In short order after our update from last week, another update to an intellectual property issue found in our archives has come up. Cloudflare, having complied with Japanese courts before, now is hit with a new accusation of accountability for hosting copyright-infringing manga sites.
Cloudflare, the American internet provider, hoped it was done with Japanese manga publishers after submitting subpoenaed information on the users who made pirated manga (Japanese comic) images widely available on the Mangamura website (closed 2018). The alleged perpetrators were arrested partly thanks to Cloudflare’s disclosures to the Japanese courts. However, now four manga publishers in Japan are suing the same Cloudflare for carelessly registering Mangamura and similar pirated manga websites for Japanese users.[1]
Kodansha, Shueisha, Shogakukan, and KADOKAWA, major publishers of manga, announced at the end of January their intent to file their case against Cloudflare in the Tokyo District Court in early February.[1] While Mangamura is shut down, many similar sites are apparently taking advantage of Cloudflare’s overseas base while providing their content to users in Japan via Cloudflare’s Japanese locations.[2]
The companies claim Cloudflare should be held accountable for making the pirated content available, while Cloudflare denies that it is directly responsible for the copyright infringement.[1] The case will show how Japan’s courts view accountability of Internet hosts for what goes through their servers. A decision in favor of the manga publishers in this case could pressure businesses in Japan to rewrite user agreements and increase active monitoring of online content.
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Contact: Taro Yaguchi
Sources
[1] Akada Yasukazu. “海賊版サイトの漫画を提供、講談社など国内4社が米IT企業を提訴へ [Kodansha and other Japanese companies to sue Amerian IT company over hosting pirated manga site].” https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASQ1Y6G9WQ1YUTIL00X.html Asahi Shimbun. January 30, 2022.
[2] fickle_of_hellfire. “Japanese Publishers File Suit Against Cloudflare For Hosting Manga Piracy Sites.” https://animehunch.com/2022/01/31/4-japanese-publishers-file-suit-against-cloudflare-for-hosting-manga-piracy-sites/ February 1, 2022. Accessed February 3, 2022.
Header image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay
