Japanese anime and publishing industry jointly accused China’s large-scale pirated comic website BATO.TO in September last year, causing approximately 770 billion yen (about 33.7 billion yuan) in losses to global related companies. Recently, Japanese authorities revealed that the Chinese man who operated the website has been dealt with by the Chinese public security authorities.
According to the report by Kyodo News, the “Content Overseas Distribution Promotion Organization” (CODA), joined by Japanese animation production companies and publishing houses, announced on March 6th that the operator of BATO.TO has been running pirate websites including BATO.TO since at least 2018, with about 60 websites under its umbrella. Without authorization, they translated Japanese, Korean, and Chinese animations into over 50 languages for external dissemination, causing serious impacts on the legitimate content market.
After identifying the operator, CODA submitted a criminal report to the Chinese authorities. Currently, the operator is being dealt with by local public security for suspected violation of copyright laws, and all related websites including BATO.TO were shut down in January this year. However, the report did not disclose the name of the Chinese operator.
According to CODA, BATO.TO is considered the largest pirate website globally, with estimated losses of around 770 billion yen to the global comics and content industry over the years. During peak traffic periods, the website generated over 8 million yen in monthly advertising revenue.