Data analytics company MUSO released its 2024 report on piracy trends, estimating that while piracy as a whole is down by 5.72% from 2023, an increase in Publishing piracy, with its manga subcategory holding strong and steady, was a notable highlight.
When breaking down Publishing piracy, MUSO estimates that the “manga” subcategory accounted for 70.15%, equating to 46.57 billion visits to manga piracy websites in 2024. “Manga” was followed by the perhaps confusingly named “publishing” subcategory, which actually refers to “General publishing content spanning multiple categories,” per email correspondence with MUSO. We’ll put “publishing” in quotes to refer to the subcategory, rather than the entirety of piracy related to the broader Publishing, which includes:
- “Books” – Universal published works.
- “Web Fiction” – Written works of literature available primarily or solely online, often not published as a whole and released online in instalments (excluding Manga).
- “Manga” – Manga style of Japanese comic books and graphic novels.
- “Educational” – Educational books and research papers (commonly scientific, medical, health, and personal development) plus courses and manuals intended primarily for sale to educational markets.
- “Audiobooks” – Recording of a book or other work being read aloud.
- “Magazines & Newspapers” – Print publications issued at regular intervals.
- “Sheet Music” – Published musical notation.
- “Publishing” – General publishing content spanning multiple categories.
In total, Publishing piracy registered around 66.4 billion visits and was MUSO’s only content category to register an increase compared to 2023 (4.3%). MUSO tracks TV, Publishing, Film, Software, and Music piracy. “Manga” piracy’s share of Publishing piracy was stable over the last year despite mounting anti-piracy efforts, slightly increasing its share and actual visit count compared to 2023. You can check out the composition of Publishing piracy below.
Here’s a comparison of Publishing piracy from 2023 (via MUSO):
The United States was the world leader in Publishing piracy, followed by Indonesia. U.S. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren recently tabled a bill aimed at blocking foreign piracy websites. This is being supported by Congressman Darrell Issa, who is working on his own anti-piracy bill, as reported by Torrent Freak.
The U.S. was also the world leader in piracy generally, with a share of 12.33%. India (8.12%) and Russia (7.12%) completed the top three. Anime companies are taking notable steps to curb piracy in India. This includes Crunchyroll, which offers low-cost subscriptions and dubbing in multiple local languages, in addition to increasing awareness campaigns as Sony launches FAST (Free Ad-supported Streaming Television) channels in the region. Anime productions adapting Indian stories and mythology are also in the works. Meanwhile, legacy anime franchises like Crayon Shin-chan and Naruto have seen their first-ever film releases in India this year.
Hideo Katsumata, the president of AnimeTimes, an anime licensor, streaming service, and merch producer, recently shared the company’s efforts over the last two years to expand in India (via Gamebiz).
North America has also seen a rapid rise in FAST channels offering anime content. These act as a funnel to legitimate streaming services, introducing free titles to viewers while increasing legitimate brand recognition. HIDIVE has recently rolled out on several smart TV providers, as well as new anime channels on Pluto TV and Sling TV Freestream in May.
“Anime” piracy stood out within the breakdown of TV piracy, placing second (27.76%) behind the “films & TV shows” (60.25%) subcategory. “Anime” was almost triple “live sports” in third with 10.28%. Earlier this year, MUSO and Variety reported that anime made up eight of the top 10 most pirated TV shows as measured by Demand (a score that weights watch time, as well as social media, search engine queries, and several other metrics). The U.S. was again the world leader of TV piracy — nearly double Russia.
You can read the full report via MUSO. Headquartered in London, the company is considered a leading figure in piracy data tracking, with its data cited by rightsholders and organizations like WIPO and EUIPO.
Featured image ©Gege Akutami/Shueisha
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