Japan court orders Cloudflare to pay $3.2 mn over manga piracy

Tokyo: Tokyo s district court on Wednesday ordered Cloudflare to pay $3.2 million to major Japanese publishers after the US firm was accused of hostin...

Tokyo: Tokyo's district court on Wednesday ordered Cloudflare to pay $3.2 million to major Japanese publishers after the US firm was accused of hosting servers for manga piracy sites.

Piracy is a long-running problem for Japan's internationally renowned manga industry, with publishers saying they lose millions in revenue as a result.

Four major publishing firms -- Kodansha, Shueisha, Shogakukan and Kadokawa -- accused Cloudflare of copyright infringement for its role in hosting sites that distribute pirated copies of manga titles.

The companies filed a suit in Tokyo in 2022.

"The court ruling orders (Cloudflare) to pay a total of 500 million yen," they said in a joint statement, calling the decision "significant".