Forum - View topicNEWS: Japan Fights Piracy Abroad
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radicaledward
 Posts: 776 |
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I can't say that this is really surprising, however, I wonder how much a sticker will do. Most of the 'Made in' stickers seem to be very easy to reproduce, and anything that would be complex to reproduce would likely be more expensive than most companies would want to spend.
However, the comment in the article about direct legal action against fansubbers is interesting. I am curious to see if they will start off court orders for them to stop or if they will just send polite requests to stop. From what I remember for the fansub community most of the more 'professional' (as in they are doing it for the anime not the recognition) groups would probably stop with a basic request. Not sure about the other ones, they tend to be a wild card. Of course considering the speed and quality of the official releases you have to wonder if fansub groups are still needed. |
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Pandemonium
 Posts: 102 Location: Canada, NS |
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I really don't get it, are they really loosing that much money to fansubbers to even notice? But before I start saying anything I support the Japanese companies that are fighting this, I'm not with pirating, but this is the way it has turned out from my point of view...(and I wrote this in a hurry so sry for mistakes, or wrong info)
So everyone remember back in the day when a certain p2p program? (not sure if I should say it for banning reasons...but it was the first of its time I think) That was shut down and taken to court for freely distributing mp3s over a p2p network... honestly that didn't last long. Now it's back (with many more in its place as well) and now p2p are thriving freely or with no complaints. (the total opposite of the fansub problem) Besides that fact, you don't see companies around the world getting together to stop the warez problem (or single companies doing the same for their products), where when it comes down to price per disk, in my own opinion, it far outweighs anime. (Depending on the program, it can cost $700 to buy and you can go out and get an anime for $30) When it comes down to it, when you have something (DVD/CD/Software) that can be used with a computer, piracy will exist, there is no way around it unless it was law that no one was able to use computers, DVD burners/CD burners, buy DVD+/-R/RW and CD-R/RW, the internet, etc. Even dvd/cd copyright protection built into the disc has its limits. Honestly I don't know how long this will last...but in a few years it might turn out like the mp3 problem and warez problem and will everyone be turning their heads again? |
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michelle
 Posts: 29 Location: Canada |
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It's probably a lot easier going after small-time North American fansubbers than Asian-based bootleggers, but it sure doesn't seem fair. I'd slipped into the thinking that the Japanese companies didn't care about English-based subs at all/as much as the American companies holding those language licenses, since it's not immediately impacting their sales (on products the mainstream public can't view OR understand). Japanese companies just don't seem to give a d*mn about anyone outside their little island. But they get jumpy really fast at the possibility of our much cheaper (legally licensed) products coming back in. *mutters something about region coding*
I'd much rather they direct their efforts towards bootleggers who are distributing physical product to unsuspecting fans, and turning a profit on it. Digital fansubs will most likely go the way of the dinosaur once they outlive their usefulness anyway.
Doubt Japanese companies are even aware of the 'ethics' of fansubbers. And considering how unlikely it is they'd even be able to compose a readable English e-mail...a court order would be easier 
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Jetto
 Posts: 49 Location: Hattiesburg, MS |
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Really, I'm kind of mad that some people are upset that the ACTUAL creators of anime are trying to get what's rightfully theirs. I hope they DO go after fansubbers. While I do download naruto every week *cough*, it wouldn't upset me one bit if they stopped subbing/scanlating it. When you get down to it, fansubbers aren't really needed anymore. Most of today's subbers don't even sub to promote anime; they do it for their own personal egos, and to be praised by n00bs everywhere, or to have a popular irc channel. There, I said it.
The days of good anime "possibly not making it to the US" are over. The times have changed, and if 'fansubbers' really want to benefit the anime community, there are much more reasonable methods, short of mass distributing intellectual property. Anime has hit the mainstream, and you better believe that anything doing reasonably well in japan has a great chance of making it here. I would have never thought Spiral would have made it to NA, but it's coming. One more thing. If Japanese companies would just put english subs on their r2 dvds, this problem would be solved, because I would have no need to buy from anyone but them. This wouldn't hurt domestic sales at all either, because the mainstream anime fan probably doesen't even watch anime in its original language, and they make up most of the domestic market. Problem solved, heh. Oh yeah, fansubbers didn't introduce me to anime, FUNimation did. It's funny how we have more respect for the former than the latter, as I doubt anyone was introduced to anime from fansubs. We need to start a region 2 subs petition, or something... o_O |
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cookie
Former ANN Editor in Chief
 Posts: 2460 Location: Do not contact me for support. |
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When there are more weekly BT downloads of Naruto than there are sales of most anime DVDs (even when adding the sales of Japanese DVDs) then yes, there might be a tiny problem. |
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Zeiram
 Posts: 317 |
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ethics?
what ethics? Search online for databases that specialises in fansubs, you will find half ot it as illegal. The ethics have gone down the toilet. Some fansubebrs are quitting in protest to this, not near enough, but hey, who wins the battle anyways? |
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BannSidhe
Posts: 1 |
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If this was the 1980's and we were talking about *traded* VHS tapes, I'd agree. I can go to numerous websites now and download the bittorrent file for such shows as Naruto and Pretty Guardian Sailormoon, and sadly have them the *NEXT DAY* after airing. I don't even mean compressed versions with visual degradation, but straight up dvd quality MPEG copies of the raw show. This doesn't encourage purchasing and upkeep of the industry at all, as a matter of fact, the Otakon panel discussed how many asians will simply just grab these versions and burn them to dvd. Worse yet, HK dvd's will be made from them and sold, undercutting the Asian market's prices and bringing it to the US market well before and distributor could.
