Webtoon Entertainment Targets More Pirate Manga Sites
In June, Webtoon Entertainment celebrated going public by ringing the closing bell at the Nasdaq exchange. While early investors haven’t yet reaped significant rewards, the company is optimistic about its future.
One of its strategies for growth includes targeting around 170 pirate site domains through a DMCA subpoena, aiming to unmask the rogue operators behind these illegal platforms.
Webtoon Entertainment, which was launched two decades ago and is partially owned by the South Korean company Naver, has established itself as one of the leading platforms for short digital comics. With millions of creators and roughly 170 million active monthly users, the company is seen as a rising success story.
Despite its potential, Webtoon’s first quarterly earnings report in August 2024 fell short of expectations. The company’s revenues remained flat compared to the previous year, disappointing many investors and causing a more than 40% drop in its stock value.
Webtoon Entertainment Targets More Pirate Manga Sites
Though Webtoon Entertainment didn’t blame piracy for its underwhelming results, it acknowledges that unauthorized distribution poses a significant challenge moving forward.
In a recent SEC filing, the company stated that the increasing spread of pirated content heightens the risk of copyright infringement. To combat this, Webtoon has been using proprietary technology to detect and prevent illegal distribution.
In an effort to identify pirate site operators, Webtoon filed a DMCA subpoena in a Texas federal court, requesting Cloudflare to reveal the personal details of the administrators of nearly 200 domains involved in the unauthorized distribution of its content. Some of the targeted sites include popular platforms like Bato.to and Mangareader.to, which attract millions of monthly visits.
Effectiveness of Subpoenas
While not a perfect solution, DMCA subpoenas have proven effective for Webtoon in the past. In 2023, the company successfully shut down 150 pirate sites following a similar legal action. Now, the expectation is that the new subpoena will yield similar results, helping to close illegal platforms and protect the company’s rights over the long term.
via Você Sabia Anime