Further anti-fansub sentiment
It is not only Odex condemning fansubs as of late, the most recent attack comes from Arthur Smith, president of G.D.H. International (owners of Gonzo), during an interview carried out by ActiveAnime.
Smith, who has been working in the anime industry since 2000, describes fansubs as the ’single biggest global threat to the anime industry’.
In the remainder of the interview Smith goes on to say that fansubbers, and those who support in distributing fansubs, are the main factor contributing to a 30% decrease in the size of the US Anime market.
The interview does carry a few positive notes, namely the steps that Gonzo are taking to expand its distribution channels (by using iTunes and XBox Live) and how in the next 6-12 months we should see a decrease in time it takes to get anime released in the US.
Here are a few statements Smith made during the interview:
We are working to bring release dates in the US and elsewhere closer to Japan release, but viewing fan subbed versions before official release is not different from smashing the window of a Mac Store and taking an iPhone the day before it is released.
Fan subbing is only the first part of the problem….the other part is those who post fan subs on Bit Torrent sites and YouTube etc. and those sites who actually sell our content without any permission and without paying any royalties….I am sure you know which sites I am talking about!! They charge a monthly fee for free downloads….these sites are all illegal.
Fan subs are DEFINITELY hurting the industry A LOT because they are part of the illegal file sharing activities going on everywhere on the web – how else can anyone explain why the overall DVD market in US is down 15% and anime DVD market, even though interest in anime is GROWING much faster than other types of programming, is down 30%!! How can that be, if not through the impact of file sharing!?!
We’ll have to concentrate on safer titles which are aimed more at Japan market and also we’ll have to reduce production budgets so the quality of animation will decrease.
Personally I am pro-fansub. ~90% of the anime DVDs I own (quite a few!) were purchased after watching fansubbed versions of the anime beforehand. Also, what of the work fansubs have done to help GROW interest in anime outside Japan? The US anime market would be no where near its current size were it not for all the fansubs available on the Internet.
Charging less for DVDs - as many others have pointed out, there is a large disparity between the cost of anime DVDs compared to regular US shows/movies on DVD - and releasing things quicker (looks like it is being worked on) should help slow the bleeding. Any heavy handed MPAA/RIAA tactics will only help ensure the rapid demise of the US anime market.
What are your opinions on the fansubbing issue?
Let say this, being the great otaku that I am now, if it wasn’t for fan subbed anime I wouldn’t have gotten interested in anime period even with the proposed dvd price cuts. Sure the reason I even got the curiosity to download anime was I repeatedly missed the really good episodes of DBZ on tv and going from one vhs and another to find the episode I wanted to watch supremely annoying. But the thing that the major corps should realize is that most of their sales should come from people who watched the fan subbed anime, and I am referring to this article on cd sales… http://torrentfreak.com/piracy-boosts-cd-sales-071103/
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If it hadn’t been for fansubs, I’d never have found what I consider to be the best anime ever made: Neon Genesis Evangelion (but, that’s just my personal feelings). I not only own the DVD’s, but also the entire managa series, a few books, die-cast Evas and clear-mounted posters. If they start to clear out the fansubs, they’ll only shoot themselves in the foot in the long term.
Makes you wonder about the future of AMV’s as well….
If it hadn’t been for fansubs, I would not have spent 100 euro on the Fullmetal Alchemist movie.
If it hadn’t been for fansubs, I wouldn’t have been gathering money to spend on anime DVDs once winter vacation comes.
Well I see it like this they say fansubs hurt them but truth is it helps them more then they think it hurts. First off if you watch anime fansubs theres a good chance it’ll be years till you see in in america. But my main issue is that ALOT of anime comes on TV in japan so why do i have to pay a ungodly price for something that another can see for free. Money for a tv show is made from sponsors, so if these american companys wanted to be smart then rather then trying to close these sub groups they should support them, in turn keeping track of downloads and that means that the fan subs will be policed and that their sponsors can now make money based off of downloads.
American anime companys = n00bsause
if only I was in a position of power……
So, if its accepted as read that people who create and download fansubs really are dedicated to sharing the art of anime, then maybe its time to move distribution from bittorrent to more secure protocols like MUTE (just one of a multitude of open-source encrypted p2p clients). If people are technicially sophisticated enough to use bittorrent to download fansubs, would you be willing to use a different client that might be slower, but at least hides your IP traffic?
I’ve spent much money for buying Original DVD but I don’t regret it. That’s what otaku’s mean.
After you download Fansubbed anime, did you buy the original after released? No I don’t thing many of you would do that.
If less people buy Original Anime, where can they get money to pay Seiyuu, where can they get money to pay the crew? Did you think money just dropped from the sky so they can produce animes?
The question that needs to be asked: “WHERE’S THE MONEY??!!”
I made the joke about “anime being an expensive hobby for broke people.” But the one comment made by Arthur Smith stuck out for me: “You’re like that person who tripped the shopkeeper while he’s trying to chase down the burglar of his store. So now were nearly about to criminalize all of anime fandom.”
I followed the “honor code.” I always bought what I like; not really relying too much on fansubs. My main gripe is that there won’t be much uncensored h-anime coming to the US/West thanks to bittorrenting and downloading.
And I don’t call myself an otaku since “otaku” are mainly smelly, ugly, annoying, and socially challenged blobs who suck money from out of their parents and can’t even hold a normal conversation with normal people. I still believe it’s a hobby that needs money to continue on. but everyone else had taken it too far.
On a side note: I’m glad that Geneon retreated. JapanAnime should burn to the ground. The guy who runs Bandai Visual USA should be smacked up. Dubs sell in this country, “moe” anime doesn’t, and maybe it’s about time to look seriously into localizing anime as oppose to shoving the “Japan 1st” mantra down people’s throats. We get it now. We bought your cars.
[...] Sharing and Sites which provide anime for downloading and streaming by anime licensing companies is nothing new. Companies such as Odex and FUNimation Entertainment have been previously cited as condemning [...]
As a fan against fan subs for the sole reason that the vast majority of people watch them and move on. It is great that anime fan subs were the driving force behind some purchases or your interest altogether but the sad truth is that a lot of people just watch the fan subs or fan dubs and move on. Sure the show rocked but they don’t want to drop the money for a box set after they have already seen the whole thing. I my self have found what is sure to become my favorite show through a fan dub but once the state that the industry is in was brought to my attention I have stopped downloading and now wait patiently for it to be released in the U.S. What I’m trying to say is that fan subbing in its self isn’t the problem per se but it is the fans that abuse the free material like it is a right and not a gift that are the real problem.