Shueisha breaks silence on manga leakers arrests

Shueisha, the manga publisher behind Shonen Jump, has released a statement following the arrests of two suspected leakers in Japan.

The manga industry is expanding rapidly – and leaks are getting easier to find. Fans rarely have to wait for the official release of manga chapters, as leakers take to social media to reveal spoilers days beforehand.

Two individuals were recently arrested by police in Japan on suspicion of breaching the country’s Copyright Act. It’s believed the leakers bought early copies of WSJ from wholesale shops in Tokyo, before taking photos of raw scans of popular titles like Jujutsu Kaisen, One Piece, and Blue Lock on their phones and distributing them online.

Following the arrests and the ensuing reaction on social media, Shonen Jump’s publisher has issued a statement.

Shueisha responds to manga leakers arrests

On February 5, 2024, Shueisha issued a statement addressing the arrests, and also shared its concerns about leaks affecting the manga industry negatively

Shueisha has released a statement because of the recent arrests due to Weekly Shonen Jump leaks store owners that was selling people early and said they will keep tracking these leaks and try hard top stop it to protect authors work that they worked hard for

Leaks might be… pic.twitter.com/KJEqhUoqrX

— Pew (@pewpiece) February 5, 2024

The press release reads: “On February 4, 2024, a company manager of a corporation in Tokyo and others were arrested by the Kumamoto and Niigata Prefectural Police Joint Investigation Headquarters on suspicion of violating the Copyright Act. The suspects are suspected of having obtained and digitized our publication ‘Weekly Shonen Jump’ prior to its release date and uploaded it to a pirate site without permission, and an investigation into the source of the ‘early-barrel’ leakage is currently underway.

“The illegal uploading of manga magazines before their official release date, known as ‘early-bulletins,’ is spreading through social networking services and other means, depriving readers of the enjoyment they have come to expect from the magazine.

“The author is also very distressed, and we consider this to be an extremely serious problem. Therefore, we consider the arrest of the suspect to be a major step forward toward solving the problem, and we hope that the clarification of the ‘early exposure’ route will lead to the deterrence of future damage.

“Shueisha will continue to take all possible measures to protect the rights of authors and their works, which they have put their heart and soul into, and to ensure that readers can enjoy manga in an appropriate manner.”