The first trial of the two manga leakers who were arrested on suspicion of copyright infringement was held at the Kumamoto District Court (presided over by Judge Mikito Nakata) on May 27, 2024.

During the trial, it was revealed that a popular SNS account – DBS Hype – demanded that Tokyo-based company Japan Deal World send it leaks of popular manga titles in exchange for promoting their company.

The prosecution claimed that DBS HYPE, whose true identity remains unknown, contacted the manager on social media and made the illicit proposal.

The manager then ordered the employee to photograph the unreleased manga in the company office, which was then sent to DBS HYPE. This occurred on three occasions between January 26 and 31, 2024.

The copyrighted works in question include One piece and Jujutsu Kaisen serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump, and Blue Block serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine.

Japan Deal World manager Musa Samir and his 34-year-old employee have confessed to the charges against them.

Following the initial reports, DBS HYPE’s social media accounts were either deleted or deactivated. However, the extent of DBS HYPE’s involvement in the “early spoilers” case and whether they requested similar leaks from other sources remains unclear.

Popular leakers including Scanpeia and OPScans shut down their websites and SNS sites respectively after reports of arrests were released in February this year.

While the manager and employee face copyright infringement charges, DBS HYPE has not been charged in this case despite instigating the leaks.

Prosecutors said they did not file charges related to the public sharing of the leaked images online, although they were initially accused.

The manager and the employee, both of French nationality, were arrested on February 4, 2024.

Kumamoto Police revealed that Samir's company is involved in the business of Jump and related products and that he obtained the copy of Jump before its release to sell at his own company.

In some cases, scanned images were modified to appear as if they had not been scanned from a print magazine, but publishers confirmed that no electronic data was leaked from the publishers.

According to police, the leaked images were translated into several foreign languages, including English, and republished on several websites.

Source: Yomiuri Shimbun