Over the past year, pirated anime sites have been taken down by copyright lawsuits from well-known studios. Platforms like AnimeFenix , Anitaku , and GogoAnime have shut down while legal services, like Crunchyroll and Disney+ , continue to grow with anime's popularity.
However, just like the Hydra metaphor, “ cut off one head and two more will emerge ”. According to a new report, an anime piracy website has achieved impressive numbers, even surpassing streaming giants like Disney+ and Crunchyroll.
According to the Torrent Freak , the “HiAnime” website received more than 330 million visitors in November last year. These numbers put the site ahead of platforms like Disney+ and Crunchyroll in online traffic, although they still fall below services like Hulu. It is worth noting that this data does not include use on TVs and video game consoles, which represent a significant portion of the audiences on legal platforms.
Japan's fight against AI piracy:
Last December, Japan's Cultural Affairs Agency allocated $2 million to combat digital piracy. Using artificial intelligence, the agency revealed that piracy in the world of anime and manga causes annual losses estimated at 133.8 million dollars . In an official note, the agency stated:
There are limitations in finding pirated sites manually as it requires time and cost. We want to develop effective countermeasures to reduce pirated sites and protect rights holders
US Government Involvement in Pirated Anime Websites:
In October, the US government included “HiAnime” on the list of “notorious piracy markets”. Despite this, the site is still operational at the time of this publication.
Do you want to stay informed about the fight against pirated anime websites? Keep following AnimeNew !
