On April 25, 2024, local time in Brazil, three malicious Japanese anime piracy websites were exposed in Brazil through a criminal complaint (*1) filed by a CODA member company.
The three piracy sites are “originating overseas and targeting overseas” piracy sites aimed at Japanese content, whose expanding impact has become a serious concern in recent years. The suspects implemented measures such as geo-blocking to prevent Japanese IP addresses from accessing the sites, ensuring that Japanese rights holders would not detect the infringement. Additionally, they added Portuguese subtitles to Japanese anime and made it available to Brazilian viewers, generating advertising revenue.
The recent crackdown is part of “Operation 404(*2),” a public-private partnership initiative that the Brazilian government has been continuously implementing since 2019, achieving significant results in combating piracy sites. Within this initiative, it was specifically carried out as “Operation Animes(*3)” Phase 2, focusing on cracking down on Japanese anime piracy. Phase 1 of the operation was conducted from February to March 2023, resulting in the shutdown of 36 Japanese anime piracy sites.
Regarding “Operation Anime 2”, in September 2023, three companies—Toei Animation Co., Ltd., Toho Co., Ltd., and Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc.—filed criminal complaints through CODA against multiple piracy websites infringing Japanese anime in Brazil. As a result, a total of three sites were shut down, including two sites and one related site. Investigations are still ongoing for these three sites as well as one additional site. Additionally, based on information uncovered during preliminary investigations, knock-and-talk operations were conducted starting in March 2024 against multiple site operators. As a result, three sites—animeshouse.net, animesbr.cc, and meuanime.io—along with ten related sites, totaling thirteen sites, were shut down. Ultimately, a total of 16 piracy sites were shut down as a result of CODA’s involvement.
16 sites had an average monthly traffic of approximately 21 million visits (*4). As a result of the operation, seven of the top 20 anime infringement sites in Brazil during that period were closed.
Additionally, out of the 16 domains, 11 have already been voluntarily submitted (transferred) through negotiations. Currently, access to these sites is automatically redirected to a closure notification page established by CODA. Negotiations will continue to acquire the remaining sites as well.
In “Operation Anime 2,” CODA has collaborated with the Copyright Overseas promotion Association(COA) of South Korea as part of an international partnership aimed at strengthening the effectiveness of infringement measures(*5). This operation targeted a total of eight sites, including the three sites exposed through criminal complaints by CODA member companies and five webtoon infringement sites reported by COA. The investigation was conducted through the Cyber Operations Laboratory (Ciberlab) of Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP), with coordination from Directorate of Integrated Operations and Intelligence (Diopi).
In the Latin American region, where the proliferation of Japanese content piracy sites, including the 16 sites shut down in this operation, is a significant concern, it is essential for legitimate Japanese content providers to implement measures against these piracy sites to establish a healthy market for the distribution of genuine products.
CODA will continue to work closely with local enforcement agencies and other partners to implement effective measures for content protection and the promotion of legitimate distribution abroad.
We also want fans of Japanese content to understand that viewing piracy sites or illegally uploaded videos harms the creators and rights holders who produce these works, and disrupts the content creation cycle. We hope that many fans recognize that enjoying content through legitimate means helps manga and anime continue to evolve. To achieve this, we are committed to actively promoting the creation of a healthy market abroad where legitimate content reaches fans, and we will continue to advance our efforts in this direction.
This activity was part of a project entrusted from the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry.
(translated by automatic translation system)
*1: criminal referral; A request to the local police to investigate a suspect because of a suspected crime.
*2: The public-private partnership anti-piracy operation in Brazil that began in 2019 has been named “Operation 404” by the MJSP after the “404 error (page not found),” and has so far resulted in the blocking of 2,580 sites, the removal of 747 illegal apps, and 152 raids in 20 states.
*3: News Release on “Operation Animes” by the MJSP. (Published April 26, 2024)
https://www.gov.br/mj/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/segunda-fase-da-operacao-animes-contra-pirataria-e-realizada
*4: January 2023 – March 2023 by SimilarWeb data.
*5: Reference; Intellectual property protection association, COA of Korea and Ltahub of Brazil visited CODA.
https://coda-cj.jp/en/news/348
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
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.