Except they do care in that they can ask a LOT more from companies for "good" shows. If I remember correctly also, many also do get their final numbers depending on the amount sold in the US. (aka- royalty system) If they don't, they can simply stop allowing a company to distribute at the end of the license period simply because they have not cracked down enough on the pirates. Or worse yet, they could just stop selling to the US period.
Region coding was hardly for targetting ANIME only. Please don't bother to go there.
In essence, they are directing it at said bootleggers whom are using those digital fansubs. As a side note: when exactly would they outlive their usefulness as they constantly approach near perfection in look? |
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Emerje
 Posts: 7411 Location: Maine |
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Actually, they'd all be illegal. There's no such thing as a legal fansub, or else it wouldn't be a fansub. Since they aren't paying for rights and royalties they're doing the exact same thing as bootleggers; only difference is that bootleggers work through deception and profit and fansubbers don't, but it's all the same to the law. You also have to keep in mind that if we can get a hold of a fan sub, so can the Japanese which is why the Japanese industry wants to see it stop. Emerje |
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cyrax777
 Posts: 1825 Location: the desert |
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bah it will just push it back underground the way it always was.
plus give em a week if that and the stickers will be counterfited. |
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Kazuki-san
 Posts: 2251 Location: Houston, TX |
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Go point Zeiram, but in actuality they are ALL illegal. Since a show does not have be licensed in the US to fall under international copyright law. I'm at work now, but will put in my 2 cents when I get home 
Edit: Notices Emerjie beat him to it. I swear I wasn't copying
Last edited by Kazuki-san on Mon Aug 23, 2004 3:30 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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michelle
Posts: 29 Location: Canada |
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They nearly have already, looking at how quickly shows get licensed nowadays (and the sheer number and variety that do). I'm not even sure why anyone becomes a digisubber anymore, since they'll have to drop a project almost immediately. I barely get a chance to get interested in a title and think of downloading an episode before it's licensed =) However, that's assuming people stop distributing. I don't find the quality of digisubs to be anywhere near perfection, and much prefer a professional translation and package. But obviously I'm in the minority =( I'm one of those rabid PGSM downloaders too. I don't hold out much hope of it being licensed anytime soon. Naruto on the other hand... |
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Vekou
 Posts: 329 |
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Awesome. Go Japan.
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Nishida
Posts: 2 |
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Japan can do what it wants. However, American companies speed is still not tolerable from my point of view. Its like 2 years after an anime airs before you can get the whole series on DVD. American companies are licensing many things and very slowly releasing them. Bandai is great though. They release some good stuff. The shows bandai licenses are just great.
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radicaledward
Posts: 776 |
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For some reason I find that a bit hard to believe number wise, I don't suppose you have some figures on that?
Half true, there is such thing as a legal fansub, but quite likely it is going to be mostly un-applicable to the anime industry. In short you can legally sub (fansub) any movie that is in the public domain. Same deal applies to any written work as well. Also, it would still be legal (to the best of my knowledge) for me to buy the DVD and make a fansub for my own personal use. However, if you release a script of the show, or a translation of a written work while it is still protected without the permission of the author/rights holder you are committing copyright infringement, not any sort of thief regardless of what the RIAA may tell you. [rant]I know this is a being a bit anal, but it’s a pet peeve of mine to see people wantonly dismiss something as being illegal. Awhile back there was a corporate movement to make emulators illegal and the argument was there was no legitimate reason for people to have one, which is quite incorrect, programmers generally use them on a daily bias.[/rant] Quite likely the companies would go after the sources of may of the bootleggers to cut off their supply (bootlegging in and of itself is very hard to stop) so if the bootleggers are using fansubs for their source media then the best way to stop bootlegger is to target the fansub group.
Compared to Japan we get the series at about the same speed at which it comes out over there, and cheaper than you would expect to pay for the DVD in Japan (however, that comparison is not entirely fair as most things in Japan are more expensive). Odds are we could expect to start seeing some releases being released in both Japan and North America in the near future. |
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Pandemonium
Posts: 102 Location: Canada, NS |
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Aren't the bootlegs that we are actually talking about, raws, not fansubbed materials. So really they should go after neither fansubbers or bootleggers, they should be going after raw providers, which is the root of the problem. |
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