I was updating my MAL when I saw a forum thread on the Fate/Zero BD box. After reading through five pages of ranting and bantering, I chuckled and thought I'd express my two cents here (I don't post on forums I don't frequent).
People were all excited when they saw the news of F/Z getting released here. Then they saw the price, and all hell broke loose. XD
For most of the people in the thread, their main reasons for going against the purchase were 1) too expensive, not willing to pay that much and 2) why pay at all? Just download.
First of all, I completely agree with user jmal. Aniplex's release of F/Z for North America is not aimed for the general anime market, hence the direct R2 import packaging and price. Sure, it's very expensive by my standard as well, but it's still cheaper and easier than importing from Japan.
I think what a lot of people posting in the thread are mistaken on, is that they think of this as a R1 release when it's not. Aniplex is only expanding its R2 market to North America, not adding to the rosters for the R1 market. This took me a while to realize. But once I did, I can totally understand their pricing and distribution models. I'd still complain, mind you, but I don't blame them anymore.
As for reason 2), I admit I've been downloading 720p episodes of F/Z. But I also placed the pre-order for the box. In fact, I was prepared to pay any price for the BD from Aniplex as I noted in the initial 3-episode review for the fall season anime.
People who would use reason 2) are people who would never buy anything (or legit products) in the first place. I have yet to interact with anyone in this category as I usually ignore such postings. But if I come across one, even if the person shows a great deal of knowledge from watching all sorts of shows, I would not respect the person if none of his/her source was obtained legally, before or after.
Of course, I'm not trying to wash my hands of illegal downloads as I do it all the time. But I also put in thousands of dollars each year because I want to show my appreciation for the wonderful series and contribute to the rightful owners who created and presented them. I don't like leeches and don't want to be one.
Showing posts with label Copyright. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Copyright. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Gene Simmons' son Plagiarizing Bleach?
Neko-tan passed me the link, and I must say I'm amazed by the nerve and stupidity of some people. Seriously, Bleach and even people's DeviantArt? Did the guy think that comic book readers wouldn't notice, that readerships don't cross over between comic and manga? I mean, come on, Bleach is one of the best known and followed series in North America. And stealing someone's personal artwork is more unforgivable than plagiarizing a published work in my book.
I have no idea who Gene Simmons or his son is. The only Simmons I know is Mark Simmons, who is known as the Gundam expert in the English-speaking world. Never read his famed work Gundam: The Official Guide, though, as I prefer to read up on my Gundam in its original Japanese.
Anyway, back to the topic on hand. The publisher of Incarnate has already halted production of the series and is investigating the matter, so I won't troll. But I do want to present my view regarding some of the comments in the link. No, of course I didn't read all 20+ pages of comments, just part of what's on that linked page.
First off, I wouldn't blame anyone from the publisher for not noticing earlier. Working in the comic book industry doesn't mean the person reads the similar medium populating the other side of the world. Heck, they might not even read publications produced from other companies beside their own depending on their time and interests. This is not a fault. Maybe not diligent enough to stay on top of things, but definitely not a sin.
All artists start out by sketching what they see, be it photos, drawn images, or real life objects. I am no artist, but I, too, have been doing this before I learned how to write. Some people's style is similar to some other artist's because they imitated it during their learning stage. As far as I know, everyone evolves into their own style eventually. This is being inspired and influenced by someone or something, and it's part of the creative cycle.
Tracing is sometimes overlooked depending on the situation, but it's definitely not tolerable for passing as original and making profits off of. It doesn't matter if you have a good original plot or interesting concepts. Once you venture to copying something and claiming it as your own, it's game over. If it's just one or two panels, you might contribute it to paying homage to someone's work, but there's way too many instances in this case to be innocent hat tipping. This is plagiarization, and it only leads to an ugly cycle. It's extremely difficult to come clean once soiled.
