A global anti-piracy coalition, led by the Japan-based Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA), is launching in April of this year. The organization will consist out of 32 members, which include Japanese publishing companies such as Kodansha, streaming giant Netflix, and the Motion Picture Association (MPAA), the Copyright Society of China, and the Korea Copyright Protection Agency. Organizations from South Korea, Vietnam, and other countries in the Southeast Asian region are also expected to join.
CODA director Masaharu Ina spoke to TorrentFreak stating that their plan was to launch around April. The goal is to be able to locate pirates, no matter where they are, and to be able to help local governments with their investigations.
The Current State of Anime and Manga Piracy
According to the same report by Nikkei Asia, piracy cost the manga industry alone in Japan roughly 800 billion yen (around US$6.95 billion) in the January-October period. This is more than the entire market for authorized publications, estimated at 600 billion yen yearly. Meanwhile, damages in the U.S. are larger, topping 1 trillion yen a year.
In addition, data from ABJ, a Tokyo-based group working against pirated content, notes that the top 10 piracy websites had about 200 million visits from Japan in the single month of December 2020 alone. This resulted in an estimated loss of more than 41.4 billion yen ($394 million) in the anime and manga industry.
Japan had started implementing stricter copyright laws in 2020. In the past few years, few notable pirate websites have been shut down. Notable examples include KissAnime and KissManga websites, both of which provided English translations of pirated content, which were shut down in 2020. Last year, Mangamura operator was convicted to 3 years in prison, after Japanese website was shut down in 2018.
About Anti-Piracy Org CODA
The organization was established in July 2013 by a group of private companies, after Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry urged them to. The objective is to fight piracy in the domestic and international manga and anime industries. Its members include Aniplex, KADOKAWA, Good Smile Inc., KODANSHA, Sunrise, SHUEISHA Inc., Shin-ei Animation, Studio Ghibli, and Sony Music Entertainment. Other members include Tezuka Productions, Toei Animation, TOMS ENTERTAINMENT, Japan Electronic Book Publishers Association, NAMCO BANDAI ARTS, Bushiroad, and Production I.G.
Recently, CODA released a promotional film alongside the Manga-Anime Guardians Project (MAGP) centered around stopping anime piracy. The film, with production from NAMCO BANDAI PICTURES Inc., has been shown in 75 movie theaters across the Kanto region. You can check out the trailer here:
“We hope that the release of this video will encourage people to learn and think about the fact that downloading pirated works is illegal, even for personal enjoyment, and that the use of pirated copies prevents the sale of legitimate content, which in turn prevents creators from earning income.”
Statement from Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA) – via Press Release
Source: Nikkei Asia, CODA Press Release
Featured Image: Police in a Pod / ©泰三子・講談社／ハコヅメ製作委員会
