Piracy continues to plague the manga industry and while I’ve spoken about my opposition to piracy in the past as well as listing several ways to read manga online legally, it’s clear that there is still so much more I can do to help combat this issue. Recently, I came across a new stamp that has the potential to be incredibly helpful in the battle against piracy and, since I’m sure many people are still unaware of this and what it means, I thought I’d take a look at why you need to know about Authorized Books of Japan.
As far as I can tell, Authorized Books of Japan was first trademarked in 2019 with the goal of providing clarity on which websites provide manga legally and which ones distribute manga illegally. When you access a website that has been approved by the Authorized Books of Japan, you’ll be able to find their mark on the webpage, typically at the bottom, that tells you that the website is selling copies of manga legally.
Of course, a website without this mark isn’t necessarily distributing manga illegally. For instance, I’ve taken a look at several of the websites that I included when I listed legal ways to read manga online legally and the only one to include this mark (at least on the front page) is Bookwalker. This doesn’t mean that the other sites aren’t legitimate (they are) but it’s a guarantee that Bookwalker is selling their products legitimately.
If we take a look at the ABJ whitelist, accessed via the Association for E-publishing Business Solution website, you’ll notice that the sites that currently have the Authorized Books of Japan logo are overwhelmingly Japanese. Interestingly, Renta, a service I noted in my list of legal ways to read manga online, is also included on this whitelist despite the fact that I cannot find the Authorized Books of Japan logo on the page! While it’s helpful to have an official whitelist that you can check, it’s strange not to include the logo on your front page and I think this should be rectified quickly to make ascertaining legal sites easier.
So you might be wondering how a website manages to get approved by Authorized Books of Japan. According to mangaplanet, you must have a business representative in Japan, perhaps explaining why the whitelist is overwhelmingly Japanese, apply as either a business or a service provider and be reviewed by an approval committee before you can be listed and display the logo on your website.
The idea of official manga websites displaying a logo as proof of their legality is a great idea and one that I very much approve of. However, I feel like there need to be some improvements in order to maximise effectiveness. They need to make sure that all websites that have been approved contain this mark somewhere on their front page. Additionally, they need to be more aggressive in seeking out and approving overseas official manga websites and, most importantly, there needs to be a greater level of education about this symbol and what it means. I’m quite the manga enthusiast and have only learned about this mark and its meaning recently.
Let me know your thoughts on Authorized Books of Japan, did you know about them before this article, have you come across their logo on any websites, do you agree that they need to make improvements and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!