'Manga' publisher airs Net English version

[daredemonai]

Read original article here.

Monday, April 27, 2009
'Manga' publisher airs Net English version

Kyodo News

Shogakukan Inc., in a rare move as a publisher, will allow people in the United States to read English versions of "manga" comic stories on the Internet at the same time as it publishes the original printed versions in Japan.

For your perusal: An English version of a "manga" comic story by popular manga artist Rumiko Takahashi is shown on the Web site for American fans.
KYODO PHOTO

The quick distribution of the "authorized" English version is aimed at discouraging illegal replicas of Japanese comics being made mainly in the United States and Europe, the publishing house said.

Bootleg versions of manga have often been seen published online just several days after the authentic vernacular version has come out in Japan, a practice that has frustrated manga publishers of Japan.

Shogakukan has shown "Rin-ne" by popular manga artist Rumiko Takahashi on a Web site of VIZ Media LLC based in San Francisco.

Registered viewers can read Takahashi's work in English on VIZ Media's site free of charge, Shogakukan said.

But they can browse the site only in the United States and the online manga cannot be printed.

Shogakukan, publisher Shueisha Inc. and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions Co. set up VIZ Media to publish Japanese manga books overseas in English.

 

[desioner]

While I understand what they're trying to do it won't stop it entirely. Also what ever method they plan to use for the prohibition of printing can easily be circumvented. I'll give them due credit for being the first to do such a thing and possibly pave the way for others to follow. I'm sure that they'd be pleased if they could make something from it too, however the business model will need to be refined.
desioner

 

[daredemonai]

I give credit to Shogakukan for at least acknowledging and trying to adapt to the changing reality of the dissemination of "intellectual property." Until now, the big manga publishers (like all the biggest copyright controllers around the world) have been playing a futile game of "whack the mole" with scanlators and fansubbers.

I find it interesting that they are currently limiting this venture to English and to the U.S., despite the fact that the most egregious violations of copyright are carried out in Chinese (and to a lesser extent, Korean). What that tells me is that they are choosing their fights. They know they can entice American readers (or at least advertisers) to fork over some money eventually, whereas similar efforts would be wasted on the Chinese-language market.