The leakers of Toho's Jujutsu Kaisen and Aniplex's Demon Slayer anime series have been caught after a historic US anti-piracy operation to lure and arrest the bad guys.
On August 30, 2024, a United States court ordered the disclosure of the identities of the accounts accused of leaking anime on X (formerly Twitter) for the first time after a successful effort by Aniplex and Toho. Through the @MangaAlerts thread on X, these 12 accounts were revealed, with a detailed look at how the accounts were identified. The filing explains the nature of how an episode is released, with episodes having both a TV release date and a streaming release date. The streaming time usually occurs after the TV broadcast, with the copyright holder stating that an episode intended for streaming should never be released before its intended time, even if the TV version has already aired.
12 people accused of leaking anime ordered to reveal identities by US court
To catch accounts leaking episodes ahead of their scheduled streaming times, Aniplex and Toho provided episodes with fake staff information in the expectation that a bad actor would leak the episodes online. Just before the scheduled TV and streaming times, they then sent out the correct versions for broadcast instead. Copyright holders can therefore confirm whether an account is using a leaked version by monitoring social media for images with incorrect staff information posted ahead of time. Hidden watermarks are also placed on the streaming version, which can be identified by brightening the image. If screenshots of the streaming version are posted on social media ahead of time, these can be identified, indicating a possible copyright violation.
Anime titles Demon Slayer (produced by Aniplex) and Jujutsu Kaisen (Toho) were used as bait for the leak accounts. Subsequent episodes from other anime series have also been confirmed to be under investigation. Twelve alleged accounts have been named, some of which have attracted much discussion on social media due to their positive reputations in the anime community. The accounts are “WERLeaks”, “msthshra”, “\IDuckyx”, “Nakayasee”, “knyesta”, “SaaraAdam21”, “Snowz7x”, “seveninone71”, “jobisky”, “SinzsSzn2”, “Root25257968” and “mamutchiq2030”. All have been summoned for identification for alleged copyright infringement. It should be noted that while the evidence clearly shows that the above accounts shared leaked images from the episodes, it is not certain what their intention was in doing so due to the fast-spreading nature of social media.
The moves by Toho and Aniplex are just the latest in a widespread effort to curb piracy. Both companies are members of CODA (Content Overseas Distribution Association), a group closely aligned with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPA) that includes Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros., and many others. CODA recently announced the results of the second phase of its international “Operation Animes” in Brazil, where 16 sites with over 100 million monthly visits were shut down and their operators arrested. Anime leaks continue to be a major problem, with Netflix suffering one of its worst anime leaks in history last month following a hack at post-production company Iyuno.
Source: MangaAlerts via X (formerly Twitter)
