Back in March, Japanese politicians proposed an amendment to the anti-online piracy law that would extend its demarcation from audio and video to mangas and magazines. Well, recently the measure moved forward and now starting January 1st, 2021 you will be punished if you’re caught illegally downloading copyrighted manga in Japan.
Sankaku Complex picked up the news from over on Nikkei, where they reported that starting October 1st, 2020, piracy sites hosting unlicensed copies of manga or magazines without permission will be subject to judicial penalties and/or criminal charges.
Such penalties include up to ¥2 million in fines or up to two years of jail time if found guilty of illegally downloading copyrighted material. Those who host pirate sites containing cpoyrighted manga, videos, or audio, can face up to five years in prison and fines of up to ¥5 million. Depending on the severity of the charges, culprits may find themselves having to face both jail time and massive fines.
The only caveat to the updated law is that derivative works such as parodies, satire, and original doujins will be exempt.
Even still, many pirate sites that used to host such material will have to close up shop in Japan. Those who visit such sites from outside of Japan won’t be affected, but those in Japan most certainly will.
This comes after a tumultuous 2019 where various websites, YouTubers, and even hentai outlets were aggressively badgered by Japanese rights holders, resulting in lots of DMCA takedowns that crippled various sites for some time. That being said, while visitors outside of Japan may not be as affected by these laws as those living in the region, anyone operating websites that host pirated material that belongs to Japanese rights holders may end up having to deal with the same kind of DMCA bullying that plagued various non-Japanese sites in 2019.
(Thanks for the news tip P69 All Lolis are Queens)