“No Anime For Foreigners Until You Wipe Out Fansubs!”

[ane-san]

The producers of Fractale have reportedly forced Funimation to pull the English language simulcast until they completely wipe out the wicked scourge of fansubbing.
Fractale was initially scheduled to air an English subtitled version at the same time as the Japanese broadcasts, airing even before most of Japan got to see the anime.
However, in spite of the legal option, fansubbers chose to show off their famed sense of ethics by ripping off the stream and illegally distributing it themselves.

The Fractale production committee decided this was unacceptable and ordered Funimation to cancel the English version, with no resumption in sight.

Funimation explains:
“We are disappointed that this series has been distributed illegally, and we’re actively working to remove the first episode from illegal streaming and downloading sites; we’ve got a dedicated anti-piracy team in place that works on controlling all of our simulcast material.
However, our Japanese partners for this series have decided that since this episode is currently uncontrolled and is available illegally in all territories, they don’t want the episode online.”

Oddly, the episode is freely available on Japanese P2P sites yet the production committee has not demanded that Japanese TV stations cease showing the anime until they wipe out the scourge of domestic piracy.
Nor does it seem this kind of heavy-handed and unrealistic response will be anything but counter-productive, as it assures 100% illegal distribution and demands the impossible of Funimation.




via sankaku

 

[EzikialRage]

Why is it Funimation's job to wipe out fan subbers? Its like telling the police in Texas its their job to crack down on criminals in Alaska.

Personally I think that if these anime companies in Japan are pissed at fan subbers then they should in a sense steal the subs from these offending fan subbers and use them to make DVD or steam to online pay sites and etc. Fan subbers can't sue. And maybe these Japanese companies can make a bigger chunk of money buy stamping out the dvds for sales abroad and only sell licenses to companies who are going to make dubs.

 

[Freedom Kira]

The whole situation with regards to the anime industry is just getting worse and worse. This is even dumber than the anime/manga ban. The only way to fully remove so-called "illegal distribution" is to shut down telecommunications entirely, which would, ironically, cease legal distribution/broadcasts as well.

If you make an electronic product and make it available in any form, someone will find a way to take that form and convert it into a shareable form, and proceed to share it. Remember, fansubs existed in the days before the Internet too - they were distributed by the good ol' postal service.

Japan never ceases to confuse me.

 

[Ceewan]

It would seem to me that Funimation is being held personally responsible for the early leak. It is always possible that there is some truth to this as that scenario would seem to explain the situation more clearly.

The problem of course is anything that hurts your ratings is bad for business, so in general exposure is a good idea in order to ensure the future of any production. Taking that into consideration I am sure that this will be resolved sooner rather than later.

 

[Bunni502]

This picture looks like a r*** picture.

 

[Ceewan]

This picture looks like a r*** picture.

Could be the other side of the pillow says yes. I think she is just fickle.

 

[lowleg26]

Could be the other side of the pillow says yes. I think she is just fickle.

Thats correct. I remember a JAV from Yuma Asami called "everyday yes pillow" where she had a double sided pillow like that. She preferred to keep the "yes" side up.
Of course, the movie would've been pretty boring if she didn't. :joker:

Anime companies may want to consider the possible ramifications of this idea before going forward. If they stop the flow of anime to other countries, people might just move to the source!
A massive influx of pasty-faced otaku roaming the streets of Japan! THE HORROR! mg:

 

[thoraxe6668]

I, for one, prefer fansubs. The quality is way better than that of the simulcast sites. having 1 or 2 people translating and timing the subtitles isn't even a comparison to the amount of work/pride that goes into fansubbing. with all the translators, timers, encoders, tlc'ers, and qc'ers, the fansubs have a significant advantage. if the simulcast sites would take all the measures necessary to put out a product of great quality, then, and only then, will I ever consider them as anything but crap.

 

[thoraxe6668]

@EzikialRage: it's not really like asking the police in texas to crack down on crime in alaska. considering the fact that the copyright laws don't really take effect in the U.S unless a company in the U.S. obtains the rights for that particular anime...and to tell you the truth, the anime industry in america would suffer if fansubs were to be completely wiped out. i mean, honestly, who would want to pay $40 for 4 of 300 episodes of some anime that you have never seen on DVD? with the lack of anime on U.S television, the anime industry would be pretty much raping everyone of their hard earned money just because the wanted to watch a particular anime series. i for one am the kind of person that watches fansubs, but if i really like the series, then i will make the purchase at some point to have it in my DVD/Blu-Ray collection. i support the anime industry in America, but i don't really like the way they break up a series into a million DVD's and charge an arm and a leg for each one.

