Otaku Culture

WEBTOON declares war on piracy

WEBTOONone of the most popular webcomics platforms in the world, which has over 170 million monthly active users, decided to step up its fight against digital piracy through a series of new legal actions taken in August. WEBTOON Entertainment, based in South Korea and a subsidiary of Naver Corporation, is known for revolutionizing the way readers around the world consume comics, offering a wide range of content in digital format ranging from romance to action and fantasy. However, the platform's exponential growth has also attracted the attention of digital pirates who operate unauthorized websites allowing users to access copyrighted content for free.

In an effort to mitigate the impact of piracy, WEBTOON is seeking to identify more than 170 pirate website operators through new subpoena requests under the Digital Age Copyright Act (DMCA). These requests were filed this month in Texas federal court, representing a significant step forward in the fight against the unauthorized distribution of digital content. As reported by Torrent Freakone of the leading news sites on digital rights, These subpoenas were sent to renowned domain registrar and content delivery service provider Cloudflare.

Cloudflare, a San Francisco-based company, is widely known for its crucial role in securing and accelerating millions of websites around the world. However, its position as an intermediary in the internet’s infrastructure also makes it a key target for companies seeking to protect their copyrights. In this case, WEBTOON’s anti-piracy partner, Remove Your Media, explained in court documents: “The purpose of the subpoena is to obtain the identity of the alleged copyright infringers who control the domains/websites listed in the subpoena. The information obtained will be used only to protect the rights granted to our client.“.

Although many operators of these sites tend to hide their identity through domain privacy services or by using false information, which reduces the effectiveness of subpoena requests, WEBTOON is determined to move forward with this strategy. Cloudflare, for its part, has stated on numerous occasions that while its primary function is to protect its customers’ infrastructure, it is willing to cooperate with rights holders when legitimate requests are made. This includes the ability to suspend or close sites that infringe copyright, especially if the domains were acquired directly through its services. Additionally, if websites are not registered directly with Cloudflare, the company can provide rights holders with the information they need to contact the relevant registrar or, in some cases, provide sensitive data such as source IP addresses, which can be crucial in tracking down infringers.

©Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts on behalf of the Federal Judiciary

Among the sites that have been the target of these subpoena requests are some of the most visited by consumers of pirated content, with millions of monthly visits. For example, asuratoon.com has 56 million monthly visits according to data from Similarweb, while mangafire.to reaches 26.6 million visitsfollowed by Bato.to with 25.2 million. Other notable sites include Mangareader.to with 10.6 million visits, mangakakalot.tv with 9.2 million, mangadex.tv with 4.8 million and mangatx.to with 6.6 millionwhich together account for more than 100 million monthly visits. These numbers show the magnitude of the problem and the reason why WEBTOON has intensified its efforts to protect its intellectual property.

In addition to legal action, rights holders seek to better understand consumer behavior towards piracy. Shueisha, one of Japan's largest manga publishers and a member of CODA, recently launched a survey through its MANGA Plus app, aiming to understand users' reading habits when it comes to legal and illegal media. This research reflects publishers’ interest in understanding why readers turn to pirated media and how they can improve the legal experience to reduce reliance on pirated sites.

The fight against digital piracy is an ongoing battle involving multiple stakeholders around the world. With its recent legal actions, WEBTOON not only seeks to protect its rights, but also to send a clear message to the operators of pirated websites: The digital entertainment industry is willing to use all resources at its disposal to protect its intellectual property and ensure that content creators receive the compensation they deserve for their work.

The full list of sites includes: