Anime News Network reports that Toei Animation filed a copyright infringement suit against 869 "John Does" on September 29, 2011. The suit was filed in the District of Columbia district court over One Piece episode 515. According to Toei's complaint, the defendants "worked in concert, via the internet ... to reproduce and distribute unlawful, digital copies" of the episode" over BitTorrent between September 16 and September 23.

Toei was granted a Motion for Leave to take Discovery, in an attempt to identify the names and addresses of the defendants. Toei claims that they may be able to identify other infringing parties through their discovery process.

The company would like the court to stop the defendants from future infringement of the episode, and other Toei properties going forward. They also ask that the defendant destroy infringing copies of their properties, including those backed off to physical media, as well as monetary restitutions for damages, court fees, and attorney fees.