Chinese, Japanese agencies worked together to file complaints that led to man’s detention; man allegedly admits to operating 60 related sites
Screenshot of Bato.to (xbato.com) website as of November 2025, partially editedImage via CODA’s websiteJapan’s Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA), an organization that aims to reduce worldwide piracy and actively promote the international distribution of Japanese content, revealed on Thursday its involvement in the detention of a man who was the alleged operator of what it calls “the world’s largest manga piracy site” Bato.to, and 60 related sites such as xbato.com and mangapark.io. The suspect allegedly played a key role in operating Bato.to since at least 2018 (CODA states the site launched in 2014).
According to CODA, the Shanghai Public Security Bureau of China searched the residence of a man living in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on November 19 on suspicion of copyright infringement. The Shanghai Public Security Bureau detained the main and questioned him, and he has since been released on bail. CODA said the man has “admitted to operating” all of the related sites and “is expected to be formally indicted” in the near future.
CODA stated while some of the sites continued operation after the suspect was detained in November, by January 19 all 60 sites had shut down, and related parties had announced the shutdown on social media.
The Bato.to and related sites illegally distributed Japanese manga, Korean manhwa, and Chinese manhua, and distributed the works translated into more than 50 languages, including English.
CODA stated it has confirmed that other individuals involved in the operation of these sites, as well as those who translated and posted content through social media, are located in several countries around the world, and it plans to “continue its investigations through international cooperation.”
The “Five-Publisher Manga Piracy Countermeasures Meeting” in July 2024 first raised concerns about Bato.to, and CODA then designated the site as a target. The agency collaborated with cybersecurity experts and ethical hackers, and conducted open-source intelligence investigations. Once CODA realized Chinese services were being used in Bato.to’s operation, CODA hired a Chinese investigative firm to identify the operator.
CODA’s Beijing office then filed a criminal complaint on September 25 with the Shanghai Public Security Bureau on behalf of several Japanese publishers including Kadokawa, Kodansha, Shueisha, Shogakukan, and Square Enix. CODA also reached out to China Literature Limited, an online book platform affiliated with Tencent Holdings. China Literature Limited confirmed Bato.to had also illegally distributed its comics properties, and also filed a complaint to the Shanghai Public Security Bureau in coordination with CODA. Bato.to had allegedly been geo-blocked in China, which CODA stated “[created] the appearance that no infringement was occurring domestically.”
The suspect allegedly told authorities advertising income for the website exceeded 400,000 RMB (about US$57,500) in peak months. CODA said the approximately 60 websites the man was allegedly involved in operating saw a combined total of 350 million hits in May 2025, with total traffic from October 2022 to October 2025 reaching 7.2 billion visits.
CODA stated it received a report from NTT Solmare, which runs the e-book store MangaPlaza, stating daily sales approximately doubled immediately following the closure of Bato.to.
The news website TorrentFreak had reported on January 23 mods of the Bato.to Discord server and subreddit announced those channels would shut down or enter restricted status. TorrentFreak additionally reported that Korean entertainment conglomerate Kakao Entertainment was behind the closures of those communities. Kakao Entertainment’s Global Anti-Piracy Task Force (P.CoK) told TorrentFreak it had “tracked the [site’s founder] to their country of residence, where legal proceedings are now active.”
However, CODA later told TorrentFreak that Kakao Entertainment’s own investigations and lawsuit preparations were separate from the CODA actions that led to the Chinese man’s detainment. Similarly, CODA was not involved in Kakao Entertainment’s pursuits to shut down the social media communities.
P.CoK also told TorrentFreak it had identified “the majority of individuals who are directly or indirectly involved in the operation—such as sub-developers, moderators, and community administrators—” and sent them Cease and Desist letters. P.CoK told TorrentFreak it is also “preparing strong legal actions” against Mangapark and other Bato.to-affiliated sites.
In March 2025, CODA stated it was involved in the arrest of a man from the Liaoning Province in China on suspicion of running the Zzzfun piracy website. The website had allegedly violated copyright law by illegally distributing anime and other content to users in China through its website and app. CODA also worked with Brazilian authorities to shut down 16 anime piracy websites in 2024.
Kakao Entertainment’s P.CoK was involved in the shutdown of the popular pirate site Reaper Scans last year. The company has been expanding its efforts to combat the illegal distribution of webtoons and web novels. The company’s white paper released in March 2025 reported that between July and December 2024, P.CoK blocked approximately 240 million piracy cases worldwide.
Sources: CODA, TorrentFreak (link 2) (Ernesto Van der Sar)
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
