ALBAWABA - The Anime and Manga industries are facing substantial financial losses as a result of piracy, with the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs estimating that the yearly damages caused by piracy amount to around 2 trillion yen, which is equivalent to approximately $13.4 billion USD, according to NHK.
In the year 2023 alone, the manga industry estimated losses that exceeded $3.5 billion caused by the distribution of titles without licensing.
In response, Japan is creating a system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to identify and target pirate websites, funded by a 300 million yen (about $2 million USD) investment from the fiscal year's supplemental budget, AFP reports.
To identify pirate sites, the AI system will examine content trends, ads, and website design. Additionally, it will employ image recognition technology to detect instances of unapproved usage of manga and anime that publishers release.
As soon as it detects illegally hosted content, the system will make it easier for rights holders to submit takedown requests, helping to streamline the process and safeguard intellectual property in an efficient manner.
“Manually detecting piracy sites is labor-intensive and limited in scope,” the agency commented, adding “By building a more effective countermeasure, we aim to reduce piracy sites and enhance the protection of rights holders,” according to AnimeHunch.
This program is a component of a broader government policy to boost Japan's creative industries' competitiveness abroad, the revised "Cool Japan" plan aims to increase cultural product exports, including manga and anime, to 20 trillion yen by 2033.
