Sorry too lazy to read can you please tell me the point of your statement? Make it short and easy to understand please
Just read the excerpts if you don't want to read the whole article.
Okay, let's see if I can summarize this concisely without omitting the main points.
Basically, scanlation=technically illegal
But...
Japanese Manga Publishers let it slide, because they benefit from it.
Scanlation=Increased Worldwide Interest=Increased Worldwide sales
Japanese Manga Publishers don't take action MOST of the time against scanlation projects when the manga they scanlate is not produced and sold in English.
Scanlating manga sold in English=BAD. Publishers and artists lose money and will prosecute for this crime.
IF THE ARTIST OR PUBLISHER ORDERS SOMEONE TO STOP DISTRIBUTING COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL, OR VIEWING IT FOR FREE, THE SCANLATOR AND FANS MUST STOP. Many scanlation projects are not prosecuted, but these CAN and the WILL be.
Scanlating manga and/or manhwa that is sold in English legally threatens scanlation as a whole. If scanlation groups and aggregate websites do not honor the wishes of the publishers, they have the power and ability to shut it all down.
Scanlating against the wishes of publishers and authors and decreasing their profits is essentially biting the hands that feed us.
Oh i get it now... thank you for the explanation
I posted this elsewhere, but I figured I should post it on this front page since so many have asked about the legality and the ethics behind scanlation, and why certain scanlations projects are viewed as being okay, while others are not. Even if all of it is technically illegal, there are very important discrepancies between ethical scanlation and unethical redistribution.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2006/09/07/arts/fans-lift-j-culture-over-language-barrier/#.WRNLN-tOKrU
Some excerpts:
"Jason Thompson, a professional freelance editor who has worked for several major U.S. manga companies, claims that “although few or no American manga publishers ever mention them, scanlations have become extremely important to the American manga scene. They’re a way of gauging a title’s popularity. If the scanlations are popular, you know that a title has a fanbase.”
“AK of Troy,” owner and main translator of the site Toriyama’s World (www.toriyamaworld.com ) named after Akira Toriyama, creator of the much-loved “Dragon Ball” series, says, “I don’t think scanlating affects the sales of the books when they are eventually licensed because the best-selling series in the U.S. are also the ones that were scanlated the most.”
An unspoken agreement seems to exist between scanlators and manga publishers. When a series is officially licensed for English-language publication, scanlators are expected to police themselves. For instance, when three of Toriyama’s World’s most poplar manga offerings — “Bleach,” “Fullmetal Alchemist,” and “Naruto” — were due to be released in officially licensed editions, the site took their scanlations offline. But pockets of stubborn scanners refuse to give in."
This is why posting comics that are professionally translated into English and are sold in English is such a big no-no. English releases being behind other language distributions is not an excuse. It pisses off the publishers. It pisses off the authors. And it threatens our happy existence reading free scanlations, because it makes publishers want to shut this whole system down. If we want to maintain this happy place, we need to follow the unspoken agreements.