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Fansubbers Under Fire
CNet is running a story about new developments in the fansubbing world. The article provides some background, and then discusses
Media Factory's recent letters to fansubbers demanding removal of their shows. Historically the studios have turned a blind eye towards the work of the fansubbers, and the assumption has always been they they secretly approve since the fans work is amazing market research. I've bought countless DVDs based entirely on the work of fansubbers, so I hope that this isn't the beginning of the end.
have they learned nothing from the collapse of the record industry?
Young Girl: Oh no! A man with mirrored sun glasses!
Evil Man: Ha ha ha ha ha!
Young Girl: What are you doing? What's in that suitcase?
Evil Man: Ha ha ha ha ha! I have my Rapectopus in this suitcase!
Young Girl: NOOOOOOOOO!
Evil Man: Ha ha ha ha ha! Now I will release my tentacled monster! He will delve freely into your nether-regions! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
For those who may not be familiar with such translations:
....
In A.D. 2101
War was beginning.
Captain: What happen ?
Mechanic: Somebody set up us the bomb
Operator: We get signal
Captain: What !
Operator: Main screen turn on
Captain: It's You !!
Cats: How are you gentlemen !!
Cats: All your base are belong to us
Cats: You are on the way to destruction
Captain: What you say !!
Cats: You have no chance to survive make your time
Cats: HA HA HA HA
Captain: Take off every 'zig'
Captain: You know what you doing
Captain: Move 'zig'
Captain: For great justice
So - I watch a few fansubbed anime tv series. Most notably - every Wednesday night (or so) "Naruto" is fansubbed and torrented. It had aired hours before in Japan, on broadcast television. A group of fansubbers was kind enough to translate the spoken Japanese to a pretty good English equivalent - and encode it up in a convenient movie format.
This content is not, and perhaps will not, ever be available to me otherwise. Yes - I've a general interest in learning Japanese. No - it won't be enough anytime soon (if ever) to be able to enjoy these shows without translations.
When series are licensed by companies, the fansubbers (generally) shut down [or at least have the decency to go 'underground' - where I don't care to follow] - this is pretty much how I know something has been licensed, and I suck it up and deal.
So, legally - morally - etc. What are peoples opinions? Am I a bad evil man?
I don't think so. Dattebayo!
cyn, free software and *nix operating systems enthusiast.
Kind of a critical fact, thanks.
The only reason I came to the article was to brush up on my vocabulary. I thought for sure my kid was going to make a reference to 'fansubber' one day soon and i'd appear to be more out of touch than I actually am.
And here I immediately thought it was like a 'fluffer' or something.
Anime are Japanese cartoons. Just because it involves tentacle rape of a teenager doesn't mean it's not a cartoon.
Aargh, FUNimation. May they forever burn in HFIL.
Cartoon underground!
Fansnubbing is nothing new, why just the other day I got snubbed by some kind of Hollywood star and I'm not going to sue him or demand that he say hello to me or anything. Why bother?
Why are you encouraging people to steal their employer's time and resources for a personal, non-work hobby?
Said the AC at work!
Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
Why of course! They are "losing" money everytime when you merely think about their sacred, divine "intellectual property" "product". If you were a good citizen of the corporate republic, you would have immediately run and "bought" the "product" because by thinking about it, you are "experiencing" in part the "joy" of the "product" and thus "depriving" its "creator" of his justly deserved "revenue".
P.S. Don't forget to buy individual copies for each time you plan to "experience" it, think of the poor starving "content producers"! Think of the children!
yarrrrrrr! Avast ye, ye scurvy Fansubber! I be dubbing this film with me own words! YARRRRR!
The only reason I came to the article was to brush up on my vocabulary. I thought for sure my kid was going to make a reference to 'fansubber' one day soon and i'd appear to be more out of touch than I actually am.
Yeah, it'll be useful for us parents when the FBI comes knocking on the door with a warrant for the seizure of computer equipment for illegal distribution of fansub materials... at least we'll have some idea what our kids are accused of...
-- If god wanted me to have a sig, he'd have given me a sense of humor.
I know that's the first thing I wondered... I had to actually read the article to find out what the hell they were talking about... ...and then discovered that I didn't care. ;)
BlackNova Traders
We kindly ask you to repost your comment without using that many "ironic" parentheses.
Cordially,
"Committee" for "Proper" "Sentence" "Construction"
Man is a slave because freedom is difficult, whereas slavery is easy.
Except, you know, without the quality control and in lower quality.
If you knew what the true definition of the word "otaku" was, you wouldn't call yourself one.
Farm work builds strength and stamina, and once she's strong enough then there's good money to be made killing kidnappers down at the lake. With that you can fund plenty of schooling in magic, fencing, fighting and dance (yes, dance - good for her coordination, not to mention social attributes). Careful about the Sin rating, unless you want her to go on to become queen of the underworld. Don't bother trying to put her on diets, it only hurts her attitude and hitpoints, and you don't get that much bonus from the kinky outfits anyway.
(I know this is a pretty geeky sort of place, but will anyone get this?)
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.