The official website of Japan’s Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA) revealed on April 21, 2023 that the anime and manga industry had lost somewhere between 1.95 to 2.20 trillion yen (between 14 to 16 billion USD) in 2022 alone owing to piracy of their content.

The study, which was conducted by PwC Consulting LLC at CODA’s request and commissioned by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry(METI), found that the damage due to piracy had increased over 5 times than the estimates from the survey that was carried out three years ago in 2019.

The damages were calculated across video, publishing, music and games, with the global market size estimated to be around 98 trillion yen in 2021.

Out of this anime industry faced damages of approximately 906.5 billion yen to 1,429.7 billion yen and the manga industry experienced losses of around 395.2 billion yen to 831.1 billion yen. The rest was split between music and gaming.

The estimated losses faced by the manga industry in 2022 is lower than the estimates made for 2021, which was calculated by ABJ after conducting a survey. The manga industry alone was said to have lost a total of 1.19 trillion yen (approximately US$8.76 billion) in 2021 as a result of illegal consumption via piracy sites.

Consumer surveys were carried out in Japan, the U.S., France, China, Brazil, and Vietnam in 2022 to gather data regarding the number of people who resorted to pirated content, the amount of pirated content consumed per person and the damages that it caused.

Based on the findings, the total volume of pirated Japanese content which was being distributed worldwide was said to be approximately 6,511.6 billion yen to 7,851.0 billion yen across all four media.

Experts were also consulted to validate the estimates of the survey.

“Considering these distribution volumes, the conversion rate to legitimate versions (the percentage of purchases made even if they were not free) from the results of a questionnaire survey conducted in the above six countries, and the results of expert hearings, the amount of damage caused by piracy was calculated to be approximately 1.95-2.20 trillion yen in 2022 for Japanese content distributed online,” CODA stated on their website.

The watchdog also said that they will continue to implement countermeasures and fight copyright infringement overseas to create an environment where legal content from Japan can thrive.

The Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA) was established in 2002 and started its activities as a voluntary organization taking countermeasures against piracy.

CODA describes itself as an organization through which contents holders and copyright-related organizations cooperate to reduce piracy around the world, and to actively promote the international distribution of Japanese content, such as music, films, animation, TV programs and video games.

While CODA was formed to counter content piracy, the organization is now expanding its enterprise in cooperation with domestic and international government agencies, industry organizations and content holders.

At the time of writing, CODA has 32 corporate members including manga and anime giants Aniplex, Kadokawa, Kodansha, Shueisha, Shogakukan, and Toei.

Source: Official Website of CODA