Major Spanish Piracy Site Shut Down After Joint Effort Between Korean Webtoon Companies, Spanish Authorities
A coalition of major Korean webtoon platforms have successfully shut down one of the largest Spanish-language piracy sites, marking a significant milestone in global anti-piracy efforts.
On April 27, Kakao Entertainment and Naver Webtoon announced that, together with member companies of the Copyright Overseas Promotion Association (COA) — including Lezhin Entertainment, RIDI, KidariStudio, Toomics, and Topco Media — it had taken down TuMangaOnline, a major illegal webtoon and manga distribution site targeting Spanish-speaking users.
TuMangaOnline, previously known as Zonatmo.com, operated multiple affiliated domains and provided unauthorized webtoon and manga content across Spain and Latin America. The platform recorded approximately 86 million visits in March 2025 alone. According to analytics firm SimilarWeb, it ranked 327th globally, 87th in Spain, and 26th in Mexico, which were figures comparable to major Spanish-language news outlets.
Industry estimates suggest that the site caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to Korean content companies over the past several years.
The shutdown was carried out by Spanish authorities following a joint investigation. Korean rights holders identified the operators based in Spain and collaborated with local legal firms, enforcement agencies, and the judiciary. Spanish police secured sufficient evidence, obtained a search-and-seizure warrant, and executed the closure. A formal criminal trial is expected to follow.
This case marks the first successful outcome of coordinated legal action by Korean webtoon companies under local Spanish law, highlighting a growing trend of cross-border enforcement.
The COA — supported by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism — has been leading overseas copyright protection efforts on behalf of content creators.
Source: Kakao Entertainment's press release
