The Manga-Anime Guardians (M.A.G), a public awareness project by the Manga-Anime Anti-Piracy Committee*, for which CODA serves as the secretariat, exhibited at “New York Comic Con (NYCC) 2023”, held for four days from October 12, 2023, at the Javits Center in New York, USA.
NYCC is the largest pop culture event in the U.S. and has been held annually since 2006. During the event, panel discussions are given on a variety of topics, including comics, graphic novels, games, animation, movies, and TV shows. More than 250,000 pop culture fans from around the world visit the event each year, and this year’s NYCC was a great success, attracting numerous visitors.
The purpose of M.A.G.’s was to spread the ” STOP! PIRACY” message to overseas content fans. The piracy problem has become more and more serious due to the growing damage caused by the stay-at-home demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We exhibited the poster of “STOP! PIRACY”, the panel and booklet of the original manga of “STOP! PIRACY” featuring SGT. FROG and others, para-para manga animation of the original manga of “STOP! PIRACY”, a life-size panel of Deku, the main character from the anime “My Hero Academia,” and the “Manga x Vaundy ‘Thank You'” video produced by ABJ. The large number of visitors to the M.A.G booth reaffirmed the high level of enthusiasm and expectations for Japanese content from content fans in the U.S. and around the world.
Visitors said it was the first time they had seen a booth for an awareness campaign at NYCC, and overseas creators thanked M.A.G for its steady efforts and they called out the slogan “STOP! PIRACY” together, making it a very valuable opportunity to share “STOP! PIRACY” awareness with content fans from around the world.
The M.A.G. Project’s main focus is to promote and educate the public in order to eliminate piracy from the market, thereby creating a favorable environment for legitimate content to be fairly compensated and, as a result, the creation of new works to be fostered. We would like more people to recognize that manga and anime will evolve further when many fans enjoy the content correctly. We will continue our activities in the hope that the demand for pirated content will decrease as legitimate content reaches fans, fostering a healthy promotion of legitimate distribution.
This awareness-raising activity was conducted as part of a project commissioned by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
(translated by automatic translation system)
*The Manga-Anime Anti-Piracy Committee
The Manga-Anime Anti-Piracy Committee was established in July 2013 by a group of private companies that agreed with the call from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, transcending industry boundaries to fight against piracy in the manga and animation industries in Japan and abroad. The Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA) serves as the committee’s secretariat.
Operation Entities: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA)
Committee Member Companies and Organizations: Aniplex Inc./KADOKAWA CORPORATION/Good Smile Company, Inc./Hakusensha/KODANSHA LTD. /SHUEISHA INC./SHOGAKUKAN Inc./Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions Co., Ltd./Shin-ei Animation Co., Ltd./STUDIO GHIBLI INC./Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc./Tezuka Productions Co., Ltd./TOEI ANIMATION CO., LTD./TMS ENTERTAINMENT CO., LTD./The Electronic Book Publishers Association of Japan/ Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc./Bushiroad Inc./Production I.G., Inc./The Association of Japanese Animations
■The original manga of “STOP! PIRACY”
https://coda-cj.jp/en/enlightenment/manga/
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About CODA
CODA (Content Overseas Distribution Association) was established in 2002 at the call of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Agency for Cultural Affairs to promote the overseas development of Japanese content and take anti-piracy measures. Japan’s proud content, including music, movies, anime, broadcast programs, video games, and publishing, plays an important role in enhancing the nation’s international presence and economic growth. As digital technology becomes more widespread, it is even more significant to protect Japan’s content from increasingly artful copyright infringement and promote the content industry’s development. CODA contributes to the deterrence and detection of online and other piracy, by sharing knowledge with relevant government agencies, organizations, and companies in Japan and abroad, to engage in direct and indirect anti-piracy measures, as well as public relations activities. Visit https://coda-cj.jp/en/activity/ for more information on CODA’s projects.