Russian manga pirate scandal: publishers sued and state censorship tightened

Pirate manga platforms face legal action in Russia

After ignoring complaints from a new manga platform established in Russia by South Korea, manga piracy site ReManga is set to face legal action. With around 18 million visits a month, ReManga is certainly popular, but copyright disputes aren't the only threat. The rise of state censorship means that both illegal and legal platforms are likely to face potential blocking by their ISPs.

Significant rise in manga consumption

Since Russia's invasion of the Ukraine in February 2022, discussion of copyright protection in Russia has tended towards chaos. Enforcement measures seem to have taken a back seat, as Hollywood and other major rights holders are still not releasing entertainment products in the region. However, there are a few exceptions.

It would appear that Russians are losing interest in comics produced by American companies such as Marvel, while the appetite for Asian manga produced by companies in Japan, South Korea and China is rising sharply. According to Yandex.market, consumption has increased by 20% in annual terms, representing an opportunity for South Korean manga producers to expand their business in Russia, avoiding competition from pirates.

Manga companies target pirate manga sites

Manga platform "My Comics" was launched in November 2022 by South Korean company MStoryLink. A Kommersant report published on Monday reveals that, with the support of South Korea's state-controlled creative content agency (KOCCA), My Comics is preparing to sue ReManga, a major manga piracy site focused on the Russian market.

KOCCA's representative in Russia, Kim Si-Woo, says that My Comics sent letters to several platforms last year requesting the removal of unauthorized manga, but that this was only partially effective.

"Most of them have deleted them, but ReManga continues to ignore the letter, which hurts Moi Comics' business in Russia," says Kim Si-Woo.

Manga sites face two attack vectors

ReManga is one of the most popular pirate manga sites in Russia. According to SimilarWeb data, it currently enjoys around 17.8 million visits per month, of which 71% are from Russia.

The platform has already appeared three times on Russia's "register of prohibited information", the last entry dating back to 2021 and attributed to Roscomnadzor, the telecommunications regulatory body. The exact reasons for these entries are unclear, but there's no doubt that recent legislative changes present clear risks for piracy sites and their legal counterparts, including My Comics.

Manga content subject to legal restrictions

In December 2022, Vladimir Putin signed a new law banning, among other things, "LGBT propaganda". Manga site Yaoilib.me was one of the first victims, and its permanent blocking is detailed on RuBlacklist, a portal run by digital rights group Roskomsvoboda.

The site was blocked by Rosmolodezh, the Russian Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, for spreading "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations". It wouldn't be the last manga site to suffer this fate. In March, Mangapoisk.ru was permanently blocked, and two months later, Mangapoisk.com was added to the list. On September 21, Mangapoisk.org appeared six times on the "prohibited information" list and is now blocked.

Other manga sites blocked in Russia this month include MangaHub (3.6 million visits per month) and MintManga (11 million), but problems with Russian legislation don't just concern piracy sites.

The Russian anime encyclopedia "Shikimori" was blocked on September 21. Platforms like this allow anime fans to learn more about the genre, helping them to make informed purchases. If this kind of resource can disappear overnight, market growth in Russia can suddenly be hampered. Even Yandex may be punished after being fined for listing films containing "LGBT people" without displaying adult age restrictions.

My Comics and KOCCA seem ready to ignore this threat, even if it is directly linked to discrimination against minorities. Russia's actions in Ukraine and elsewhere also seem to be causing limited concern, so for the moment at least, manga sales remain a priority.