Indian Piracy Landscape Shifts: Anime and Manga Now Dominate Top Illegal Streaming Sites

The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) has confirmed a major shift in India's piracy landscape, revealing that Japanese content is now dominating the illegal streaming market. A report submitted to the U.S. Trade Representative on January 28 highlighted that anime and manga sites have surged to fill the void left by successful legal crackdowns on film and TV piracy operations.

Of the top 25 non-music piracy sites operating in India, a staggering 10 are dedicated solely to anime streaming, accounting for 40% of the list. When adding seven sites focused on manga, the total rises sharply to 68% of the top platforms now targeting Japanese intellectual property.

This surge follows significant legal action by the Delhi High Court, which successfully targeted and wiped out over 400 domains associated with mainstream film and TV pirate operations. Rights holders like Netflix and Crunchyroll have since pushed for similar enforcement measures to safeguard their licensed catalogs.

Enforcement has continued, with the court issuing a 'Dynamic+ injunction' in December 2025 specifically blocking 47 anime domains. Named sites included Animesuge, 9anime, and Anikoto.

Japan's Authorized Books of Japan (ABJ) previously warned that India was becoming a global piracy hotspot for manga, noting billions in losses last year alone. While legal avenues like Crunchyroll and Anime Times exist, the booming local fandom for titles such as One Piece continues to drive traffic toward free, illegal streams.

The IIPA is now urging the U.S. to place India on the Priority Watch List. The organization is demanding stronger overall enforcement measures, including faster ISP blocks and expanded national court jurisdiction, to curb these significant losses.