Hentai Holocaust.
nhentai.net, one of the world’s leading adult websites specializing in Japanese adult manga (hentai doujinshi), is facing a copyright infringement lawsuit. The suit was filed by California-based PCR Distributing, a company that owns and operates several adult brands, including J18 and JAST USA.
The complaint claims that nhentai.net has been ignoring takedown notices. While the site attempted to resolve the issue privately months ago, those efforts seem to have fallen through.
In early February, nhentai.net faced backlash after removing approximately 12,500 galleries from its platform, including content from doujinshi circles associated with legitimate publishers like FAKKU, as well as material featuring lolicon and shotacon content, which was also purged.
You were warned to backup your lists then and now you’re running out of time.
nHentai, attracting nearly 80 million visitors each month, has been a staple platform for hentai content. However, this popularity has sparked backlash from copyright holders who claim the site disregards DMCA takedown requests.
The lawsuit’s main argument focuses on nHentai’s operational approach. Unlike platforms like e-hentai.org, which hosts user-uploaded content and can seek protection under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), nHentai directly hosts and distributes material. PCR asserts that this difference makes nHentai more susceptible to copyright infringement claims.
PCR has been involved in distributing adult games since 1998. In its recent filing, the company states that it “owns, creates, acquires, translates, and distributes premium hentai art and publications from Asia to the U.S. market” and “specializes in localizing and publishing Japanese visual novels and dating-sim games for the English market.”
Previously, PCR sought a subpoena to uncover the identities of those operating nHentai, a move the site contested, arguing that it functions merely as a “conduit” for potentially illegal content rather than storing such material itself. Due to past DMCA subpoenas being denied for similar reasons, PCR’s efforts had been stalled until August 30, when the company officially filed its lawsuit.
PCR has filed a complaint with four charges: “Copyright Infringement,” “Vicarious Copyright Infringement,” “Contributory Copyright Infringement,” and “Inducement of Copyright Infringement.” The company now seeks a jury trial to hold nHentai accountable, arguing that the site cannot be considered a mere conduit, as it does not permit users to upload content.
If PCR wins the lawsuit, nHentai will be required to pay damages. PCR is also demanding that CloudFlare, the site’s domain hosting service, hand over control of the site, or that third parties like Google, other search engines, ISPs, and related services block access to nHentai in the U.S. Such a ruling would be a significant blow to one of the world’s largest sites, which garners 79.4 million monthly visits. According to Similarweb, users view an average of 41.62 pages per visit and spend about 11 minutes on the site, making it clear why nHentai tried to settle the matter privately.
In late August, WEBTOON filed a subpoena request aimed at uncovering the identities of operators behind over 170 piracy websites, which collectively attract around 100 million monthly page views, highlighting the vast scale of these platforms. Many pirated manga originate from Japan and Korea, whose governments recently collaborated on an international operation that shut down over 16 piracy sites in Brazil, accounting for another 100 million monthly visits.
However, the distribution of Japanese anime and manga differs from adult content, much of which is translated by fans for fans. In contrast, “legal” vendors of anime, manga, and eroge games are often criticized for practices that harm their own products.
Streaming services like Crunchyroll, for example, have been undermining the authenticity of anime through censorship or poor translations, including the use of Western slang, gender-neutral dialogue, or politically charged language.
In the manga space, Seven Seas has faced similar backlash, notably for injecting terms like “broken-tongue bigots” into Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! and altering the narrative of homosexual romance manga featuring “femboy” characters into transgender love stories after localization.
Shiravune, the Western publishing arm of DMM Games, has been criticized for introducing abhorrent English translations in their games. This includes replacing “virgin” with “incel” and translating terms related to lolicon as “pedophile,” which directly insults audiences, these various instances have led many consumers to avoid purchasing from Western outlets that deliberately mishandle Japanese content.
Similarly, companies like FAKKU and JAST USA are criticized for imposing exclusivity contracts on doujinshi circles, securing exclusive rights to distribute their material internationally.
Given that nhentai serves as a platform for distributing such content, often including fan-made translations of hentai material that isn’t available abroad it has become a target for these companies seeking to control the market and limit the reach of their competitors.
As of now, the case remains pending in court. nhentai’s defense is robust and may have a chance of succeeding, but I’m doubtful. Miraculously, even if the subpoena is overturned nhentai still faces significant legal challenges due to the ongoing copyright infringement lawsuit filed by PCR.
While the site is currently inaccessible in many regions, it remains available in some countries. To access it, you may need to use a VPN and try different locations. It would be wise to back up and download any favorite content, as the future of nhentai.net is uncertain following this lawsuit.
Consider this a warning, act quickly to save your lists and back up your favorites while you still can.
