On April 19-21, 2024, CODA, with the cooperation of JETRO, conducted a three-day site visit to Mumbai, India, with CODA member companies.
This was made possible through the participation of nine members from six member companies, who were invited to participate in the site visit after receiving a great response from member companies when JETRO gave a lecture titled “The Growing Popularity of Japanese Content in India and Future Prospects” at the Legal System Committee meeting of CODA held in January 2024. CODA and JETRO staff also participated in the site visit.
Mumbai is the center of Indian entertainment, including the Indian film industry Bollywood, and is a key city for the distribution of Indian content, with numerous animation studios located in the city.
Comic-Con, an exhibition of comics and movies, is held annually in several Indian cities, including Delhi and Hyderabad. This time we were able to visit the Mumbai Comic Con 2024 held in Mumbai. The Comic-Con venue was filled with Japanese anime in every nook and cranny, and numerous enthusiastic fans.
On the other hand, at the Comic-Con venue and at malls in Mumbai, while some legitimate content was sold, the number was quite small, and we observed many sales of content that appeared to be counterfeit.
At an exchange meeting with fans held on the same day, seven local fans of Japanese animation participated and spoke enthusiastically about its appeal. In addition, they showed a great understanding of the need for measures against pirate sites and counterfeit products. “I would like to see more legitimate content delivered to the market. There are many people in India who want to support content,” and we gained valuable information on the importance of promoting legitimate distribution.
In addition, we visited the Mumbai office of Crunchyroll, an animation distribution company, and AnimationXpress, an animation portal site, to hear about the potential of the Indian market, the current status of legitimate business, and the situation of infringement and how to respond to it. During the company visit, the participants were introduced to the fact that a large portion of the population in India is young, that there is an atmosphere of yearning among young people to be interested in Japanese animation, and that the market is expected to expand significantly. Many questions were asked by the participating Japanese companies, providing an opportunity for a lively exchange of ideas.
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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.