Anime News

Chinese Anime / Manga Net Piracy Rampant
Date: 9/26/2005
The online spread in China of pirated TV dramas from Japan and South Korea as well as anime and manga is on the rise. The most recent example can be seen in the widespread distribution of the Train Man TV drama finale episode which aired on the 22nd via Fuji Television Network. Chinese subtitled versions of all 11 episodes are making their way around the net courtesy file sharing networks and bit torrent. Dragon Cherry Blossoms, Queen Classroom, Water Boys 2005 and Sea Monkey are also popular drama downloads. The publishing industry has also been hit hard with Taiwanese releases of Sergeant Keroro, Prince Of Tennis and Inu-Yasha manga being available illegally. These programs are then often burned to DVD-ROM or CD and sold on the black market. Fuji Sankei Business interviewed one expert who said "For 1,000 Yen or less it is possible to buy a pirated DVD set of a popular DVD drama that would be about 20,000 Yen in Japan".
Source: Anime News Service