Japanese anti-piracy coalition CODA (Content Overseas Distribution Association) announced on January 29 that the operator of Bato was detained under suspicion of copyright infringement, questioned, and has since been released on bail following a search of his premises. His premises were searched on November 19, 2025.
CODA adds that the operator confessed to operating approximately 60 websites, including Bato.to, xbato.com, and mangapark.io. These three sites had a combined monthly visit total of over 110 million visits (December 2025). This total doesn’t even include the dozens of mirrors believed to be operated by the same person, such as bato.si (61 million). CODA claims that in May 2025, all the sites totaled 350 million monthly visits in May 2025, “making BATO.TO effectively the largest manga piracy site in the world.“
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CODA adds that it continues to investigate “server data, the operational structure of the sites, and information regarding individuals involved in their operation. CODA has also confirmed that individuals involved in operating these sites, as well as in posting and translating content through related social media channels, are located in multiple countries worldwide. CODA will therefore continue its investigations through international cooperation.” By January 19, CODA says all ~60 sites had been shut down.
CODA says the operation was a joint one between Japan and China: Kadokawa, Kodansha, Shueisha, Shogakukan, and Square Enix filed requests for an investigation, leading CODA’s Beijing office to file a criminal complaint in China on their behalf. The publishers raised concerns at a meeting with CODA in July 2024; the operator was reportedly identified through open-source intelligence (OSINT). When the operator was tracked to somewhere in China, CODA says it worked with a local investigative firm to identify them. Kakao Entertainment’s anti-piracy arm, P.CoK, says it has also identified the majority of people involved with Bato; it’s unclear whether Kakao and the Japan-China team shared information, as neither side mentions the other.
CODA adds that it sought cooperation from Tencent Holdings’ subsidiary and major book platform China Literature, leading to a further criminal complaint. Bato’s operator was reportedly making over 400,000 Chinese RMB in peak months, which is around $57k in today’s money. NTT Solmare, which operates the e-book store MangaPlaza, tells CODA that its daily sales doubled immediately following Bato’s shutdown; it’s unclear from the report how the two events are being correlated.
Source: CODA
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