Particle.news

Download on the App Store

MangaDex Removes 700+ Series Following Unprecedented DMCA Takedowns

Major Japanese publishers enforce copyright claims, targeting one of the largest scanlation sites and leaving fans without access to many untranslated titles.

Overview

  • MangaDex was hit with hundreds of DMCA takedown notices from publishers like Kodansha, Square Enix, and Webtoon, removing over 700 series from the platform.
  • The takedowns include both licensed and unlicensed manga, with many titles previously unavailable through official translations now inaccessible to non-Japanese readers.
  • MangaDex, a volunteer-run, ad-free site funded by donations, faces an uncertain future as legal pressure mounts.
  • Fans have expressed frustration over the slow pace of official localization efforts, which they argue drives reliance on piracy for timely access to manga.
  • The full list of takedown notices is publicly archived in the Lumen Database, highlighting the scale of the copyright enforcement effort.