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Anti-piracy group CODA, which represents the five major manga publishers, has been the driving force behind the takedown of the iconic manga pirate site Bato.to. The group’s actions led to a raid in China last November, where the alleged operator of Bato.to, MangaPark and dozens of other sites, will be criminally prosecuted. According to CODA, the suspect operated the world’s largest manga piracy ring.
That sealed the deal for many Batoto followers who still had hopes that the site would return to its former glory after its operator, “Larry”, suddenly disappeared last November. This disappearance was triggered by an entirely different force.
CODA Reported Bato.to Operator in China
Today, the Japanese anti-piracy group CODA steps forward as the main driver behind Bato.to’s demise. The group, which represents publishers Kadokawa, Kodansha, Shueisha, Shogakukan, and Square Enix, filed a criminal complaint against the alleged operator in China.
The complaint was submitted to the public security bureau of China in September 2025. After talks with CODA, the local publisher China Literature Limited filed an additional complaint, adding to the pressure.
These high-profile criminal referrals eventually led to a police raid on the suspect’s home in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The operator was detained, questioned, and eventually admitted to operating the sites.
The operator is currently out on bail awaiting a formal indictment, which has yet to be filed. Initially, Babo.to also remained operational, and CODA now noted that this was for evidence preservation purposes. Earlier this month, it finally shut down.
World’s Largest Manga Piracy Operation
It is worth stressing that this crackdown is not limited to Bato.to. The same Chinese man is also accused of running roughly 60 other manga pirate sites, including mangapark.io.
CODA notes that this effectively formed the largest manga piracy ring on the Internet, which was good for an estimated 350 million visits in May 2025.
While the criminal prosecution has yet to start, CODA issued a press release that reveals several intriguing details. For example, it notes that the operator blocked visitors from China, presumably not to upset local rightsholders and the authorities.
“The site employed geoblocking to prevent access from within China, thereby creating the appearance that no infringement was occurring domestically, while in reality attracting massive global traffic and generating substantial illicit advertising revenue,” CODA writes.
In addition, the operator reportedly confessed that the site generated significant revenue, which exceeded 400,000 RMB (~$58,000) a month at its peak.
CODA’s Detailed Investigations
Speaking with TorrentFreak, CODA notes that it was not in any way involved in the earlier reported enforcement actions by Kakao Entertainment, which focused on remaining communities on Reddit and Discord. Similarly, Kakao was not involved in the high-profile criminal referral in China.
CODA’s case originally started in the summer of 2024. At the time, the anti-piracy group signaled Bato.to as a key threat under its Cross-Border Enforcement Project (CBEP), which kicked off the investigations. This eventually identified the operator.
“Through collaboration with cybersecurity experts, including ethical hackers, CODA conducted open-source intelligence (OSINT) investigations. Upon discovering that Chinese services were being used, CODA worked with a Chinese investigative firm to identify the operator, leading to the filing of a criminal complaint with China’s public security bureau.”
Bato.to and related sites rely in large part on scanlations. These are effectively translations of manga comics in other languages. While these have always been a major concern, AI technologies have made this even easier, effectively worsening the problem.
Legal Sales Surge
According to CODA, the takedown of Bato.to and the pending criminal investigation in China are groundbreaking. They believe it will serve as a significant deterrent, and, thus far, the first signs are indeed positive.
NTT Solmare, which operates the legal ebook store Mangaplaza in the U.S., reported that its daily sales numbers doubled following Bato.to’s shutdown.
Responding to the news, CODA’s Representative Director Takero Goto thanks the Chinese and Japanese authorities for their assistance
“The closure of the world’s largest manga piracy site through criminal enforcement is highly significant for cross-border anti-piracy efforts. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Chinese authorities, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and all others involved who devoted their efforts to this case,” Goto notes.
While the effect of this massive shutdown should not be underestimated, CODA and others need to stay vigilant. New manga portals that are willing to take the risk will likely be eager to pick up millions of new visitors.
