I was going to write an open letter to anime fans regarding fansubs one of these days, but now I think I can convey the same information by linking Justin Sevakis’ awesome open letter and quoting a line from this response editorial:
You, the [Japanese] studios, can get the scripts into the hands of an English translator long, long before the fansub groups have ever seen them…Remember that ultimately, all a fansubber can offer is subtitles. You can one-up them. Tie something to [a] membership.
Allow me to add to this one point:
Fansubbing and downloading fansubs (or even fan-uploaded raws!) ARE ILLEGAL.
I’m not going talk about the ethics of them, and I definitely think that the anime industry needs to wake up and take positive action towards meeting the demand that fansubs meet rather than negative action towards closing down fansubbers, which is a waste of time.
But that doesn’t make fansubs legal. They are a violation of international copyright law. Stop making shit up to say that it isn’t.
| View blog authority |  Stumble it! | Share |
November 25th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
I agree that they do need to get the anime to the masses a lot sooner than has been happening. The world is a lot smaller now thanks to the internet. I, for one, know that it is illegal, but do I do it anyways? Yes. As long as I have the opportunity to watch a show that has yet to come overseas, then I, the weak-willed individual that I am, will probably keep doing it. But will I keep buying it? Of course. If for any reason to keep hte anime industry going.
November 25th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
I was under the impression that fansubs were in the ‘gray area’ of copyright law. I stand corrected. :)
I wonder though, how they could promote anime legally and not lose the niche markets - slice of life series and the like. Those are hard to show in one minute previews in dvd extras. Even if a free episode was shown, that may not be able to get the story across.
Oh well, I guess time will tell.
November 25th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Anime distributors also need to improve the product they are selling. I’m sorry, when I get better image quality from a fansub, I’m less than happy with my dvd experience. Sure, I get a 5.1 english dub, but I don’t normally watch dubs.
November 25th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Something’s only illegal if the majority of people agree it is.
For instance, at the moment more and more people are finding ways to excuse themselves about illegal music and other media downloading. The result is that the established recording giants are dying - spending vast amounts of money on persecuting nobodies in the middle of nowhere (not to mention Grannies etc) to try to stem the tide. As has been seen, all this does is further alienate them in the eyes of the public, and hastens their demise. Manga and anime fansubbing and downloading forms a small drop in the ocean of downloading, and is less damaging to it’s respective industries compared to music and movies, as it arguably performs an advertising function and carries less dead-weight (i.e. coke-sniffing corporate party-goers). I’m not going into that well-worn debate, but I think the next few years will see a major change in how money is made in the media sector due to the effects of the internet. I think it can be a good thing.
November 25th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
@B1: Actually, something is “illegal” if it violates a statute, regulation or other law…like Internet copyright law.
Whether it has a positive effect on the industry in the long run or not is really irrelevent as far as that goes. ^_^; And I’m not disagreeing that it might; just that it has nothing to do with whether it’s illegal or not.
November 25th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
@gia, yes I know how an activity violating statutes etc. is illegal - what I’m saying is that people write those statutes, which makes them, ultimately, the law. Laws change to suit society.
I believe that the internet has had a far wider-reaching influence than most people were expecting (I know I’m included in that number); it has almost overnight changed the way the world does business - even how it perceives business as a concept. It seems that the old business models are rapidly becoming redundant in some areas. Perhaps it’s time to throw out the old models (instead of hiding behind Court decisions decided by the depth of a companies’ pockets) and start thinking up some new ones. I was reading some suggestions for just that with regard to the music industry a few days ago. Suggestions included supporting bands by more live events and merchandise sales (and excluding the previously mentioned ‘executives’ from the loop). Maybe new approaches are needed for the anime industry too.
November 25th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
@B1: So…you’re saying that although it’s technically illegal now, you think it might not be in the future?
Hmm.
Well, I definitely think new approaches are necessary.
November 25th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
I’d love to see a subscription service-type setup for getting “fansubs” directly from the Japanese companies, for example, a buck an episode for a day-after-air sub (followed by a US company release of the DVD with dub, whenever they get around to it, and they can negotiate for themselves if they want to air dubs on tv stations). I’ll even sit through (by which I mean, fast forward through) some US advertisements, like I would if it was broadcast locally. How hard would it be to set up localization groups to sell ads? Not very.
In a way, we have already paid for what we’re watching, in the form of advertising. Code Geass seems to have 5 obvious Pizza Hut placements per ep, and I patronize Pizza Hut, and that’s not the only show. So, for the sake of international bottom lineage, instead of using the McDonald’s logo upside down, or making the Mac logo into some other kind of fruit, how about we just tap into that? (I’d hate to see all the Japanese signs fucked with, product placement is already working in movies…)
November 25th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Yep - go back a few hundred years in my country (UK) and you’d find people forced into paying taxes on their windows. The result? Houses had their windows boarded up or made smaller, and eventually that particular tax law was removed. We’re brought up to respect the law and sometimes I think we believe it represents what is absolutely right and just. I don’t think that’s always true - sometimes it’s just there to help society to function as we want it to at the time, but requirements change and so can laws.
November 25th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
@Kitsune: But most things advertised in Japan would not be available here. Pizza Hut is an exception ^^; But another frequent product placement item, @nifty? No dice for Americans ;)
@B1: That’s still a little different from it actually being legal, or even from it not being illegal. I mean, I can’t get away with stealing money from people because I think it might become legal, even if I have good standing to think it ^^;;
Of course, my point in the post, which you have not actually refuted, is that it’s illegal at this moment, regardless of all the ethical justifications people may present. ^_^;
November 25th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Well, yeah, not everything has a one=one product placement, but if they started thinking in that vein, it might work out. (Of course, in reality, they would actually do this product placement thing, but still make you pay through the nose for the show.) Anyway, what wasn’t paid for with product placement could still be made in embedded commercials, as well as on the download site.
November 25th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
It’s true, we are all criminals. I’m not sure if I can handle the rugged sexiness of being a rebellious law-breaker, but I’ll try my best.
Should anyone be overwhelmed by my manliness, I’ll be in my room watching shojo. Correction: illegal shojo.
November 26th, 2007 at 8:28 am
I really think that fansubs these days are like any other struggle at this point, fansubs are to anime as Mp3s and copying DVD’s are to america. The problem is technology has caught up, and theres nothing that can be done to slow the consumers advances. I understand we’re supposedly hurting the industry, but I know every series I like goes in my to buy list. Nothing angers me more than an anime fan who won’t pay for an american release, because they can download fansubs, which most use the excuse of the pricing issue, look at Bandai Visual, our pricing is cheaper than the place its created. I partially think both sides America and Japan are also partially scared, because people can sort out between the good stuff, and the bad stuff for free. In conclusion, I feel thta nothing can be done to deter fansubing, it survived the blank tape eras, it can survive this.
November 26th, 2007 at 8:30 am
coreection: as copying DVDs, and MP3s to the american entertainment industry.
November 26th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
so does this post mean you’re gonna stop downloading fansubs, gia? cuz i know that you do download them
November 26th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
@Kyouki (yes, I can see your IP addy– nice try): Did I say anyone should stop? No.
However, people try and fool themselves into thinking it’s legal and then they go and tell OTHER people that it’s legal and then everyone’s confused.
So, I’m just correcting misinformation: download fansubs all you want for all I care, but be aware that you are breaking the law.