Someone mentioned doujin and had no answer for where doujin stands. Personally I think there's no comparison between the particular issue on hand and fan-based/derived doujinshi (referred to as just doujin in the rest of the post because I'm lazy). Plagiarization is taking credit for something stolen, while doujin recognizes and honours the original work and creator. Doujin allows existing characters to experience different settings and scenarios, and the drawings often only somewhat resemble the original design and are heavy with personal touches. The doujin field encourages creativity and collaboration, and many artists and character designers have doujin backgrounds.
Even though most of the doujin publications are sold for a price, the group producing them rarely make any profit. But through the act of doujin distribution, the original work gets known by more people, and the popularity life span of the work is prolonged or renewed. Authors and publishers of the original works probably won't acknowledge or approve doujin, but the influence of doujin is undeniable.
I do not plan to flame this Simmons boy for the incident; copyright laws and the huge fan base of Bleach and other plagiarized works will surely take care of him. I am merely prompted to rant from the angle of an ordinary fan of Bleach who has sketched dozens of fan art based on various manga and am still learning art. On this note, I bid you good night.
Neko-tan passed me the link, and I must say I'm amazed by the nerve and stupidity of some people. Seriously, Bleach and even people's DeviantArt? Did the guy think that comic book readers wouldn't notice, that readerships don't cross over between comic and manga? I mean, come on, Bleach is one of the best known and followed series in North America. And stealing someone's personal artwork is more unforgivable than plagiarizing a published work in my book.
I have no idea who Gene Simmons or his son is. The only Simmons I know is Mark Simmons, who is known as the Gundam expert in the English-speaking world. Never read his famed work Gundam: The Official Guide, though, as I prefer to read up on my Gundam in its original Japanese.
Anyway, back to the topic on hand. The publisher of Incarnate has already halted production of the series and is investigating the matter, so I won't troll. But I do want to present my view regarding some of the comments in the link. No, of course I didn't read all 20+ pages of comments, just part of what's on that linked page.
First off, I wouldn't blame anyone from the publisher for not noticing earlier. Working in the comic book industry doesn't mean the person reads the similar medium populating the other side of the world. Heck, they might not even read publications produced from other companies beside their own depending on their time and interests. This is not a fault. Maybe not diligent enough to stay on top of things, but definitely not a sin.
All artists start out by sketching what they see, be it photos, drawn images, or real life objects. I am no artist, but I, too, have been doing this before I learned how to write. Some people's style is similar to some other artist's because they imitated it during their learning stage. As far as I know, everyone evolves into their own style eventually. This is being inspired and influenced by someone or something, and it's part of the creative cycle.
Tracing is sometimes overlooked depending on the situation, but it's definitely not tolerable for passing as original and making profits off of. It doesn't matter if you have a good original plot or interesting concepts. Once you venture to copying something and claiming it as your own, it's game over. If it's just one or two panels, you might contribute it to paying homage to someone's work, but there's way too many instances in this case to be innocent hat tipping. This is plagiarization, and it only leads to an ugly cycle. It's extremely difficult to come clean once soiled.
Someone mentioned doujin and had no answer for where doujin stands. Personally I think there's no comparison between the particular issue on hand and fan-based/derived doujinshi (referred to as just doujin in the rest of the post because I'm lazy). Plagiarization is taking credit for something stolen, while doujin recognizes and honours the original work and creator. Doujin allows existing characters to experience different settings and scenarios, and the drawings often only somewhat resemble the original design and are heavy with personal touches. The doujin field encourages creativity and collaboration, and many artists and character designers have doujin backgrounds.
Even though most of the doujin publications are sold for a price, the group producing them rarely make any profit. But through the act of doujin distribution, the original work gets known by more people, and the popularity life span of the work is prolonged or renewed. Authors and publishers of the original works probably won't acknowledge or approve doujin, but the influence of doujin is undeniable.
I do not plan to flame this Simmons boy for the incident; copyright laws and the huge fan base of Bleach and other plagiarized works will surely take care of him. I am merely prompted to rant from the angle of an ordinary fan of Bleach who has sketched dozens of fan art based on various manga and am still learning art. On this note, I bid you good night.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Continue on my view in response to a previous post, here's my take on the music front.
