Danica Davidson
January 29, 2021 
What do you do when you’re stuck at home because of COVID? Many otaku are increasing their manga reading, but unfortunately, that includes pirated manga. The Authorized Books of Japan publishing industry group (a.k.a ABJ) have crunched numbers, and they don’t like what they see.
Back in January 2020, before everyone was aware of COVID-19, the biggest manga piracy sites in Japan were accessed 72 million times. But in December 2020, they were accessed 200 million times.
If all these people accessing the piracy sites in December had bought the manga they read, it would have brought the manga world (including the creators who live off their work) about 41.4 billion yen, or just under 400 million in American dollars.
“The increased amount of time people are spending at home during the pandemic is likely a factor,” a representative for the Authorized Books of Japan said in a statement.
Source: SoraNews24
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, and its sequel, Manga Art for Intermediates, with professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
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