NHK in Japan has reported that Kumamoto Prefectural police arrested two foreign men on suspicion of violating copyright law for leaking manga magazine images online. Weekly Shonen Jump before it goes on sale. Among them is the self-styled Musa Samir, 36, who runs Japan Deal World LLC in Kita Ward, Tokyo, a French site selling anime and manga merchandise. Even though he may not seem like it, It is a serious crime in Japan.
According to the police investigation, In March 2023, both misused the material they sold, taking illegal photos from Shueisha’s magazine, “Weekly Shonen Jump,” before the mangas were officially published in stores. A second charge accuses them of violating copyright law for taking and duplicating magazine images using their smartphone last January. Police suspect that other people may be involved and are carrying out a detailed investigation.
In response to the investigation, both suspects denied the allegation of the March 2023 leaksaying: “Was not me». However, they admitted the second accusation for leaking last Januarysaying: “There’s no doubt».
In the wake of these arrests, the Asahi newspaper showed images of screenshots provided during the Kumamoto Cybercrime division’s press conference, including screenshots of Jujutsu Kaisen, One Piece and Blue Lock. These images are used as evidence that the leaks provided were used to be posted on social media.
Some manga leakers on X have already announced that they will stop receiving Jump leaks next Wednesday, which could indicate that its source could be related to these arrests. For their part, some X accounts focused on Shonen Jump leaks were closed.
Of course, there was no shortage of reactions from industry fans around the world, many rejoicing about this arrest, since they consider the leaks annoying. At the same time they were also sure that this would not stop them, since it was only one of the sources of leaks, so it would not take long for them to “grow a new head on the hydra“.
