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ANN can confirm that The Northern District of California court issued a subpoena on Thursday to compel Discord to share information that could help identify users allegedly involved in the recent Netflix leaks of anime episodes and anime films, as well as other animated and live-action works.
Netflix filed the request on November 15 with the court, and the request specifically referred to an unreleased and copyrighted image from the second season of Squid Game webseries posted by a Discord user with the online handle “@jacejohns4n.” A person going by the pseudonym Jace Johnson had an interview with “YNGKKR” in which Johnson stated they were responsible for the leaks.
According to a report on The Verge in October, South Korean publisher Nexon had subpoenaed Discord on October 11, alleging that Discord has refused to comply with several Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices to disclose user information in regards to users whom Nexon believes are infringing on its intellectual property. Discord is currently contesting the subpoena in court.
August Leaks
Initially, episodes of the new anime of Rumiko Takahashi‘s Ranma 1/2 manga and the television anime of Yukinobu Tatsu‘s DAN DA DAN manga, as well as the Gekij?ban Mononoke: Karakasa anime film, were leaked to the public in early August via sites such as 4chan and piracy BitTorrent sites.
The originally leaked material included episodes 1, 3, and 4 of Ranma 1/2, the first two episodes of DAN DA DAN, and the entire Gekij?ban Mononoke: Karakasa anime film. The leaks have blurred watermarks and burned-in timestamps, and are in a low-resolution ninth-HD (640×360 or 640×352) format.
Later, the first episode of the third season of the Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- anime was leaked as well. The episode has a watermark for France’s Japan Expo 2024, which took place from July 11-14. Episodes 3-6 of DAN DA DAN and all episodes of Skydance Animation and Production I.G‘s Terminator Zero anime series had also been leaked.
Finally, more episodes of the Ranma 1/2 anime were eventually leaked for a total of 12 episodes, the average number for an anime cours (quarter of a year).
Netflix and Iyuno’s Response to the Leaks
Netflix stated the leaks were initially reported internally before spreading online. Netflix told IGN, “One of our post-production partners has been compromised and footage from several of our titles has unfortunately leaked online. Our team is aggressively taking action to have it taken down.”
Global entertainment technology and localization company Iyuno released a statement regarding its investigation into the security breach. Crunchyroll also made a statement.
According to IGN, other Netflix shows and films including the second season of animated action series Arcane, Heartstopper Season 3, Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld, Plankton: The Movie, and Spellbound were also leaked.