Jing'an police successfully destroyed an animation manual piracy gang that spans the whole chain of design, production and sales, and captured four suspect, including Wang and Han, with the amount involved exceeding 33 million yuan.

Preliminary investigation found that since January 2021, Wang has been organizing product imitation activities by hiring Han as the head of the main designer team without authorization from the copyright owner. The gang systematically replicated multiple well-known anime character statue products through industrial processes such as drawing design drawings, 3D modeling and printing prototypes, and modulus production. Its sales network mainly relies on multiple online stores operated by Wu, Bao, and others for distribution, and pays service fees to agents at a rate of 10% -20% of sales revenue. After investigation, the individuals involved in the case sold over 17000 infringing products through multiple online and offline channels, with a total amount involved exceeding 33 million yuan.

At present, the Jing'an District People's Court in Shanghai has sentenced Wu to one year and one month in prison and a fine of RMB 320000 for the crime of selling infringing copies; Bao was sentenced to one year and six months in prison and fined RMB 900000. Suspect Wang and Han have been arrested by Jing'an District People's Procuratorate according to law for suspected copyright infringement. The case is still under further investigation, and the police are investigating the processing plant and downstream distributors involved.