The Japanese government, together with 15 anime production companies and manga publishers, will target 580 websites found to be illegally uploading and sharing anime and manga starting next month.
The websites, most of which are operated in China, will be sent requests to have their anime and manga contents deleted, although there is no clear consequence presented yet if website administrators do not comply to the request.
The Cultural Affairs Ministry estimates that the anime and manga industry lost at least JP¥560 billion (about ₱280 billion) last year from pirate sites.
Aside from cracking down on pirates, the operation will launch a new website that will become a legitimate source for 250 anime and manga titles for a fee of a few hundred yen.
“We want to create a project so that anime fans overseas can enjoy Japanese content legally and without infringement worries while the profits are paid to anime production companies and publishers,” a spokesman for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.
