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07-28-2009, 06:59 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by MMM View Post
Here is an interesting post about scanlators.

***Parts of this site might be NSFW, but I think this page is OK. No promises, though...

Icarus Publishing

"Another year is going by with anime conventions reporting greater turnouts, all the while general anime and manga sales are sliding. As for ourselves, it seems the more people actually learn of Icarus Publishing’s existence, the further our advance orders drop… probably because our books are getting scanned and shared much sooner. Yet manga publishers still have largely left the scan and ripping scenes alone… why? Because we aren’t like MPAA and RIAA. We don’t want to pick a fight with the fandom, which is not black and white but a gradient; we don’t go after particular groups or websites because we can’t draw an arbitrary line in the sand and say everyone on this side is good and playing by the rules, and everyone on the other side is evil. We must have a conversation, reach out, appeal to reason and morality… and that was what Yen Press was doing. Not everyone may agree on all points, but at the very least approach this with some fairness and honesty."

Thats pretty much (in a way) what you are doing by making this thread, am i right?

Also, at the bottom of the post @ the link, its explained some of the arguments i used -

That said, the role that scanlations played in popularizing manga in the first place is very legit, and Tiamat is right that publishers cannot dismiss that. And another truth that many in the industry may not want to admit or care to understand, especially those that got into the business only after it became big (i.e. major inroads into bookstores), is that the scanlation scene is where many of the technical people… editors, translators, clean up artists, etc… first learned their trade.. Just as most Japanese copyright owners have an interest in giving tacit approval to the doujinshi talent pool, manga publishers must not look at scanlators as some kind of mortal enemy, or they will simply end up fighting themselves

Couldnt agree more. Althought, the good it brings does not justify the bad it brings. (Once again)


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07-28-2009, 07:07 PM

Exactly, Jason.

I think it is good to get a publisher's viewpoint, and it is interesting to notice how he points out how conventions are getting more popular but sales are declining.

In the modern world musicians make almost nothing on album sales. Basically any money made goes to the record companies, but the musicians make money off touring. Even if people steal...sorry, DL their music for free online, the concert is an experience which cannot be duplicated.

Anime and manga makers don't have that to fall back on. I can only gather from the conclusions of his post that more people are taking the stuff for free online.

So then people argue, "Well then, manga publishers need to start working on digital delivery." But if people are reading it for free digitally, are they going to turn around and start paying for it digitally? Many of these same pirates claim to prefer the physical copies. Does it work both ways?
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07-28-2009, 08:19 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by MMM View Post
Exactly, Jason.

I think it is good to get a publisher's viewpoint, and it is interesting to notice how he points out how conventions are getting more popular but sales are declining.

In the modern world musicians make almost nothing on album sales. Basically any money made goes to the record companies, but the musicians make money off touring. Even if people steal...sorry, DL their music for free online, the concert is an experience which cannot be duplicated.

Anime and manga makers don't have that to fall back on. I can only gather from the conclusions of his post that more people are taking the stuff for free online.

So then people argue, "Well then, manga publishers need to start working on digital delivery." But if people are reading it for free digitally, are they going to turn around and start paying for it digitally? Many of these same pirates claim to prefer the physical copies. Does it work both ways?
For the musicians to give a concert, there have to be enough fans buying the tickets. And why are they buying the tickets? If they can listen to it on their Ipod/Mp4 or on their computer/digitally?

Because they are fans, and they want to see the musician to feel that energy and have the chance the even talk to THEM. But in the other hand, they ripped/Burned the CD's from the internet, but are still going to the concerts. Why do they pay 50€ to go to an "more-then-avarage"concert and wont buy a CD who would cost as half as the ticket? (This is talking in general, generalizing it)

Now Manga, does not have a "2nd income" like in the music industry. Well they do, the "spread-the-word" from scanlators who made many TV stations to buy and DUB the rights of certain animes, BUT it is not sufficient to cover the loss. And not every manga have an Anime adaptation.

