The Content Overseas Distribution Association of Japan has confirmed the news.
A few days ago, the anime and manga communities broke into an uproar when the largest manga piracy website Bato.to and its multiple subsidiary sites were shut down. According to a recent report from Japan’s Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA), the alleged operator of the site was identified and investigated for copyright infringement in China on 19 November, 2025 by the Shanghai Public Security Bureau.
Bato.to shutdown was initiated by Japanese publishing companies
According to the report by CODA, an initial meeting about the copyright infringement between CODA and Japanese publishing companies KADOKAWA CORPORATION, KODANSHA LTD., SHUEISHA Inc., SHOGAKUKAN Inc., and SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD took place back in July 2024. As a part of its Cross-Border Enforcement Project (CBEP) and initial countermeasures against the site, CODA’s Beijing office would later file a complaint on behalf of the publishers to the Public Security Bureau of China on 25 September, 2025.
Furthermore, CODA also requested cooperation from China Literature Limited, which is a subsidiary of Tencent Holdings and one of the country's largest reading platforms. After confirming that some of its comics have also been unlawfully published on Bato.to, China Literature also filed a criminal complaint against the site and its operator with CODA.
The coordinated efforts from the two countries brought results when in November 2025, the original Bato.to website first shut down. As per the report, the man operating the main website and its 60+ subsidiary websites was detained and investigated by the Chinese police on 19, November 2025. The man is currently out on bail. By the second week of January, all other mirror domains of Bato were also closed. All social media related to the site have also been shut down by the moderators.
The copyright infringement case against Bato’s operator is still ongoing
Bato.to began its journey as a user-submitted piracy website in 2014, and the man who has been arrested has been operating it since at least 2018. The site was famous for the unauthorised uploads of comics from Japan, Korea, and China. The site also used geoblocking to make sure they couldn't be accessed from within China. According to the suspect’s statement, the income from illegal ads on the website surpassed CNY400,000 (US$ 57,515) in some months.
Further investigation into the site have also revealed that there were at least 60 other similar sites which were being operated by the same person. The report states that in May 2025 alone the combined visits on all these sites were a whopping 350 million, making it the largest piracy website in the world. The multiple sites helped the suspect avoid crackdowns from law enforcement and allowed him to continue large-scale copyright infringement in multiple countries.
According to the report, more than 1000 titles from KADOKAWA, KODANSHA, SHUEISHA, SHOGAKUKAN and SQUARE ENIX were being illegally posted on the Bato website. A recent report from NTT Solmare Corporation also confirmed that the sales on its e-book store Manga-Plaza, which mainly targets the US, has doubled since Bato’s shutdown.
Previously, a report from Torrent Freak claimed that the Korean publication company Kakao allegedly claimed that the Bato shutdown was initiated and executed by them. But it has not been officially confirmed, and CODA’s new report proves that the investigation was initiated by Japan and China. CODA has also said that the organisation will work tirelessly to unveil all facts of the case and strengthen cross-border cooperation for harsher action against copyright infringement.