by CODA (General Incorporated Association Content Overseas Distribution Promotion Organization) announced on March 28 that the Chinese authorities exposed the operator of the pirated anime distribution site “B9GOOD” for Japanese people. Those involved are expected to be prosecuted.
CODA (General Incorporated Association Content Overseas Distribution Promotion Organization) announced on March 28 that the Chinese authorities exposed the operator of the pirated anime distribution site “B9GOOD” for Japanese people. The site is already closed. Those involved are expected to be indicted and face criminal trials. CODA responds to requests from six companies, including Aniplex B9GOOD is one of the largest pirated anime distribution sites for Japanese people operating in China. According to the web analysis tool “SimilarWeb,” it was accessed more than 300 million times in the two years from March 2021 to February 2023.
At the request of six Japanese anime-related companies (Aniplex, Toei Animation, Toho, Bandai Namco Film Works, TV Tokyo, and NHK), CODA filed a complaint against B9GOOD with relevant Chinese organizations on behalf of the parties concerned. From February 14 to March 21, the Public Security Bureau of Jiangsu Province, China, detained those involved and searched their homes.
An operator is a man who lives in Chongqing, and it is believed that he made a profit of 6 million to 7 million yuan (approximately 120 million to 140 million yen) from distributing pirated content. In addition, two women who uploaded pirated content at the operator’s request and a man who earned advertising expenses by linking to another pirated content distribution server from B9GOOD are also being searched and questioned.
The suspects will be prosecuted in China at a later date. CODA will continue to investigate alternative sites for the closed B9GOOD. CODA is a private organization established at the request of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Agency for Cultural Affairs as an organization for content holders to work together to take countermeasures against piracy to promote the active overseas expansion of Japanese content. We are working on monitoring and requesting the deletion of content uploaded without the rights holder’s permission and publicity and enlightenment activities on intellectual property rights.
