Animehouse

As news websites and Twitter accounts (most recently finding traction with ManagAlerts) alike have been spreading about the last few months, Aniplex Inc. and Toho Co. have been engaged with the United States District Court, Northern District Court of California to form a lawsuit against several accounts on Twitter which posted anime leaks for Demon Slayer Season 4 and Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 during Summer 2023. With the latest application to authorize discovery for a foreign proceeding resulting in success, the two companies face down a monumental step forward in combating leaks through social media platforms. Additionally, the court documents provide insight into how this case has been formed, how the companies have discovered and traced anime leaks, and what the end goal of this landmark case will be.

A Brief Timeline

Arriving at the point of uncovering the identities of several Twitter users has required months of preparation, which originally started on June 10^th 2024 in where they originally filed. Through some ups and downs, the case was assigned to a magistrate judge the next day but was quickly replaced by migrating to a randomly assigned district judge. With plenty to organize, the case next finds progress on July 1^st where the case management conference is announced for August 22^nd, and a motion hearing is scheduled for October ^1st. An interesting tidbit however is that Aniplex and Toho initially missed the deadline for providing their joint case management statement, prompting the judge to order the statement delivered by August 19^th – this does not affect the date of the motion hearing, but the pair of companies take until the last minute to provide their case management statement. Barring some more legal back and forth, it’s not until August 20^th that Aniplex and Toho make progress again, having their petition to identify the users of certain accounts signed. Following this, and arriving at the most recent happenings on September 10^th, Aniplex and Toho have their application signed to pursue the identities of said users.

Why A US District Court for Japanese Anime Leaks?

Considering the nature of the anime leaks, and the fact that Aniplex of America is not representing Aniplex Inc. here, the question is rather valid. Thankfully, the documents and filings give a simple answer- the limitations of Japanese law. The court documents state the following as to why these two companies started their legal pursuit in the US:

However, in order to file a civil lawsuit in Japan, the true identity of a
defendant is necessary, because Japanese law does not allow for lawsuits to be filed
against anonymous persons.

Hiroyuki Nakajima

Named Accounts and Methods of Discovery

With the foundations of the suit explained, it’s time to get to the “fun” part of discussing legal documents- the individuals named, and how they were discovered and/or proven to infringe upon the copyrights and ownership of Aniplex and Toho property. In total, the case names a dozen accounts, but in Toho’s section they identify a 13^th account. This could mean that Toho will pursue them in the future, or that it was an unintentional mistake in the naming of the original dozen, which are named below:

@WERLeaks, @msthshra, @\IDuckyx, @Nakaysee, @kynesta, @SaaraAdam21, @Snowz7x, @seveninone71, @jobisky, @SinzsSzn2, @Root25257968, @mamutchiq2030

Regardless, the methodology for both Aniplex and Toho is rather simple. First, follow a series of official and anime leak accounts. Second, monitor the accounts for potential leaks and then preserve as information. Of course, there’s more in-between than just that… for Aniplex. In the case of Toho, despite employing their legal division for the monitoring of anime leaks, their methodology is explained as “if an account posted an image or video before broadcast, then it’s a leak”. It’s not inherently incorrect by any means, but it’s a far less detailed approach.

In the hands of Aniplex, while they express a similar “if it’s early, it’s a leak” idea, they also employ better methods for tracking origin. For example, in the case of broadcast television, Aniplex can deliver erroneous credits for a given broadcast which they then provide a fix for closer to the release of the episode. If a user posts the incorrect credits online, it is then clear that they were using a leak that comes from a TV broadcast. For streaming, Aniplex employs the use of “markers” (small circles only visible when the image is brightened) hidden in the image to denote its origin from a given service. With the context of the latter, it servers as a great reminder to all viewers alike that tracking source or origin is a very simple thing to do in the digital age.

Possibilities and Next Steps

While the above puts twelve accounts directly in the crosshairs of judicial consequences, there is still a long road ahead for what should end up a landmark case in anime leaks. One of the first “buts” to arise is the fact that most of these accounts are not the primary distributors of the leaked content. Similarly, many may be concerned about how much of this case hinges on the content displayed on Twitter, rather than the content possessed by the accounts. Both are valid concerns, but both are also easily explained.

In the case of the latter, beginning with the most public platform makes it the easiest for Aniplex and Toho to legally engage with anime leaks and discern possible avenues for their distribution to accounts such as the ones named here. For the former, fully “stopping” leaks like these will eternally be a game of cat and mouse- there’s no two ways about it. The difference being that if Aniplex and Toho can see this case through to a successful completion- which includes receiving compensations for damages as well as a court order to halt leaking- it establishes both a precedent and a deterrent. A successful trial here ensures that other Japanese anime production companies can take down their respective anime leaks, and with concrete legal consequences hanging over the heads of all leakers, it would make for a hard time for leakers to justify much further leaking. Because of that, it’s hard not to cheer for such an important step forward for improving the broader anime communities online.

In addition, all information is available (though not for free) through Pacer. This post was also inspired by MangaAlerts’ thread, which is equally a great read for its step by step walk through of the most recent court documents. It should also be made explicit that the content of Possibilities and Next Steps is purely my own opinion and has no relation to the objective content derived from the available court documents.