Image -- Is it all a dream?

I know the *problem*, Old... Simply I prefer sites which offers something for free to promote themselves, and not totally "closed" sites than request the immediate closing of a fan site to share his models/manga/passion without make money...
You may take an esample with www.modelsonline.ca: it offers a lot of pics of canadian models, with a free preview of each work, and a members area... I have a free site devoted to Katia Corriveau, the "vip" model of that site, I share something from my own collection, notifyiung my site to modelsonline, and nobody warns me to close!
Some friend of mine tried the same with other models from other sites (Nadine Jansen), which doesn't have previews, and was closed by server admins in few days/weeks for copyright violations!
Now the reality is that is more difficult to find free pics of Katia (out of my free site), while Nadine's fulls Yahoo Groups, p2p servers and others sharing ways!

Hope my idea of *free* is now better explained.

[Fake_Name]

The deal with this manga is that it is copyrighted in japan. However, it can be freely distributed outside of japan.


Technically, you could be prosecuted for distributing something like this. However, it has never happened, even with rampant distribution of "unlicensed" (or not copyrighted outside of japan) anime, which is a much more expensive buisness. Many anime and manga studios actually look at fan distribution as a positive thing, as it get's their brand name out.

[Old_Chestnut]

Originally Posted by Fake_Name

The deal with this manga is that it is copyrighted in japan. However, it can be freely distributed outside of japan.


Technically, you could be prosecuted for distributing something like this. However, it has never happened, even with rampant distribution of "unlicensed" (or not copyrighted outside of japan) anime, which is a much more expensive buisness.

I'm not quite sure these materials may be "freely" distributed outside Japan, but I don't know the full details of their copyright laws and whether this stuff is protected under the Berne Convention. Certainly, the issues concerning copyright and the Internet still haven't been completely resolved...

It's also the case that I also have never heard of anyone being prosecuted for posted manga excerpts on boards or on their sites. My understanding is that the industry in Japan generally feels that the costs of investigation and enforcements would quickly exceed whatever financial "damage" is being done. It's my impression is that the anime, manga, and gaming industries are so huge that they look at what pirating or unauthorized use is taking place as a relative small leak...

Still, I personally make a point of using as small an excerpt of any particular piece as I can to get the point across. Technically, that often exceeds the amount permitted by "fair use", but no one's yelled at me so far...

Many anime and manga studios actually look at fan distribution as a positive thing, as it gets their brand name out.

The doujin circles also get away with this by stating that their works are parody (Kids: don't try this with Disney!) and generally either credit the originator of the characters or avoid using the characters' names directly (sometimes using the infamous O's to blank out part of the character or series name -- *that's* not Tsukino Usagi, just some gal who looks and dresses an awful lot like her...).

As I say, I'm not sure whether the artists and publishers look at all this so much as free advertising or whether sales are generally so good that they don't see it as hurting them all that much.

[CK01]

Japan signed the Berne Convention, so technically it should receive full copyright protection as if it was produced in North America/Any other Berne Convention country, just the reverse should occur.

Just because of the language/distance barrier makes it harder to be hit by legal action, doesn't make it legal.

[Old_Chestnut]

Originally Posted by CK01

Japan signed the Berne Convention, so technically it should receive full copyright protection as if it was produced in North America/Any other Berne Convention country, just the reverse should occur.

Thanks! I suspected that Japan was probably a signatory. So that suggests that it's the economic reason for not chasing a lot of this down: it isn't costing the industry enough to bother. I think a huge press run for a doujinshi is 10,000 and a lot of them probably circulate in much smaller numbers, which is puny compared to the typical numbers for the legitimate publications. (Some manga magazines, for instance, have circulation numbers that would be envied by a lot of *mainstream* magazines in the U.S.)* I think the artists aren't making enough money off the "parodies" to concern the publishers. (I know they *have* been trying to do something about the piracy elsewhere in eastern Asia...)

*There's a reason Takahashi Rumiko is one of the richest people in Japan...

Just because of the language/distance barrier makes it harder to be hit by legal action, doesn't make it legal.

It's really more the distance and international wrangling that's involved, I believe. I think the publishers are not bothering about a lot of it also because the people posting things on the 'Net aren't charging money for others to view it (usually). I haven't looked into how far along the laws have developed on copyrighted material used on the Internet, but certainly some amount of what's going on on boards and sites *is* formally illegal and a lot is dubious.

Anyway, I prefer to err on the side of not posting enough to really tick off someone's Legal Department...

[Fake_Name]

Well, yes.

However, the ammount of effort involved with an international copyright suit makes the entire issue academic, as it will never really happen over a couple of pirated manga.

Also, you must not forget that 98% of the manga published in japan is never even sold in america, with the exception of a couple of small importers. Therefore, why should the manga publishers care if their product is being pirated in a market they don't sell to anyways?

[Old_Chestnut]

Originally Posted by Fake_Name

Well, yes.

However, the ammount of effort involved with an international copyright suit makes the entire issue academic, as it will never really happen over a couple of pirated manga.

Also, you must not forget that 98% of the manga published in japan is never even sold in america, with the exception of a couple of small importers. Therefore, why should the manga publishers care if their product is being pirated in a market they don't sell to anyways?

Heh, do we even get as *much* as 2% in the U.S.? In any case, I agree that they probably don't even worry about American fan activity... My understanding is that the situation with Taiwan is somewhat more serious, enough so that the Japanese publishers have looked into some form of enforcement action.

Part of the difference in the way they deal with such things, compared to how Americans handle it, comes from the fact that the Japanese are much less litigious, relying on social customs to resolve most disputes. They rely on courts much less and so the national legal apparatus itself is miniscule compared to that of the U.S. (Of course, practically *anybody's* is smaller...) They are only now engaging in a program to expand their court system and the number of lawyers.

[BaconExpert]

That last page makes me chuckle. "Phew, they're only really big, not REALLY big." :P

[Fake_Name]

Leave the Dead thread Dead!!!

Don't post to the archives, especially when it's a meaningless post like that one.