World’s Biggest Adult Manga Piracy Site Denies U.S. Copyright Infringement & Countersues for $500K

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The leading website for illegal downloads of adult content has officially fought back against a copyright lawsuit filed by manga distributor PCR Distributing. It’s now suing PCR Distributing itself and is seeking substantial financial compensation.

X Separator LLC, a Delaware company that runs the website Nhentai, strongly denies claims of copyright violations. They’ve filed a lawsuit against PCR Distributing, asking for over $500,000 in damages. This legal dispute started in 2024 when PCR Distributing, which is connected to the J18 and JAST USA brands, took action against Nhentai.

The website has consistently claimed it had the right to host the manga, and in a recent legal filing on November 26th, it accused the publisher of dishonesty. The website argued that because the publisher’s executives had previously tried to collaborate with them to increase physical book sales, the later lawsuit – and statements claiming the manga was uploaded without permission – was deliberately misleading.

Manga Piracy Site Countersues for US$500k, Alleging Fraud by American Distributor

I’ve been following this case, and it’s fascinating! Basically, PCR Distributing is claiming Nhentai was tricked into thinking everything was okay before they got sued over the content. Their defense hinges on emails from David Goldberg at JAST USA. He apparently made it clear in those emails that he wasn’t contacting Nhentai about removing anything, or even with a standard DMCA notice – he was just reaching out, and they shouldn’t have seen it as a threat!

According to the legal filing, Goldberg acknowledged that the manga and anime market in the West depends on piracy. He suggested partnering with Nhentai – a website known for hosting adult content – by placing banner ads on its galleries instead of taking down the content. X Separator countered that this approach effectively gave unauthorized consent for the manga to remain available online, as it was intended to boost physical sales through a platform known for illegal distribution.

Nhentai’s team argued that PCR misrepresented the facts to the court. They highlighted that PCR hadn’t officially registered copyrights for its content in the U.S. until March 2023, despite claiming to be seeking advertising on the site earlier. Nhentai’s lawsuit specifically disputes a statement made under oath by PCR’s CEO, Dave Adams, who claimed the content was posted without permission.

Nhentai claims the lawsuit goes against previous emails where they were given permission, calling it a dishonest attempt to break their original agreement. They are now seeking over $500,000 in damages, plus additional funds to punish what they believe was intentional and harmful behavior.

World’s Largest Adult Manga Piracy Site Attracts Over 80 Million Visits Despite Legal Problems

The website is fighting back legally after a difficult start to 2025. In April, a judge denied its request to dismiss a lawsuit, effectively ending its first line of defense. Nhentai had argued that the company suing them, PCR Distributing, didn’t have a valid case, claiming the copyrights belonged to JAST USA and only covered the English translations – meaning the images on the site weren’t affected. However, the court disagreed, stating that the existing copyright registrations were enough to allow the lawsuit to continue.

I was really following this case, and the court just shot down the request for anonymity! The people running the site were worried about getting targeted if their identities were revealed, so they asked the court to keep their details hidden while the legal stuff played out. Plus, X Separator LLC officially said they have absolutely nothing to do with ‘Nhentai.to’ – they’re claiming the similar name is just a coincidence and they aren’t responsible for what happens on that other site.

PCR Distributing handles the distribution of JAST USA’s adult visual novels in the United States. JAST USA also owns J18 Publishing. Even with a current lawsuit, Nhentai remains popular, receiving around 84.3 million visits in October 2025, as reported by SimilarWeb.

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2025-12-02 19:46