Those accused of conspiracy in the Mangamura digital pirated manga website are being brought to justice (at least for many, it seems so) under the Copyright Act of Japan (see a recent related article here), one by one.
Adachi Wataru, who had not commented on initial charges by the Fukuoka District Court, later admitted on November 6 to charges to overseeing the uploading and publishing of two separate manga series on Mangamura.
More recently, the Fukuoka police re-arrested former manager of Mangamura’s website, Hoshino Romi, under the Act for Punishment of Organized Crime. Specifically, Hoshino is accused of using a Taiwanese bank account (made using a fake organizational name) to hide Mangamura advertisement revenue (about US$440,000 between December 2016 and September 2017). This may be the first time Japanese courts consider advertisement revenue from pirated materials as criminal proceeds liable to prosecution under organized crime law, say the police.
The Fukuoka and other justice departments are working hard to rid Japan of pirated goods and materials, as seen in the government campaigns appealing to Japanese desires to fit in with peers. Japan’s public face as it prepares for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics needs to be one of secure and advanced innovation. Ironically, the reluctance of many Japanese manga publishers to make manga digitally available has nurtured the great black market for pirated copyrighted materials. Will the severe crackdown on Mangamura serve or hurt the manga industry?
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Taro Yaguchi
Sources
Yomiuri Shimbun, “「漫画村」の広告収入を犯罪収益と認定、元運営者を再逮捕 [Advertisement income from Mangamura deemed to be criminal proceeds; former manager arrested again]”https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20191209-OYT1T50040/, December 9, 2019, accessed December 10, 2019.
Tomohashi Satsuki(?), “「漫画村」指示役とみられる男、一転して起訴内容認める [Man believed to be leader of Mangamura does about-face and accepts charges],”
Asahi Shimbun, https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASMC65HRRMC6TIPE02X.html?iref=pc_rellink_01, November 6, 2019, accessed December 10, 2019.
