Anime Piracy Giant, Nyaa, Gets Shut Down Orders From MPA

Piracy is a problem that has been plaguing the entertainment industry for a long time and animes are no exception.

Nyaa.si is an anime pirating website which has recently come under the attention of the MPA. Not all anime are available worldwide as many are just available in Japan.

Due to regional restrictions, several anime titles aren’t available in different countries. Even when anime is available for streaming in countries, not everyone can access them due to financial reasons.

The Motion Pictures Association of America (MPA) has delivered cease-and-desist letters to personnel allegedly involved with the anime piracy website, Nyaa.

The MPA has demanded not only for the website to shut down but also cash settlements from the alleged individuals.

Nyaa has responded to the news through its Twitter account.

They have made it very clear that the website will not be closing anytime soon. Unlike its predecessor website, Nyaa has no intention of leaving its users helpless. They plan to create a public database where their contents can be accessed.

Nyaa is a website that focuses mostly on anime and other East-Asian media. Although it serves a niche audience, it has risen to one of the top-spots amongst piracy websites.

HorribleSubs has recently closed down, and a lot of its users have migrated to either Nyaa or other websites. KissAnime has also closed down due to Japan’s stricter copyright policies.

Nyaa is also alleged of creating fansubs for anime. Fan-subbing means providing subtitles to anime that have not received official subtitles yet. This affects the actual creators as their audience is diminished.

Through its legal representatives, MPA has sent notices to those who might be in influential positions at Nyaa.

People from North America, Europe, and Australia have received the notice. Around two people have received official letters while a few others have received mails.

According to MPA, none of the cited companies has permitted their works to be distributed through Nyaa. Thus significant damage has been done to all the referred companies, and a cash settlement of tens of thousands of dollars is expected.

The MPA has also demanded access and control over Nyaa’s website and other management and operations. Although MPA wanted the torrent site to close down by September, the order has clearly not been followed yet, and Nyaa is still online.

Source: Torrentfreak

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