A Tokyo court has ruled that Cloudflare is liable for enabling manga piracy by failing to act on infringement notices and continuing to cache content for major piracy sites, awarding the plaintiffs approximately $3.2 million in damages. This landmark ruling, which followed a protracted legal battle spanning over three and a half years, is described as a significant precedent in Japan, suggesting that content delivery network (CDN) providers may face direct liability for not verifying their customers or addressing large-scale copyright abuse.
The decision comes as publishers, who have long sought to combat online piracy, described the ruling as a ‘Victory Against Cloudflare,’ emphasizing that the court recognized Cloudflare’s neglect in stopping the distribution of pirated content. They highlighted that despite being informed of the massive scale of infringement—over 4,000 works and 300 million monthly visits—Cloudflare continued to provide its services to the piracy sites, even after receiving information disclosure orders from U.S. courts. The publishers argue that the ruling clarifies when a company like Cloudflare can be held accountable for copyright infringement, especially in cases where piracy site operators exploit anonymity to avoid detection.
The judgment, provided by the publishers in a statement to TorrentFreak, underscores that Cloudflare’s failure to take timely and appropriate action despite receiving infringement notices from the plaintiffs, and its negligent continuation of pirated content distribution, constituted aiding and abetting copyright infringement. The court emphasized that Cloudflare’s lack of identity verification procedures enabled a massive manga piracy site to operate under circumstances where strong anonymity was secured, forming the basis for recognizing the company’s liability.
Cloudflare, which has been a key player in providing CDN services, plans to appeal the verdict, signaling that the legal battle is far from over. The publishers hope that this decision will encourage better oversight of CDN services and ensure that such platforms are used responsibly, supporting the rights of creators and the expansion of legitimate content. They have also expressed a commitment to continuing their efforts to protect the rights of works, creators, and related parties while aiming for further expansion of legitimate content.