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A Platform Targeted by Publishers
Japscan, one of the most visited French-speaking sites for free manga reading, is now officially blocked in France. On Wednesday, July 23, the Paris Judicial Court ruled in favor of the National Publishing Syndicate (SNE), which had initiated legal action against the platform for copyright infringement. The website indeed offered thousands of unauthorizedly translated mangas for free, causing significant harm to the rights holders, including both Japanese and French publishers and authors.
In its ruling, the court directed the companies Bouygues Telecom, Free, SFR, SFR Fibre, and Orange to implement or cause to be implemented all measures necessary to prevent access to the japscan.lol site, in particular by blocking the domain names and associated subdomains
. This measure will be effective for 18 months. Such an order effectively limits access to a pirated site without pursuing individual legal actions against internet users.
A Strong Message Against Piracy
The National Publishing Syndicate has celebrated this victory, highlighting that piracy severely damages the book industry, particularly in the manga sector where competition is fierce and profit margins are often slim (editor’s note: manga revenue fell by 13% in 2023 and by another 4% in 2024).
In its statement, SNE pointed out that Specializing in mangas, manhwas (Korean comics), manhuas (Chinese comics), comic books, and comics, Japscan offered around 13,000 titles accessible from France, disregarding the rights of authors and publishers, and was visited by more than 690,000 unique visitors per month in France
.
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It’s worth noting that in France, the popularity of manga has skyrocketed in recent years, accounting for more than 50% of comic book sales. However, this popularity also fuels piracy, through illegal platforms often hosted abroad, which are difficult to regulate.
Despite this blockade, the fight against piracy is far from over. Many sites bypass bans by frequently changing their domain names or using encryption and redirection services. Nonetheless, this legal decision marks a significant milestone in protecting creators and defending intellectual property rights against digital abuses.