Nippon Animation Files Lawsuit for Chibi Maruko-chan Counterfeits

Japanese animation company Nippon Animation Co., Ltd. filed a copyright infringement complaint on May 28 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, marking the studio's first-ever U.S. legal action over the Chibi Maruko-chan franchise. The Lawsuit, Case No. 1:26-cv-04502, alleges a coordinated network of anonymous online sellers is distributing counterfeit merchandise tied to Chibi Maruko-chan.

As per the complaint, the unauthorized merchandise infringes on Nippon Animation’s federally registered Chibi Maruko-chan copyrighted works. The studio’s U.S. copyright registration for Chibi Maruko-chan was published in August 2025.

Nippon Animation argues that the alleged infringement threatens the value of intellectual property that the company has spent decades developing and promoting. The defendants allegedly operate commercial storefronts across multiple e-commerce platforms, accepting payments via PayPal and Shop Pay and targeting U.S. consumers.

Court documents show that the defendants operated while concealing their identities and appearing to be legitimate. The group of sellers, dubbed as Seller Aliases, also used unique identifiers and established a logical relationship between them with similar infringed products and “suggesting that Defendants’ illegal operations arise out of the same transaction.”

What the Chibi Maruko-chan Lawsuit Alleges and What Nippon Animation Demands

Nippon Animation is known for producing popular anime, including Hunter x Hunter and Anne of Green Gables. As a prominent studio, the lawsuit comes with significant weight and shows how the rise of counterfeit goods sabotages right holders and diminishes the original quality of the product.

The complaint charges willful copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 501 for all copyrighted Chibi Maruko-chan infringements and derivative works. The studio has asked for a permanent injunction and requests delisting of marketplaces, payment processors, search engines, and related service providers.

The studio seeks statutory damages of $150K for every infringed work per defendant under 17 U.S.C. § 504 (c)(2). Additionally, they demanded actual damages, any profits earned through the alleged infringement, and attorney fees. The court will further allow, “other and further relief, including temporary, preliminary and permanent injunctive relief “ to the plaintiff if the court deems necessary.

The case follows a broader trend of infringing Japanese intellectual properties and companies pursuing overseas enforcement actions to curb the unauthorized distribution. TV Tokyo won its lawsuit against 47 defendants found to have infringed Naruto copyrights and trademark, in a May 2025 case. Another instance includes VIZ Media securing up to $26.2M in an RWBY infringement case following a February 2025 court order involving 131 defendants.