CBR: Manga Publishers Targetting Scanlation Sites

[CBR News]

Viz Media has announced that a coalition of manga publishers, including Viz, TOKYOPOP and others, have formed a coalition in order to seek legal remedies to to the proliferation of illegal scanlation websites.


Full article here.

[zeno99]

Why do these publishers think they'll succeed if other companies facing the same problems have failed? The music industry has been fighting piracy for years and still can't put a substantial dent in it. The same goes for the gaming and film industries.

When one piracy site goes down, two more take it's place.

[Kolymar]

Zu den Haien schicken!

[xheight]

Piracy is one thing but market choice is another. Scans and more importantly the translations are fan driven not editor and marketing picks. Simply one can find material in scan that one can't get anywhere else. Effectivly the publishers want the right to be censors.

BOO! and BOO! on industry collusion.

[Drink]

Yeah, how dare these companies even try to protect their intellectual properties and profit margins?

It may be futile, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't do anything.

[Baje Comic Fan]

I can see where these companies want to protect their interests but if they really want to stem the problem they must understand that their mangas are not available all over the world. There is nowhere in my country to buy mangas but there are many fans of mangas. They should try and get their products out there and I am sure many of the fans here would pay to read.

[Tori Pagac]

well im glad this is happening on one hand im sad on the other not every manga gets translated so for those losing these sites will stink but thats life

[dupont2005]

I can see where these companies want to protect their interests but if they really want to stem the problem they must understand that their mangas are not available all over the world. There is nowhere in my country to buy mangas but there are many fans of mangas. They should try and get their products out there and I am sure many of the fans here would pay to read.

Open a store then and corner the market.

[OverMaster]

Open a store then and corner the market.

Yeah, like that's such an easy thing to do in a country with no pre-existing large scale market. Dream on.

[Sabrina_Fried]

I just hope that maybe they will pair their efforts with a serious move to produce legal digital manga and maybe shorten the lag time between a comic's Japanese release and the release of the official translation.

Maybe they will even have digital-only releases of niche books that would otherwise never get an official translation.

The coalition should be coming up with some carrots, to go along with their stick.

Sabrina

[buzz86]

I find this very moronic, I like some mangas but specifically I am hoping this doesn't create a prerequisite for BDs. I like the ability to read the book asap if I really like the story rather than waiting years (and years sometimes) for some american company to get around to deciding a translation would make them money and a lot of BD properties change companies so it could be years between volumes.
More on topic I liked deathnote from years before on these kinds of sites, now the books are out and my shelf is full i'd have dismissed it as a fad if I had found out about it along with everybody else.
If they want their precious IP protected then they should try simultaneous release in all countries. I like Largo Winch but I am currently volumes ahead of the storyline of what was officially translated. Then if I see them on amazon.com or when I am browsing at my favorite book store i'll make a purchase. These companies need to learn we have the internet now which comes with people looking for instant gratification and rabid fans willing to spend hours and hours translating it so rather than waiting for your american division to decide to release your successful property we want it NOW NOW NOW.

[dupont2005]

Yeah, like that's such an easy thing to do in a country with no pre-existing large scale market. Dream on.

I think he said in his post that there is a large scale market.

[DanielRandKai]

Stop making excuses for stealing product. Your lack of patience shouldn't be someone else's loss.

No matter how you slice it, you are STEALING from someone, not just from some faceless corporate entity.

People lose jobs because of piracy. So well done you for taking what you can't wait for and wrecking other people's livelihood.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/2/19/

[Ratwedge]

Wow.

Like we havent heard all this before. I mean, it obviously worked for the gaming and movie industry. Oh wait. lulz.

Stop making excuses for stealing product. Your lack of patience shouldn't be someone else's loss.

No matter how you slice it, you are STEALING from someone, not just from some faceless corporate entity.

People lose jobs because of piracy. So well done you for taking what you can't wait for and wrecking other people's livelihood.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/2/19/

Chill brah, no need to quote Penny Arcade on us. Also people can make all the excuses they want or do you want to curtail the Freedoms of Speech to support your stand?

[Mercurialblonde]

The piracy is just a symptom of a need that isn't being tapped. There's a lot of money to be made for these companies in this area, but until they stop spending money on lawyers and start spending it on getting the product out to people, the more piracy will exist.