I'm never one for pop or secular music, but I consider my music taste normal enough. At the very least, I know there's a lot of people out there listening to similar genres. Unfortunately yet again, anime and game OSTs are rarities here, and anime theme/character songs CDs and seiyuu CDs are by and large impossible to find. Not to mention that doujin music, which I've taken a liking to lately, circulates only within the island of Japan.
So ACG music-wise, Internet is my main source. My taste in music has been greatly broadened these past few years thanks to the downloads. I've only bought a few seiyuu CD and an old doujin bootleg CD (I think this one's out of print already) so far, but I do have a long list of CDs on my shopping list. It'll be a while before I get a chance to go to Taiwan or Japan though...
Are those downloads lost sales for the music industry? I can assure you not. Growing up, I wasn't a music listener to begin with. In fact, the only music I could stand and amuse myself with was BGM from various NES games. In short, I didn't care for music at all.
But the anime and music downloads have changed the scene. If I've never seen/heard them, I'd never know of them, and I'd never buy them. Even if I haven't bought them all, those are all potential sales. Availability is the number one deterrer for me. This is why I don't download Christian music CDs because I can buy them in the store.
On a side note, I discovered Songza recently, and I love it! The interface is excellent and intuitive, and the search speed is "Google fast." I was able to pull out quite a few songs and artists during the test drive, but those accounted for only a fraction of what I'd like to listen to. It's definitely worth trying and using.
My bottom line for music is this: I download music, and I buy the ones I like, or wait 'til I have the chance. I won't buy it if I've never heard it or if there's only one or two good tracks on it. I didn't used to listen to music at all, and I can just easily live without it. I do have my piles of Christian music CDs to pick from, after all. I see a very slime or no chance for the type of music I'm mostly interested in (seiyuu, drama CD, doujin music) to enter the market here, so these pretty much have to be imported. The Japanese music industry and artists may not be getting the money now, as much as I'd like to pay them, but they have someone who'd potentially spend lots. If only I get the chance to go to Taiwan (I heard some stores would order from Japan for you) or Japan...
I'm never one for pop or secular music, but I consider my music taste normal enough. At the very least, I know there's a lot of people out there listening to similar genres. Unfortunately yet again, anime and game OSTs are rarities here, and anime theme/character songs CDs and seiyuu CDs are by and large impossible to find. Not to mention that doujin music, which I've taken a liking to lately, circulates only within the island of Japan.
So ACG music-wise, Internet is my main source. My taste in music has been greatly broadened these past few years thanks to the downloads. I've only bought a few seiyuu CD and an old doujin bootleg CD (I think this one's out of print already) so far, but I do have a long list of CDs on my shopping list. It'll be a while before I get a chance to go to Taiwan or Japan though...
Are those downloads lost sales for the music industry? I can assure you not. Growing up, I wasn't a music listener to begin with. In fact, the only music I could stand and amuse myself with was BGM from various NES games. In short, I didn't care for music at all.
But the anime and music downloads have changed the scene. If I've never seen/heard them, I'd never know of them, and I'd never buy them. Even if I haven't bought them all, those are all potential sales. Availability is the number one deterrer for me. This is why I don't download Christian music CDs because I can buy them in the store.
On a side note, I discovered Songza recently, and I love it! The interface is excellent and intuitive, and the search speed is "Google fast." I was able to pull out quite a few songs and artists during the test drive, but those accounted for only a fraction of what I'd like to listen to. It's definitely worth trying and using.
My bottom line for music is this: I download music, and I buy the ones I like, or wait 'til I have the chance. I won't buy it if I've never heard it or if there's only one or two good tracks on it. I didn't used to listen to music at all, and I can just easily live without it. I do have my piles of Christian music CDs to pick from, after all. I see a very slime or no chance for the type of music I'm mostly interested in (seiyuu, drama CD, doujin music) to enter the market here, so these pretty much have to be imported. The Japanese music industry and artists may not be getting the money now, as much as I'd like to pay them, but they have someone who'd potentially spend lots. If only I get the chance to go to Taiwan (I heard some stores would order from Japan for you) or Japan...
