A Tokyo court has ruled that Cloudflare is liable for aiding manga piracy, awarding about $3.2 million in damages. The decision, which followed a three-and-a-half-year-long lawsuit, marks a significant precedent in Japan’s legal approach to digital copyright enforcement. The publishers, who brought the case against Cloudflare, claimed that the company failed to act on infringement notices and continued to cache and serve content for major piracy sites. According to TorrentFreak, the ruling sets a precedent suggesting that content delivery network (CDN) providers can face direct liability if they do not verify their customers or respond adequately to large-scale copyright abuses. The court’s judgment emphasized that Cloudflare’s negligent actions, including its failure to take timely and appropriate measures despite receiving notices from the plaintiffs, constituted aiding and abetting copyright infringement.
The publishers highlighted that they had informed Cloudflare about the scale of the infringement, which involved over 4,000 works and 300 million monthly visits. However, Cloudflare continued to provide services to the illegal manga sites even after being notified of the violations. The publishers added that the company’s failure to comply with information disclosure orders from U.S. courts further prompted them to file the lawsuit. They argue that the ruling clarifies the conditions under which CDN providers like Cloudflare can be held accountable for copyright infringement. The court’s emphasis on Cloudflare’s lack of identity verification procedures and its failure to act on infringement notices has led to the conclusion that the company bears liability for the damages caused by the piracy sites.
Cloudflare, which plans to appeal the verdict, acknowledged the possibility of a review of the court’s interpretation of its responsibilities. The publishers expressed hope that this ruling will serve as a step toward ensuring proper use of CDN services and protecting the rights of creators and related parties. They plan to continue their efforts to expand legitimate content distribution while safeguarding the intellectual property of creators. This case highlights the ongoing challenges in balancing the rights of content creators with the operations of global digital infrastructure providers. As the legal battle continues, the implications of this ruling could extend beyond Japan, potentially influencing how CDN services are regulated in other regions where similar piracy issues persist.