Hoshino, a 29 years old illegal manga website owner, provided free manga to a lot of users. The website is called ‘Manga Mura,’ and it contains a lot of popular manga like One Piece, Kingdom, and several other titles that a lot of people read for free.
Hence, Fukuoka District Court recently sentenced Hoshino, also known as Zakay Romi, to the charges of copyright infringement.
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Charges & Sentence to Jail
The charges of copyright infringement have a fine of $91,000 USD or 10 million Japanese Yen. In addition to this fine, Hoshino got an additional fine of $565,000 USD that he earned from the ad revenue that got deposited in a foreign account. Hoshino got a 3 years sentence to serve in jail.
A representative from Shueisha stated:
“if the works that those who have given their all to create are given away for free, it damages the foundation for the creation of interesting works.”
Background of Mangamura
The site launched in 2016 originally, and ever since that time, a lot of people are reading manga for practically free. However, Mangamura was shut down in 2018. Hoshino was spending his days in the Philippines, and he recently got into custody in July 2019.
Conclusion
It’s sad to see a lot of artists’ efforts getting wasted when we talk about these illegal websites. I think the Anime world needs to work on it, especially the fans. A lot of fans watch and read on illegal websites due to the lack of services in their area. While others would choose this path because it’s free and easy.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below. Was Hoshino’s sentence needed? Or do you think it’s too much?
