- A major manga piracy website, Bato.To, has been shut down following a criminal complaint filed by a Japanese industry group.
- Chinese authorities acted on the complaint, questioning a suspect and leading to the site's closure by January 19, 2026.
- CODA warns that AI-driven translation tools are exacerbating manga copyright piracy and they will continue to address the issue.

A: Hey! Did you hear about something cool happening with manga?

B: No! What's up? Tell me!

A: Apparently, a really big manga piracy website called Bato.To shut down!

B: Wow! Seriously? That’s amazing! I thought it was huge.

A: Yeah! A Japanese group, CODA, complained to the Chinese government.

B: So, they worked *with* the Chinese authorities? That’s surprising.

A: Exactly! They found out who was running it - someone in their 40s.

B: Forty? That’s a bit older than I imagined. How big *was* this site?

A: Huge! It had tons of different website addresses and got accessed millions of times each month.

B: Millions?! That's crazy! What kind of manga was on there?

A: Mostly Japanese manga, all scanned and translated...they called it "scanlation."

B: I've heard of that. It's a big problem, right?

A: Definitely. They said AI is making it even *easier* to steal and translate.

B: Oh no! That’s not good news for manga creators.

A: Right? But CODA is happy the site is gone, and they’re saying they’ll keep fighting piracy.

B: That’s great! Let’s hope this helps protect manga artists!