But even so, with people ripping-off/burning CD's from downloading, sales from highly known bands still make profit. Like the latest album from "Metallica", sold more copies then some of their previous 80's/90s albuns (There were no "downloading" source at that time)

Unfortunatly, Manga does not have a live-acting resort like in the music industry (Concerts). Thats what it makes it "crippled" and hard to find a solution when i compare it to the music industry.

To finalise my statements, i guess that selling digitalized copies wont solve the problem for the simple fact that the mentality of "Manga/Anime" worldwhide fans are to primitive on this subject and their prespective of what a "Manga/Anime" are does not help aswell. What i mean by this? I mean that worldwhide anime/manga "fans" see it as "free" and they dont actualy know that people put effort to it everyday and struggle to survive to give them some enjoyment.

I also think that Manga just need a bit of more time, it is something "recent" to worldwhide fans when comparing to other subjects. I bet the prespective on Mangas/Animes in the next 10 years will be much different.


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08-03-2009, 08:49 AM

Again, another perspective

Manga Xanadu
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08-04-2009, 09:18 AM

Comic-Con '09: Yen Press Adds New CLAMP Manga, Tackles Scanlation Questions

Q: "I was wondering what kind of effect scanlations have had on your most popular titles? I know Shonen Jump / VIZ Media is trying to publish more of their titles online closer to the Japanese release datest to try to address this. What is Yen Press' stance on this issue? Have scanlations affected the sales of your titles?"

Hassler: "It's really tough to say what effect scanlations have on sales of manga. It would be next to impossible to come up with any sort of quantifier to say this X scanlation online equals this many copies (of the licensed print edition) that were not sold. Obviously, scanlations have had the effect of raising awareness of some titles. But at the same time, they have impeded sales of some titles."

"They are illegal usages of art that are often justified with 'Oh, if someone would just publish it, we wouldn't do this scanlation.' But at the end of the day, this is someone illegally using materials that is not their own, and benefiting in some way, shape or form from doing that. It is a process that is very problematic for the market. It's the same as in DVD sales; it's a rare example where you see fan enthusiasm negatively impacting the market."

"Early on in the manga industry, (scanlations) were something that raised awareness. Now I think that it's something that almost any publisher would agree, is something that is impeding our ability to grow our business, and bring the fans the books that they want in the market."
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08-04-2009, 09:34 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by MMM View Post
Comic-Con '09: Yen Press Adds New CLAMP Manga, Tackles Scanlation Questions

Q: "I was wondering what kind of effect scanlations have had on your most popular titles? I know Shonen Jump / VIZ Media is trying to publish more of their titles online closer to the Japanese release datest to try to address this. What is Yen Press' stance on this issue? Have scanlations affected the sales of your titles?"

Hassler: "It's really tough to say what effect scanlations have on sales of manga. It would be next to impossible to come up with any sort of quantifier to say this X scanlation online equals this many copies (of the licensed print edition) that were not sold. Obviously, scanlations have had the effect of raising awareness of some titles. But at the same time, they have impeded sales of some titles."

"They are illegal usages of art that are often justified with 'Oh, if someone would just publish it, we wouldn't do this scanlation.' But at the end of the day, this is someone illegally using materials that is not their own, and benefiting in some way, shape or form from doing that. It is a process that is very problematic for the market. It's the same as in DVD sales; it's a rare example where you see fan enthusiasm negatively impacting the market."

"Early on in the manga industry, (scanlations) were something that raised awareness. Now I think that it's something that almost any publisher would agree, is something that is impeding our ability to grow our business, and bring the fans the books that they want in the market."
Its always nice to have a PoV from Publishers. Thanks for the share. (Althought i was expecting something similar)


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08-04-2009, 10:10 AM

Even though it did raise awareness, I guess the problem is that it's being abused. Seems that when a series gets a license, that they'd stop being scanlated. I've noticed that anyway. Groups would take everything down and all that.

Out of curiosity, where do people get the source to scanlate it in the first place since they're usually raws?
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