Written by Kyle Barghout, on 13-02-2008 19:21

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Legal and ethical issues

Fansubbers have traditionally held themselves to a common code of ethics and do not commonly see themselves as pirates. Because fansubs are made for fans, by fans, and not usually for commercial purposes, many fans believe that fansubs should never be sold for a profit. They are either given away or sold for exactly the cost required to make them (usually, the cost of a blank cassette plus shipping expenses).

Many fansubs contain subtitle text that reads "This is a free fansub: not for sale, rent, or auction" that pops up during eyecatches, in order to discourage bootleggers from violating this rule. Some sites, however, charge monthly fees for downloads, offering more bandwidth. Most fansubbers usually only work with material that has not been licensed for domestic release in their country of distribution.

If a domestic company licenses a given title then fansub production and distribution of that title stops. An exception, for some, is made when the licensor intends to heavily edit the content without releasing an uncut version, as is the case with 4Kids Entertainment. Fansubbers justify it as the free distribution of something that no one has claimed the right to sell in a particular region and/or country.

They proclaim this is the case for all unlicensed anime, but this overlooks the fact that copyright is respected internationally. When rights have yet to be purchased by a domestic company, they are still owned by the original creators, who have the ability to license them, and the right to control their properties worldwide. A related argument is the fact that fansubs are available for those who don't speak the native language of the intended program, or who don't live in the area it is broadcast to at least have access to it. This is especially true for off-mainstream, or even popular anime and manga that have not and are very unlikely to be licensed for distribution in North America.

Without fansubbing groups, it is likely that Americans would otherwise never be given the option to view such material. Even examples like Yakitate!! Japan and Gintama are widely recognised among the fansub community, yet are still largely overlooked by North American companies, and the Japanese companies producing them show no signs of releasing official or professional subtitled versions for sale overseas. Supporters of fansubbing point to an alleged positive impact it has had on the anime industry through its function as publicity.

There have been several shows that were at first overlooked for US distribution, only to be picked up later when fansubs helped create a buzz about the franchise. One example of this was Azumanga Daioh, now released by ADV Films. At A-Kon 15 in the summer of 2005, an ADV founder admitted that they thought Azumanga Daioh would not be initially popular in America. ADV subsequently decided to license this title after witnessing its popularity in the fansub community. John Sirabella of Media Blasters recently engaged in a long discussion with fans on this topic, stating: "But let's be honest, how many people download and never buy? If I have to count the number of people who come by my table and say I already downloaded that one, I would not need to release any more titles.

The idea that somehow everyone is honest and only downloads to preview and later buy is a fallacy. The other problem with downloads is that you convince the borderline people to go download and not buy because it's so easily available. The people who only download will always download and never buy but it is that bigger audience who then believe "downloads are okay, everyone does it." ...that is the problem and what we are trying to prevent. This is what happened to the music industry..."It is ok to download; everyone does it." "The role fansubs have played in popularizing anime titles received official recognition by at least two major distributors.

In the promotional video announcing the American license of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Kadokawa Pictures USA and Bandai Entertainment specifically thanked fansub watchers and asked them to purchase the official release. This is the first instance of a Japanese company admitting and accepting, but not necessarily supporting the well-intended piracy among fans. Detractors of fansubbing counter by pointing to an alleged "dark side" of fansubbing. While many fansubbing groups stop distributing a show once it is licensed in North America, some continue long afterwards.

However, this goes against the basic principles of ethical fansubbing. If a show is very far along when it is licensed (Bleach, for example, was in the 70s in episode numbers when it was licensed, and Naruto had over 150), then some fansubbers will continue to release later episodes. Again, this may negatively affect the domestic licensor. Companies are working to undermine these dubious fan efforts, as with TV airings, a company can successfully dub over 100 episodes in as little as a two year period. For example, Funimation is working to release their uncut, unedited episodes of One Piece in multiple formats, releasing earlier season sections alongside boxsets more recent episodes in attempt to meet fan demand. VIZ's boxset format releases for Naruto and Prince of Tennis also attempt to deliver larger chunks of a series to fans in a quick and efficient manner.

