The tug of war between copyright protection and free use is one of the more tense battles of the modern internet era. In an era where content creators can build a career off the backs of commentary and criticism, the line between original work and IP violation has become blurrier and blurrier, and everyone is defensive of what they feel should rightfully be monetized.
As of recently, Japanese company Shueisha is the latest to draw a line in the sand over their property. Those who don't know Sheuisha have likely heard of their work, they're a popular Manga publisher responsible for the Jump magazine line. Some of the IP under the company's umbrella includes One Piece, Bleach, Dragon Ball, Naruto, and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.
A copyright strike can mean several different things depending on where it is issued, but in all cases, it typically means the content must be taken down under threat of legal action. On Youtube for instance, a copyright strike will see Youtube remove the content and the channel in question will receive one strike. From there, the creator must go through the process of resolving the strike or waiting for it to expire. If a channel receives 3 strikes, the account will be terminated by Youtube in most cases.
So when Shueisha began issuing a wave of copyright strikes across several platforms, creators became understandably nervous. One Youtuber claims that all their reviews of Shueisha content are being removed due to the strikes. Twitter user @fenyo_n, who works for Sheuisha's mobile titles as an artist also received a strike.
At the time of writing Shueisha has yet to release a statement explaining or clarifying the strikes or what kind of material will be struck. Twitter user @eboyitadori has compiled a short thread listing some of the more popular works that may put user accounts at risk. According to the thread, accounts have received strikes for everything from reviews of the manga in question to posting screenshots or gifs.
Sources such as Anime News Network have speculated that this is the result of a new Japanese copyright law meant to clamp down on leaks and illegal downloads of manga. There is still a lot of confusion over who exactly is issuing the takedowns and what kind of content will put accounts at risk. In the meantime, manga and anime fans may want to be careful about what they post until official clarification has been issued.
Source: The Outer Haven