 

[EzikialRage]

..and to tell you the truth, the anime industry in america would suffer if fansubs were to be completely wiped out. i mean, honestly, who would want to pay $40 for 4 of 300 episodes of some anime that you have never seen on DVD? with the lack of anime on U.S television, the anime industry would be pretty much raping everyone of their hard earned money just because the wanted to watch a particular anime series. i for one am the kind of person that watches fansubs, but if i really like the series, then i will make the purchase at some point to have it in my DVD/Blu-Ray collection. i support the anime industry in America, but i don't really like the way they break up a series into a million DVD's and charge an arm and a leg for each one.

I heard that its much worse in Japan. I have heard on other forums that what we pay for four episodes they pay just as much or more for a single episode.

 

[thoraxe6668]

I heard that its much worse in Japan. I have heard on other forums that what we pay for four episodes they pay just as much or more for a single episode.

Yes, Japan is extremely expensive...the original Japanese dvd's/blu-rays only have 2 eps usually, and do cost more, but so does everything in japan...but they have the anime air regularly on tv over there unlike here in the states.

 

[Death Metal]

The only way to fully remove so-called "illegal distribution" is to shut down telecommunications entirely, which would, ironically, cease legal distribution/broadcasts as well.

THIS. Exactly. You know how they say, 4chan style, "dumb decision is dumb."

Also, I will never get into my head why is it "illegal" or "unethical" to distribute something in the internet that was broadcast on television, which is essentially the same. If the fansubs were distributing, for example, uncut versions of something that already has an official english DVD/BD release, I could see the point in complaining, but this? It's just much too senseless to remain silent about.

 

[fastmail86]

distribute something in the internet that was broadcast on television, which is essentially the same.

the ads makes the difference.

 

[Ceewan]

the ads makes the difference.

So true.

I am an avid member and fan of eztv.it/ which hosts popular television show torrent links. It is under constant attack by anti-P2P groups even though it never hosts any music or movie torrent links.

The question one must ask oneself in this instance is ...why? and who is funding these hitman for hire anti-P2P groups? these internet thugs/mercenaries? Because one little publicized fact....these anti-P2P companies do not work for free. These are highly profitable companies and they are in it for the money. So someone is footing the bill.

All I can say for sure is that commercial free television is worth waiting for. Everyone hates commercials. Everyone but the networks that are being paid by them. Perhaps if commercial interruptions were a lot less frequent and intrusive. Perhaps if the networks and the actor guilds were willing to settle for less money in order to make their product more enjoyable to the masses,then these torrents would be less popular,(eztv is one of the most visited torrent sites on the internet). Of course this is not how greedy people tend to think. Greedy people aren't willing to give more, only take more.

So yeah, I can see that ad free fansubs being spread around would get the wrong type of attention.

Please forgive my rant on the subject. It is something I am somewhat passionate about and it also seemed to be applicable with the subject matter at hand.

 

[Ceewan]

Anime Distributor Launches Piracy Assault, Sues 1337 BitTorrent Users

reprinted from torrentfreak.com/


Piracy worries and BitTorrent lawsuits have made their way into the generally very liberal anime industry. Last week, the producers of the new anime series Fractale told distributor Funimation to stop the online broadcast of the their show in the United States over piracy concerns, and a few days later Funimation announced a lawsuit against 1337 alleged BitTorrent downloaders.

fractalePiracy is an issue that is troubling many content publishers worldwide, but the responses to copyright infringement differ from company to company. A great example of how not to stop piracy was made by the the producers of the new Anime series Fractale last week.

In an attempt to stop the illicit distribution of the series, the American anime distributor Funimation was ordered by Fractale’s production company to stop the online broadcast of the series on Hulu. The producers wanted Funimation to get rid of all pirated copies online before the broadcast could continue.

An interesting take on how piracy should be dealt with, and arguably one of the worst things a company can do to stop illicit copies from appearing online. Since the broadcast ban was limited to the US but not Europe, it only created an increased demand for pirated copies, while it did little to stop illegal copies from showing up online.

If there’s one thing that TV-distributors should have learned from stpiracy over the years, it would be that making content unavailable to a certain region actually drives the demand for pirated copies.

Just before the second episode of Fractale was due to be released this week, the show’s producers finally gave the green light for the online broadcast to go ahead in the US. They probably realized their mistake, because pirated copies where still easy to find. Both Fractale episodes are now available to US viewers on Hulu, and the storm appeared to be over.

