Manga, Japanese-style graphic novels and comic books, were once considered niche, but that isn’t the case anymore. The global manga industry is experiencing tremendous growth, with the market valued at $12.13 billion in 2022 and expected to reach $42.10 billion by 2023, according to Grand View Research. However, this uptick in popularity has fans scrambling to get a hold of content however they can, including through manga piracy.
Despite the love for the genre and art form, this unauthorized access is negatively impacting creators and publishers worldwide. In fact, manga’s popularity has caused publishing piracy to overtake film piracy, according to MUSO, as reported by Comic Book Resources. Currently, publishing pirates sits only behind TV piracy, with the U.S. leading the world in both.
Understanding Manga Piracy
While movie and music piracy often involves direct copies of original files, manga piracy also includes unauthorized translations or “scanlations.” As the terms imply, this practice involves scanning original manga pages, translating them into English or other languages without permission, and distributing them online.
As the manga blog Fox Fire points out, scalation is no simple process. Nowadays, it involves whole teams composed of scanners, cleaners, redrawers, translators, typesetters, and more. These unauthorized translations enter the market — typically for free — and compete directly with official releases.
The distribution of manga content, however, can look quite similar to film, TV, and music piracy. Fans often take advantage of unauthorized torrents to illegally download new issues or use screen scraping software to make copies of manga from legitimate sites.
The Impact of Piracy on the Manga Industry
The effects of unauthorized manga distribution extend far beyond simple revenue loss. Our team at StreamSafely has identified some overlooked ways that manga piracy impacts the industry:
- Financial Losses: In 2021, Japan’s Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA) reported a loss of ¥395.2 billion to ¥831.1 billion ($2.55 billion to $5.36 billion) to manga and publishing piracy.
- Creator Income: As Medium contributor Jason Muell explains, even successful manga artists can earn as little as $12,980 annually if the manga is published monthly rather than weekly. Plus, they typically hire assistants for touchup work out of their own pocket. Even seemingly small revenue loss through piracy can have a big toll on their livelihood.
- Industry Innovation: As with any industry, reduced profits lead to fewer risks on new series and creators. If a major company only thinks one style or genre is profitable, that’ll be all they’ll make. We’ve seen it in Hollywood with superhero fatigue that ultimately led to overused tropes and waning content quality, and it can happen to manga, too.
- Market Development: It’s a vicious cycle: Less revenue leads to less expansion, which leads to less accessibility, which leads to increased piracy, which leads to less revenue. The best way to ensure the continued growth and distribution of manga is to consume it responsibly.
- Quality Control: Speed is the name of the game in digital piracy, and it’s no different for manga. The faster illegal distributors can get content out into the market, the more they can compete with legal vendors. However, this rush to market can lead to rapid, low-quality scans, mistranslations, and poor artistry.
- Cultural Impact: Reduced quality, especially in the case of incorrect translations, can muddy or entirely eliminate cultural nuances and intended meanings. Simply put, fans engaging with pirated manga run the risk of reading a water-downed work.
Anti-Piracy Measures Taken by Manga Publishers
The manga industry has implemented a multipronged approach to combat piracy. Each of these strategies is powerful in its own right, and when used together, we may just see a complete reduction in manga piracy overall.
Legal Action
Major publishers like Shueisha have intensified their legal efforts against piracy sites, seeking the assistance of partners like Google, VISA, and PayPal. These actions can help lead to the shutdown of several major illegal distribution networks.
Takedown Notices
Publishers use automated systems to find unauthorized content and issue takedown notices under the Copyright Act. Often, this involves the “Notice and Notice” system, where online service providers forward notices of alleged infringement to their users.
Collaborative Efforts
CODA has helped form alliances like the Manga-Anime Guardians (MAG), bringing together publishers, creators, and legal experts to combat piracy collectively. In 2023, MAG hosted an exhibit at the New York Comic-Con, the largest pop culture event in the U.S. Such partnerships can strengthen anti-piracy strategies and allow for an exchange of resources that simply isn’t possible individually.
Geofencing & Region Locking
Geofencing is a common tool in the fight against piracy, manga, or otherwise. However, limiting certain content to specific areas to avoid runaway illegal distribution can have drawbacks. Specifically, it can cause fans to fake their location using VPNs. While some services may be legitimate, how they are used may not always be legal, and there are plenty of untrustworthy VPNs out there.
The Role of Technology in Combating Manga Piracy
From digital rights management to AI-powered detection, the manga industry is pulling out all the stops when it comes to its technological anti-piracy efforts. Tackling piracy is a moving target, so it’s important to cover as many bases as possible and be quick to adapt.
Digital Copyright Management (DRM)
Many digital copyright management (DRM) systems like Bynder and Digify can help large and small publishers alike track and protect digital manga releases. Publishers investing in these types of partnerships can make unauthorized copying more difficult while maintaining accessibility and preserving an excellent reading experience.