Thursday, January 17, 2008
I was reading (again, trying futilely to catch up) my RSS feeds when I came across a Bits Debate on the topic of copyright and technology, the first in the weekly series.
The arguments from both sides, while valid at times, seem a bit vague and general. Maybe just warming up for the first day? In any case, the comments are what's really worth reading and provide much insights for both parties, especially the nay side. I haven't the time to go through all of them, but the ones I've read so far spurred me to write a little on this matter myself.
Granted, I am no business major nor am I expert in law and history and whatever may be affected by the issue. I can only offer my meagre two cents based on my experience and practice as a consumer/end user, within the confines of anime (video), music, software, and touching a bit on books. Seeing how I tend to rant on and on, I'll break this into several posts over the next few days, each pertaining to one category.
[Anime (Video)]
Living far away from the land of the rising sun and its yam-shaped island neighbour, anime-related stuff are hard to come by. Even when they do, they're usually charged for a premium. Quite a few of my friends know that I watch anime and fewer still share similar interests (eg. Japanese/Taiwanese/Korean drama and Tokusatsu). As a result, I can't rely on friends for anime support and have to buy them myself.
With the wide range of anime genre and the sheer number of titles, picking out ones I'd like while not emptying my bank account is no easy feat. Due to the high price tag for anime DVDs, I generally only shell out for the sure bets. Nine out of ten times, the sure bets are series that I've already seen. The odd deviations so far are G Gundam, Zeta Gundam, and Char's Counterattack. Yeah, they're all from the Gundam family. Go figure, eh?
So how do I get to watch a series before the DVD purchase? Fan subs. I can't speak for the other people, but my anime DVD collection has grown from nil to close to a hundred ever since I started watching fan subs. Sure, YTV's been showing a few anime these past few years, but those offerings, with the sole exception of Gundam Wing and Fullmetal Alchemist, haven't been successful in keeping me in front of the TV at all. I couldn't really stand the English voice acting for a lot of the other series, and I stopped watching all together after the 1st re-run of Bleach about a dozen or so episodes in. I much prefer my anime in Japanese.
As far as I know, all North American anime DVD releases have to have the English audio track. I imagine that's included in the price tag and thus the reason of them being more expensive than their Taiwanese counterpart, which only has the Japanese audio track. If it wasn't for the region code issue, I'd import a whole bunch of them from Taiwan. Not to mention that there's way more choices and stock over there.
With the high cost and less than scarce availability of anime titles (I'm still bitter that Geneon ceased distributing Fafner in the local retail stores here without ever releasing all the volumes), I'm not spending my hard earned cash blindly. Because of fan subs, I know what I'm getting when I put down the money for my anime purchases, and I'd happily and readily contribute to the North American anime industry. Because of fan subs, I absolutely refuse to buy bootleg anime DVDs, no matter how cheap or how fast they can come out, and I strongly encourage my friends to only buy legitimate discs. While it's not exactly legal to download and watch fan subs, it makes no sense to help fatten the pocket of bootleggers if you're going to pay.
Fan subbing has done wonders in North America for the anime industry in general. Not only does it help drive DVD sales and related products like model kits, figurines, and accessories, it's also free and viral marketing. Neko-kun mentioned in a blog post that during an anime convention panel session, the seiyuu Yukana was asked by someone from the audience about the future development of Code Geass. The question greatly surprised her since the series is not released in North America yet. I can bet you, though, that a lot more fan sub watchers will buy the DVDs when they come out than people whose only source of anime is Cartoon Network (US) or YTV (Canada).
My bottom line for anime (video) is this: I watch fan subs, and I buy the DVDs if I like the series. I'm not buying it if I don't know whether I'll like it or not, because anime DVDs are expensive, much more so than movie DVDs. And bootleg is a definite no-no. In the North American setting where anime is niche market and far from being mainstream for the near future, fan subs actually help the industry and contribute greatly in terms of customers, sales, marketing, and overall anime evangelism. Fan subs downloaded are not lost sales.
