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Court orders ex-head of illegal manga site to pay ¥1.7 bil

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> The website was established in February 2016 at the latest, and before its closure in April 2018 it was accessed some 537 million times, according to the ruling and other sources.

> sought damages totaling about 1.9 billion yen, with Shogakukan claiming losses of about 1 billion yen and Kadokawa and Shueisha around 400 million yen, respectively.

That doesn't mean, those reader would willing to pay that amount. If there's price tag they would avoid that content. So far Japanese publishers just don't have any attempt to make it affordable and accessible.

0 ( +8 / -8 )

unconvinced and no regrets for piracy and destroying countless creators and authors to earn a honest living. Now there is a man who is unrepentant and still doesn’t understand what he done isn’t right.

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

Three big things to remember about living in Japan:

First, don't wear shoes in the house.

Second, don't be involved in drugs. They don't tolerate it, as well they shouldn't.

And last but not least, don't mess with anyone's manga. It's almost like a state religion here.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

Atsushi Ito, a Shueisha executive, told a press conference, "Following the trial of Manga-Mura, (other) pirate manga sites for Japanese people that have operators in Japan have almost disappeared."

Who are the actual thieves of the livelihoods of manga artists has been very apparent for quite a while.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/business/japan-anime.html

Funny how the J-courts will not address that.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Excellent, well done..

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Three big things to remember about living in Japan:

First, don't wear shoes in the house.

Second, don't be involved in drugs. They don't tolerate it, as well they shouldn't.

And last but not least, don't mess with anyone's manga. It's almost like a state religion here.

Well said..

And this is why I love my Japan..

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

Now they have to go and sue all HardOff and second hand book shops for the kids are reading manga there without buying. And the resell price is lower on top of that.

Not saying hosting pirate site is harmless - they should make example of him I agree. But the sum asked is unrealistic.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

unconvinced and no regrets for piracy and destroying countless creators and authors to earn a honest living. Now there is a man who is unrepentant and still doesn’t understand what he done isn’t right.

And these publishers will use that money to pay a decent wage to their manga artists, right?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Aren't there plenty of legal ways to read manga for free? The library? And very cheap alternatives... Onsen, manga cafes. What about second hand book shops. People are always going to go for the easiest and cheapest option to get their media. The smart thing to do would have been to acquire the site and start offering a subscription service.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

When it is someone stealing from "big business" in Japan they levy sizeable fines but when it is a person suing "big business" the numbers are paltry. So there is no major reason for "big business" to worry about the people since they are not equally represented.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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