Kodansha Wins Russian Copyright Infringement Case

Japan’s Kodansha, one of the Japanese giants in publishing has announced that the copyright infringement case it brought against Russian event promoter IQ Art Management LLC has been settled in the Japanese publisher’s favor with a multi-million yen settlement. According to the suit as originally filed in July 2024, IQ Art Management had been holding an event across St. Petersburg, Russia utilizing Kodansha’s various manga properties, among them Attack on Titan, without having direct authorization to conduct events with those properties.

Prior to Kodansha’s discovery in late 2023, IQ Art Management had been claiming to hold an official manga event in St. Petersburg, being held across the period that Kodansha claimed damages from infringement starting in April to October of 2023. Once the infringements were discovered, the publisher proceeded to file suit in the country in the the Arbitration Court of Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast, Russia in July of 2024. The court found in favor of Kodansha following nearly a year of deliberation on April 7, and as neither IQ Art Management nor Kodansha entered a final appeal within the designated period, the court ruling was finalized on June 24 and it ordered IQ Art Management to pay Kodansha damages in the sum of 3.75 million rubles or 7 million yen, and an additional 26,000 rubles, or 49,000 yen in court fees.

In its press statement released on July 9, Kodansha reiterated its commitment to protecting copyright domestically and internationally. The company stated that it would continue to respond strictly to any form of infringement, including unlicensed events within and outside of Japan, in order to safeguard the rights of creators and readers.