Cartoon and Anime Piracy In recent years, many popular platforms have been hit hard, with many being shut down or simply 'frozen' for months due to out-of-court requests, legal requests or official crackdown operations. Bato.to, 9anime, and AnimeHeaven are just a few examples of platforms that have been targeted or shut down. Nowadays, there are many official ways to watch or read series, such as Crunchyroll, MANGAPLUS, Netflix, etc., but many fans still watch shows like: one piece or Do a jujutsu On an unofficial site.
One of the biggest comics collectors mangadexNow, despite having a lot of unofficial content on the platform (often linked to official sources), it seems to be adjusting its operations to survive. MangaDex is a non-profit platform primarily known for hosting unlicensed/pirated content, but it also hosts officially licensed series (often uploaded by independent artists or platforms). It is important to note that the content on the website is uploaded by a third party (often the Scanlater Group) and not by the platform management team. Recent news has raised concerns among fans that MangaDex could “turn to Crunchyroll” and turn into a commercial website.
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WHAT HAPPENED TO MANGADEX?
Over the past few days, Mangadex has been at the center of heated discussion with its decision to 'legalize'. Although this topic has only recently emerged, the process has been going on for some time. In fact, the platform will begin to evolve into a more “professional” platform starting in May 2025.
It all started after May 14, 2025. That was the day MangaDex received hundreds of DMCA takedown requests. According to the report, many are from Comeso, the same company that represents multiple publishers, but others are submitted by other representatives or directly by the publishers themselves. In any case, the timing of the request made it seem like an orchestrated move. MangaDex complied, as usual, by removing over 800 titles from its database.
Following a massive takedown, MangaDex announced that it would hand over management to NamiComi, a UK-based platform for creators to post their works. The company had been working with MangaDex even before the event. All comics published on NamiComi are mirrored through MangaDex for increased visibility, meaning the two companies already have a close relationship. Anyway, according to the FAQ, NamiComi began providing legal support to MangaDex after the takedown.
The recent closure of various aggregators has accelerated MangaDex's growth. Historically, we received a small number of takedown requests, but the number has grown to the point where we can no longer handle them on our own. NamiComi has the legal framework needed to move forward and ensure the long-term sustainability of MangaDex.
It is therefore likely that NamiComi was involved in MangaDex's decision to remove several titles earlier this year to comply with laws (likely UK laws) regarding the depiction of young children in sexual settings. This sparked controversy among readers, with many seeing it as censorship. On the other hand, if you refuse to comply with such laws, your platform may be shut down.
Does this mean MangaDex is going ‘Crunchyroll’?
As news about MangaDex, now managed by NamiComi, has spread over the past few weeks, many have taken it as a sign that the platform is “going Crunchyroll” – that is, not a piracy platform (since Crunchyroll was a pirate streaming website before turning into a legal streaming service over a decade ago).
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However, the platform itself rejects claims of “being Crunchyroll.” According to MangaDex, although they have handed over custody to NamiComi, they have not “sold” their domains to the company and aim to remain legally compliant. They claim to uphold the ideal of accessible content and criticize what they call “harsh monetization features.” That is, although they claim to stick to their original intent, they acknowledge that the law must be followed for the website to continue to function.
Considering that Namikomi has been managing this site for about a year and that there have been no major changes in policy or operation, MangaDex doesn't really seem to be aiming to be a paid platform or anything like that.. So it looks like it will remain non-profit, at least for the time being.
Is this the end of comics piracy?
This may not mean the end of MangaDex, and the platform has long maintained that its ethics are driven by the belief that content should be accessible, but piracy remains illegal in most countries around the world. As a result, the website will always comply with DMCA takedown notices, as previously mentioned. Therefore, if MANGADEX aims to comply with the law, its operations may ultimately be disrupted, no matter how hard it tries to avoid it.
The large-scale takedowns and recent removal of content depicting minors in sexual contexts show growing pressure from companies and governments around the world as they work together to crack down on digital piracy platforms. It also suggests that websites may be shut down not because of anti-piracy laws, but because of minor protections or other similar laws, which suggests that websites will have to deal with new problems.
If MangaDex has to remove too much content due to DMCA and copyright laws, users will become frustrated with the platform's limitations. All of this indicates that digital piracy is moving into new forms of operation. With many websites shut down due to anti-piracy operations or other legal requests, many groups are moving to “private” operations on messaging platforms like Telegram or Discord. Here, content is only available to users who have joined the group or server, making it harder for regulators to track and turning piracy into a less 'public' act.
While this kind of 'private piracy' has been going on for some time already in some countries, this operating model is now likely to spread throughout other countries and eventually become a major form of digital piracy, with torrent aggregation websites being harder to shut down because they simply aggregate torrents uploaded by others. Torrent downloading is only possible when multiple users seed content into specific software, making it more difficult to prove that a torrent platform is responsible for sharing unlicensed content (uploaders are often careful not to reveal their identities).
Anyway, why is this huge news?
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MangaDex is not “Crunchyroll”.
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Large DMCA requests may signal a larger problem.
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Currently, MangaDex is trying to remain operational.
This isn't the end of MangaDex, at least not for now, but it's still big news. MangaDex has generally protected itself from anti-piracy measures due to its ethics of not monetizing its content. Most companies target websites or platforms that profit from unlicensed content through advertising or other forms of monetization.
They often point out how much money piracy platforms make by selling advertising space on their websites. Because these platforms tend to have high traffic, you can make a lot of money even if only a few users click on your ads. Because MangaDex has never monetized its content or platform, many readers see it as a sort of last line in the 'piracy as accessibility' ideology, which many fans and scanlaters also believe. Businesses have likely avoided website targeting for fear that their websites will look bad to their readers.
Nonetheless, the May 2025 takedown suggests that even MangaDex's ethic of providing free content may not be enough to continue operations. As previously mentioned, under most copyright laws, authors are not obligated to accept their work distributed without a license, even on websites that do not charge a fee or monetize user access. Unlicensed content is technically illegal, and authors (or other IP owners) can request removal if they do not consent to their work being shared.
Strengthening crackdown on piracy
As previously mentioned, there has been a surge in anti-piracy activity over the past few years as companies increase their collaboration with governments around the world. Initially, crackdowns were mainly focused on developed countries with strong entertainment industries to curb digital piracy.
However, in recent years, emerging countries have also begun targeting pirate operators within their borders (often at the behest of other countries and companies). Last January, Bato.to, one of the largest comics piracy sites, was shut down in a joint effort between Japan and China. Countries like Brazil and Vietnam have also stepped up crackdowns on piracy in the past few months.
Most Japanese publishers, studios, and production companies have joined forces to combat piracy of Japanese content. CODA (Content Overseas Distribution Association) was founded in 2002, but has established itself as a significant global player since 2013. CODA's goal is to promote Japanese content globally, and anti-piracy efforts are also part of this mission, according to its website. Although CODA is not always directly involved in crackdowns, it often sends takedown requests and cooperates in crackdown efforts on pirate comics and anime platforms.
Surprisingly, the platform receiving the most CODA requests is not a dedicated piracy site, but rather Facebook, with over 176,000 notifications. According to TorrentFreak, social media platforms typically comply with takedown requests, while piracy sites tend to ignore them.
Although MangaDex is not currently commercially available, it seems to be facing increasing challenges in maintaining operations.