However, after being involved in this Fractale anti-piracy failure last week, Funimation made headlines in the anime community again yesterday, as the company announced lawsuits against 1337 BitTorrent users. Although the number of defendants reveals some sense of humor, the lawsuits are a serious business.

Funimation has sued the 1337 alleged BitTorrent users for downloading episode 481 of One Piece, and is probably looking to settle with the defendants as soon as they are named. The company is represented by lawyer Evan Stone who also filed suits for various adult entertainment companies last year.

In possibly another inside joke aside from picking 1337 defendants, One Piece is a show about “Straw Hat Luffy” and his crew named the Straw Hat Pirates.

The complaint specifically mentions the BitTorrent sites isohunt.com, kickasstorrents.com and nyaatorrents.org as potentially playing a role in the sharing process. Funimation is requesting that the defendants pay damages and destroy all the works they’ve downloaded using BitTorrent.

The above actions are quite unique in the anime community where, more than in most other entertainment industries, most publishers have been quite lenient towards file-sharers. Aside from the negative PR and the potential settlements that will result from the lawsuit, it is however doubtful that it will do much to stop shows from being shared.

 

[guy]

the ads makes the difference.

Contrary to other business models, in many cases the ads have no significant weight.

In regular television, we commonly think of ads as being sponsors; companies paying the broadcaster money to reserve 15- or 30-second spots for product placement, to target a specific demographic (ie: the people who are watching that show); that money helps pay for the cost of broadcasting.

But with anime in Japan, many studios actually pay the broadcasters themselves (instead of sponsors) to air their shows. There tends to be fewer commercial breaks (compared to other types of shows, such as prime-time drama or variety), and many shows are squeezed into tighter blocks.

Many of those studios rely almost entirely on the sale of goods in order to make money -- particularly DVDs and Blu-rays, which is why they are outrageously priced (eg: only 2 episodes per volume).



That doesn't make it any less illogical, to stop foreign fansubbing. These studios rely on DVD sales for income, but most have no way for foreigners to legally acquire the shows easily (aside from paying exorbitant fees to import them).

Since domestically, DVD sales are already miniscule (compared to viewership), they really ought to study other business models, such as freemiums (eg: products such as Skype, where basic service is free, but extra features cost money).

Under that model, a studio could release their own raws (maybe just 480p and 720p quality). Fansubbers could take freely and provide their own quality subbing. The studios could then take the subbing (which has cost them no money), and in turn publish original goods (1080p subbed Blu-rays, maybe with full 5.1 audio, bonus audio tracks, seiyuu interviews, cut scenes, limited edition artwork or other random things) to sell for income. Since the initial content is provided free, viewership would likely increase (without threat of copyright lawsuit), which in turn would help increase goods sales.

Frankly, fansubbers are their greatest ally (providing excellent translations for free), and it's a shame that many studios don't fully understand this.

Of course, many Tokyo-based studios now also have to deal with Ishihara's anime/manga ban, which doesn't help their financial concerns in the least.

 

[IdolFun]

torrentfreak.com/internet-piracy-boosts-anime-sales-study-concludes-110203/
Internet Piracy Boosts Anime Sales, Study Concludes

A prestigious economics think-tank of the Japanese Government has published a study which concludes that online piracy of anime shows actually increases sales of DVDs. The conclusion stands in sharp contrast with the entertainment industry’s claims that ‘illicit’ downloading is leading to billions of dollars in losses worldwide. It also puts the increased anti-piracy efforts of the anime industry in doubt.

The Japanese Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) has published an elaborate study that examined the effect of piracy on sales and rentals of Japanese anime DVDs. The results are quite remarkable.

http://www.rieti.go.jp/en/publications/summary/11010021.html
Whether or not illegal copies circulating on the internet reduce the sales of legal products has been a hot issue in the entertainment industries. Though much empirical research has been conducted on the music industry, research on the movie industry has been very limited. This paper examines the effects of the movie sharing site Youtube and file sharing program Winny on DVD sales and rentals of Japanese TV animation programs. Estimated equations of 105 anime episodes show that (1) Youtube viewing does not negatively affect DVD rentals, and it appears to help raise DVD sales; and (2) although Winny file sharing negatively affects DVD rentals, it does not affect DVD sales. Youtube’s effect of boosting DVD sales can be seen after the TV’s broadcasting of the series has concluded, which suggests that not just a few people learned about the program via a Youtube viewing. In other words YouTube can be interpreted as a promotion tool for DVD sales.

.