AI for Copyright Infringement
Regardless of industry or media type, AI copyright infringement detection software can now scan the internet continuously, identifying potential copyright violations and unauthorized manga distributions with increasing accuracy.
These AI tools analyze images and text to find modified versions of copyrighted content — even when pirates attempt to alter the material to blur the lines. As with any machine learning algorithm, the technology continues to improve, learning from each new case it encounters.
Watermarking and Metadata
Digital watermarks and embedded metadata are trackers and tags added to original files in order to identify unauthorized copies. These unique codes allow publishers to trace leaked content back to its source, and these paper trails allow publishers to easily take legal action. Nowadays, watermarking techniques now include both visible and invisible markers that survive most attempts at removal or modification.
Blockchain Solutions for Copyright
Emerging blockchain technology offers new possibilities for protecting digital rights and tracking manga distribution across platforms. Similar to watermarking, this technology creates a record of ownership and licensing, making it easier to verify legitimate uses and identify unauthorized distributions. As software company A3Logics showcases, the traceability of major blockchain-based solutions can deter unauthorized reproduction or redistribution.
Top Legal Free Manga Websites
With Streamsafley, there’s never a need to turn to pirated manga content. Our team has compiled the top five 100% free manga platforms that you can join today and start catching up on the stories that you love:
- MANGA Plus by SHUEISHA: This site offers official releases of popular series. While the basic version is free, you can also sign up for the MANGA Pus MAX Delux Plan to get access to even more great content.
- Kodansha: Although Editor-in-Chief Akira Kanai isn’t opposed to piracy, Kodansha’s giant library of free manga titles makes even the thought of searching for pirated content wildly unnecessary. Users with a free Kodansha Reader account will get even more free chapters and can track their progress.
- Shonen Jump: As a subsection of VIZ, Shonen Jump members can access over 20,000 chapters free of charge.
- Libby: Libby is a free library that lets you borrow from libraries around the country. To sign up, get a library card and start browsing their most popular manga titles.
- Hoopla: Similar to Libby, Hoopla is a library app where you can explore manga series to your heart’s content.
Challenges Still Faced in the Fight Against Piracy
Despite the industry’s efforts, manga piracy continues to evolve, presenting new challenges that publishers must navigate. Publishers need to be simultaneously flexible and rigid, catering to the preferences of their fans while drawing a hard line against bad actors.
Adapting to Pirates’ Techniques
As digital piracy evolves, pirates develop new methods to avoid detection and circumvent protection measures. This constant tactical turnover requires publishers to continuously update their protection strategies and invest in new technologies. Ultimately, it will come down to how technology changes and what side can be the most resourceful with it.
Fan Demands for Speed
The gap between Japanese releases and official English translations creates opportunities for unauthorized distributors to fill the void. Publishers are working to reduce this time gap, but as we mentioned earlier, increasing speed can decrease quality.
This is just as true for official translations as it is for scanlations. Unfortunately, for some people, fast is never fast enough, and their need for immediate access to new content will drive them to illegal sources despite improvements in official release schedules.
Global Market Challenges
Publishers need to navigate licensing agreements and market conditions while simultaneously trying to maintain consistent global access. It’s no easy feat. These challenges are particularly noticeable in emerging markets where establishing official distribution channels can be slow or difficult.
Monetary Considerations
The cost of maintaining anti-piracy measures adds up, and these investments, combined with legal expenses, can take away a significant amount of money from companies’ returns. Fighting piracy needs to be both effective and affordable, but it can often feel like one or the other. This balancing act requires careful resource allocation and strategic planning to maximize the effectiveness against manga piracy sites.
The Future of Anti-Piracy in Manga
Digital piracy is on the rise, and manga piracy is no exception. As the manga industry continues to advance its protection strategies, new technologies like machine learning algorithms will prove to be helpful against unauthorized distribution. Ideally, publishers will work toward simultaneous global releases, but that is easier said than done.
International cooperation between publishers and law enforcement will be paramount, but as the saying goes, the wheels of justice turn slowly. What’s certain is that you, the reader, can do your part in advocating for responsible engagement and promoting legal manga sites to friends and family in the fanbase.
Find More Piracy Resources at StreamSafely
The battle against manga piracy isn’t won, but through technology, legal action, and industry collaboration, publishers are making progress in protecting creators’ rights. By choosing legal alternatives, readers can help support the industry they love and maintain its creative future.
We at StreamSafely pride ourselves on doing our part to encourage good legal habits when it comes to online content and streaming. We provide comprehensive guides on identifying illegal content platforms and seek to educate readers about the ethics of piracy. By partnering with StreamSafely, you can become part of the solution and help create a world where digital pirates are knocked down, content creators are lifted up, and everyone can enjoy their favorite manga safely, easily, and responsibly.