Longer productions like Naruto and InuYasha are also known to be distributed by fansubbers even after a license is announced. Even after the official licensing of Naruto that came around the release of episode 124, fansubbing groups still distributed the show. Cartoon Network is now airing episodes (up to episode 117 currently) while fansub groups release up to episode 245 and beyond. While it is still true that native language dubs of shows are usually more popular, especially for anime geared at younger audiences like Naruto, an estimated 350,000 people download the current Japanese episode every week online. Naruto and InuYasha were released on uncut subtitled DVDs, though the fansubs continued mostly due to the large difference between the number of episodes released officially and the number of episodes fansubbed.

The distribution of InuYasha fansubs remains dubious however, due to the series completion in the domestic market, the entire series to be completely released on domestic DVD by late 2007. Shows licensed by 4Kids, for example, are considered by some to be "not truly licensed," due to the company's refusal to release unedited versions of their properties. Fansubbers have been the source of subtitled versions of several 4Kids shows, including Tokyo Mew Mew, One Piece, and Yu-Gi-Oh!. This overlooks that 4Kids attempted an uncut bilingual release of Shaman King and Yu-Gi-Oh in the mid 2000s, releasing a handful of volumes of each title in the format, as discussed by Alfred Kahn in an interview with ANN. Kahn stated that "The market for them just isn't as large as the one for the cut version", pointing out that their sales might not have met 4Kids' needs or expectations to continue them. Past market reactions have shown that time might be better spent petitioning 4Kids for a bilingual release, and supporting the uncut release of former 4Kids licenses like One Piece, to show them there is a market for such titles. An older example is Sailor Moon, which was initially licensed by DiC.

After fan demand showed there was a market for the title, uncut, unedited versions of the show, and Pioneer successfully release the Sailor Moon Movies in a subtitled VHS format in 1999, followed by dubbed versions and bilingual DVDs. This was quickly followed by the release of Sailor Moon S and Sailor Moon SuperS, which both received complete unedited releases on VHS and DVD from Geneon. In 2003, the commercial subtitles of the first two seasons appeared, released by ADV Films under license by DIC, completing the uncut release that many fans never believed would be possible. Later, ADV's license of the original Sailor Moon had expired and was not renewed despite honorable sales figures.

However, this is less due to lack of interest, and moreso due to issues with Japanese rights holders as ADV discussed when announcing their boxsets going out of print. Despite this, this is an example that sometimes, companies do make owning the complete series of a given show impossible. Shows like Sailor Moon and [[Fist of the North Star]] have only been partially released in the United States. As mentioned above, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Sailor Stars, the final series in Sailor Moon, has never been released in the United States; and Fist of the North Star saw an initial short release of the long series, stopping production at episode 36, as Manga Entertainment had only licensed this particular season of the anime. Other series that have partial releases include Air Master, Slam-Dunk and Bt'x. These marketing concerns for distribution companies create a gray operating zone for fansubbers. While on the one hand it is true that products like Fist of the North Star are released and licensed in America, only part of the series is available. A fan willing to buy the whole series would find it impossible. However, the lack of support of these products, which fansubs can play a part in, is often a factor in the decision to not continue releasing a series.

The costs of licensing more of the series might not be possible without a successful release of the initial offering. Critics of fansubs assert that digital distribution hurts the US anime industry. However, some argue it has increased anime's fanbase and allowed copyright holders to "make a tidy sum from fans prepared to 'spend thousands of dollars on one show'" both in Japan and America.[16] As evidenced by Sirabella's comments, this isn't always the case. Another problem is the use of putting downloaded fansubs onto bootleg DVDs. Many Hong Kong Bootleggers have begun slapping domestically created fansubs, including the warnings that they're not to be sold, onto their anime releases, further contributing to the piracy aspect of fansubs. The availability of internet fansubs has led to greater piracy than the limitations of VHS fansubs

[Some of the content in this article was provided by Wikipedia]

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