Digital Manga Piracy is becoming a Serious Issue
Digital manga piracy is a massive issue in the United States. In 2023, graphic novel sales generated $1.45 billion, about half of which were manga. These sales stem from comic book shops and direct sales from publishers, Amazon and other bookstores. Manga is big business in the US, Japan, and other major markets. It is estimated that around 1300 pirated manga sites are currently in operation, and lately, there have been 100 sites popping up every month. All new and existing sites cost the industry about USD 2.4 billion in 2023 globally.
The pirate sites make copious money through advertising through Google and other ad networks. Most of the manga is made available on relatively few sites, mainly offering manga translated into English and pulling in billions of annual visits together. According to the anti-piracy group Authorized Books of Japan, “1,332 pirate sites offered pirated manga in May 2024. Figures from February reveal a total of 1,207 sites, catering to various audiences.” As broken down by ABJ, 294 sites were listed as catering to Japan, while 466 sites offered English translations.
The impact of piracy extends beyond financial losses, affecting various stakeholders, including editorial staff and readers. Publishers like Shueisha and Kodansha have intensified their anti-piracy efforts through legal action and DMCA takedowns. Additionally, these publishers have launched global apps to provide readers instant access to new content, yet piracy persists unabated.
One of the largest manga sites, Manga-Mura, was shut down last year. Seventeen titles, including “One Piece,” “Kingdom,” and “Sergeant Keroro,” were illegally uploaded to the website, which was accessed around 100 million times a month, the publishers said. From June 2017 to April 2018, Manga-Mura is estimated to have been accessed around 538 million times, with up to 73,000 comic books made available, they added.
One of the best ways to reduce the amount of digital manga piracy is to heavily advertise the ease of accessing apps to read legitimate volumes. Shonen Jump, Viz Media, Manga Up! by Square Enix Manga, Crunchyroll Manga, Mangamo and others. Remember when music piracy ran rampant for a long time? Then Apple came along and made it easy to pay, and now we have streaming audio from so many great places, primarily for free, that artists get paid. Movie piracy was also a considerable issue; now, paying a subscription to access almost everything is more accessible. I think manga piracy is the next thing that will eventually disappear.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
