News
Go Nagai, Other Manga Creators Sue 7 Book-Digitizing Shops
posted on by Egan Loo
Seven manga creators and illustrators filed a lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court against seven book-digitizing companies and their representatives on Tuesday. The plaintiffs are accusing the defendants in Tokyo and nearby Kanagawa Prefecture of violating copyrights by offering to scan printed books to make electronic book copies for customers.
Jirō Asada (Mibu Gishiden), Arimasa Osawa (Kōryū no Mimi), Gō Nagai (Cutey Honey, Mazinger Z), Mariko Hayashi (Niji no Natascha), Keigo Higashino (Heads), Kenshi Hirokane (Human Crossing), and Buronson (Fist of the North Star) are suing Bookcopy, Scan Agent, 00Paper.com, PDFBooks, HiruzuScan 24, DenshiShosekika.com, and Scapon.
The plaintiffs were some of the 122 creators who sent a letter of concern last fall to over 100 Japanese shops that scan and digitize works without authorization. However, the seven book-digitizing companies allegedly still continue to operate and receive orders from many customers.
The plaintiffs already sued two book-digitizing shops, Scan Box and Scan x Bank, in the same Tokyo District Court last December. Scan Box advertised on its website that it will scan customers' books for a fee of 200 yen (about US$2.60) per centimeter of book thickness. Scan x Bank went out of business, while Scan Box complied with the plaintiffs' demands. As a result, the seven creators dropped their earlier lawsuit.
