Anime piracy has been a thing for decades now, and the multimedia industry has been in a constant battle against pirating sites. It’s not just anime either, as companies like Naver WEBTOON have also been fighting against webcomic and manga pirating sites as well, taking down multiple sites within the past year.
Now, the multimedia industry is taking a new approach: internet service providers.
A lawsuit involving Universal Music Group, Capitol Records, and Texas-based Grande Communications seeks to determine whether or not multimedia companies can force an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to disconnect its users if they are found to be engaging in anime piracy activities.
ISPs are, generally, neutral in the matter of piracy. After all, their biggest defense is that they simply provide the consumer with internet access and are not responsible for what the end user does with that service. Despite that, Grande Communications has ignored several copyright infringement complaints, which forced the lawsuit. They also refused to terminate users who are believed to have violated copyright law. The lawsuit defines this lack of action as contributory copyright infringement.
Grande isn’t backing down from this challenge as they are seeking elevation of the case all the way to the Supreme Court. They are questioning whether ISPs should be punished simply for not cutting off users after the ISP has received copyright infringement notifications. Multimedia companies are claiming that not responding to the infringement notifications places the ISP in a state where they are assisting with piracy.
In the end, anime fans should pay close attention to this case. Should the courts side with Universal Media Group/Capitol Records, then this could open the doors for other companies, such as Sony Music, which holds a massive stake in the multimedia side of the anime industry, to follow suit. This means ISPs could, under a new law, forcefully deny you access to the internet should you be found guilty of engaging in anime piracy.
Anime won’t be the only medium to fall under new protections if this new form of piracy combat succeeds. Every form of digital multimedia will be affected.
Source: Anime Senpai
