Belarus Legalizes Pirating of Anime and Manga

While the Japanese government and companies have been working hard to restrict piracy, the Belarus government has given their citizens a green signal on illegally watching Japanese shows!

This is a move from the Belarus government against their political enemies. Belarus’ government openly supports Russia in its ongoing conflict against Ukraine, leading to multiple countries making sanctions against them, including Japan.

Hence, Belarus has declared such nations to be “unfriendly” and passed a special law that allows its citizens to illegally steal copyrighted material from creators from said countries.

Since Japan is a part of these countries alongside the United States, Australia, the U.K., and many more, the law now allows people to legally watch anime and read manga from previously illegal websites.

However, this does not mean that the people of Belarus can use the copyrighted content elsewhere as they still have to pay a fee to the National Patent Authority, a government body.

Also, copyright holders can file a claim to the National Patent to the National Patent Authority to prevent the stealing of their copyrights as well.

Still, the effects of this law are yet to be seen. According to the Belarus government, the law aims to reduce “the critical shortage in the domestic market of food and other goods”.

Here, “movies, music, and TV shows” are “essential for the domestic market”, according to the Belarus Government.

Source: ANN