The internet is certainly upset as it appears that manga publisher Shueisha is issuing a barrage of copyright strikes to any and all streamers and reviewers that are reviewing their manga. One YouTuber claimed that all of their reviews are being taken down due to copyright claims from Shueisha.
So far, the list of strikes are targeting the following series: One Piece, Bleach, Jujustu Kaisen, Haikyuu!!, Food Wars, Dr Stone, Saiki K, Demon Slayer), Death Note, Kuroko’s Basketball, Boku no Hero Academia, Naruto, Boruto, Dragon Ball, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, and Black Clover.
Of course, this is just the list that’s being given and many other titles not listed could also be targeted.
One Twitter user claimed that they are even striking Twitter accounts for linking to their reviews. One even claimed they received a strike on their account for a profile picture depicting a Shueisha character (they have since removed the profile picture)
To take matters a step further, Twitter user fenyo_n also received a copyright strike. The irony? He is an official artist hired and paid by Shueisha to work on mobile game titles such as Dragon Ball Dokkan Battle and Dragon Ball Legends.
As of now, Shueisha has not put out a statement for the reasons behind the strikes.
For transparency as a website, we here at The Outerhaven have a partnership with VIZ Media, a company under the umbrella of Shueisha, and are provided copies of manga for review. So far, we have not had any communication from VIZ or its parent company about whether or not our reviews violate any sort of DMCA or copyright. Should the issue arise, we will work with VIZ to resolve any and all issues. Until then, we will continue to review those titles as we have had for the past six years, unless we are told otherwise.
