billion USD) in lost revenue due to anime/manga piracy during the past year. The anti-piracy campaign will issue take-down notices for unauthorized distribution of 500 different manga titles and 80 specific anime titles.

The 15 anime industry companies involved in the campaign, along with the Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA) and Tokyo Otaku Mode have launched the Manga Anime Guardians website to direct users to legally authorized distribution options for roughly 250 of the 580 selected works.

Source: The Japan Times & Anime News Network