The arguments from both sides, while valid at times, seem a bit vague and general. Maybe just warming up for the first day? In any case, the comments are what's really worth reading and provide much insights for both parties, especially the nay side. I haven't the time to go through all of them, but the ones I've read so far spurred me to write a little on this matter myself.
Granted, I am no business major nor am I expert in law and history and whatever may be affected by the issue. I can only offer my meagre two cents based on my experience and practice as a consumer/end user, within the confines of anime (video), music, software, and touching a bit on books. Seeing how I tend to rant on and on, I'll break this into several posts over the next few days, each pertaining to one category.
[Anime (Video)]
Living far away from the land of the rising sun and its yam-shaped island neighbour, anime-related stuff are hard to come by. Even when they do, they're usually charged for a premium. Quite a few of my friends know that I watch anime and fewer still share similar interests (eg. Japanese/Taiwanese/Korean drama and Tokusatsu). As a result, I can't rely on friends for anime support and have to buy them myself.
With the wide range of anime genre and the sheer number of titles, picking out ones I'd like while not emptying my bank account is no easy feat. Due to the high price tag for anime DVDs, I generally only shell out for the sure bets. Nine out of ten times, the sure bets are series that I've already seen. The odd deviations so far are G Gundam, Zeta Gundam, and Char's Counterattack. Yeah, they're all from the Gundam family. Go figure, eh?
So how do I get to watch a series before the DVD purchase? Fan subs. I can't speak for the other people, but my anime DVD collection has grown from nil to close to a hundred ever since I started watching fan subs. Sure, YTV's been showing a few anime these past few years, but those offerings, with the sole exception of Gundam Wing and Fullmetal Alchemist, haven't been successful in keeping me in front of the TV at all. I couldn't really stand the English voice acting for a lot of the other series, and I stopped watching all together after the 1st re-run of Bleach about a dozen or so episodes in. I much prefer my anime in Japanese.
As far as I know, all North American anime DVD releases have to have the English audio track. I imagine that's included in the price tag and thus the reason of them being more expensive than their Taiwanese counterpart, which only has the Japanese audio track. If it wasn't for the region code issue, I'd import a whole bunch of them from Taiwan. Not to mention that there's way more choices and stock over there.
With the high cost and less than scarce availability of anime titles (I'm still bitter that Geneon ceased distributing Fafner in the local retail stores here without ever releasing all the volumes), I'm not spending my hard earned cash blindly. Because of fan subs, I know what I'm getting when I put down the money for my anime purchases, and I'd happily and readily contribute to the North American anime industry. Because of fan subs, I absolutely refuse to buy bootleg anime DVDs, no matter how cheap or how fast they can come out, and I strongly encourage my friends to only buy legitimate discs. While it's not exactly legal to download and watch fan subs, it makes no sense to help fatten the pocket of bootleggers if you're going to pay.
Fan subbing has done wonders in North America for the anime industry in general. Not only does it help drive DVD sales and related products like model kits, figurines, and accessories, it's also free and viral marketing. Neko-kun mentioned in a blog post that during an anime convention panel session, the seiyuu Yukana was asked by someone from the audience about the future development of Code Geass. The question greatly surprised her since the series is not released in North America yet. I can bet you, though, that a lot more fan sub watchers will buy the DVDs when they come out than people whose only source of anime is Cartoon Network (US) or YTV (Canada).
My bottom line for anime (video) is this: I watch fan subs, and I buy the DVDs if I like the series. I'm not buying it if I don't know whether I'll like it or not, because anime DVDs are expensive, much more so than movie DVDs. And bootleg is a definite no-no. In the North American setting where anime is niche market and far from being mainstream for the near future, fan subs actually help the industry and contribute greatly in terms of customers, sales, marketing, and overall anime evangelism. Fan subs downloaded are not lost sales.
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