Japan Uses Artificial Intelligence to Combat Piracy of Anime and Manga

Japan decided to adopt a somewhat different strategy to combat anime and manga piracy, a problem that has been causing billions in losses for this cultural industry. The country’s cultural agency announced that it will use artificial intelligence technologies to identify and combat the illegal distribution of content over the internet.

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According to the agency, currently the detection of pirated content is done manually by copyright holders, which requires a huge amount of human resources. However, due to the exponential increase in piracy, this tactic has become insufficient. There are more than thousand websites that illegally distribute mangaof which around 70% offer translations into languages ​​such as English, Chinese and Vietnamese, expanding the reach of piracy.

To face this reality, the Japanese government decided to implement a pilot project that aims to automate the identification of this content, using trained AI to locate pirated texts and images. According to Keiko Momi, representative of the cultural agency, the idea is inspired by similar solutions used in South Korea. If the project obtains good results, this technology can be expanded to also protect other sectors, such as music and cinema.

The initial investment for this project is 300 million yen (equivalent to approximately R$12 million), and is part of the cultural agency’s additional budget for the current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2025. The expectation is that , with the help of AI, it is possible to significantly improve copyright protection and, thus, reduce the impacts of piracy on one of the most important cultural industries in the country.

This initiative shows Japan’s growing concern to protect its anime and manga market, which is not only a significant source of revenue but also a fundamental part of Japanese cultural identity. Automating the detection of illegal content is seen as a necessary step to keep up with the scale and speed at which piracy proliferates on the internet.

With the implementation of this new system, Japan joins other countries that are using cutting-edge technology to protect intellectual property and ensure that cultural creation continues to be economically viable and valued. This move could set precedents for other industries affected by piracy and serve as an example of how artificial intelligence can be used proactively to address global challenges.