It’s 3:30 am but I came across something that really didn’t sit well with me.

This thread: http://www.crunchyroll.com/forumtopic-411843/warning-please-read-toradora-fans/

In this case, its the CrunchyRoll Forums, a closed thread about Toradora and how it’ll soon become unavailable, and throughout, a guy called DomFortress comes in and does a couple of things.

- State the facts

- Spoil the fun

Now, by “state the facts” I mean explaining that from the moment material is copyrighted, either here or in Japan, its their copyrighted work and nobody has the right to redistribute it without express prior permission.. blah blah blah… Fansubs are illegal the moment they are published/released.

By “spoil the fun” I mean he doesn’t seem to recognize The Obvious Truth that breaking the law has kept the Anime Industry alive, its fine to mention it, but by defending it to a point your putting people off watching it altogether will only bruise the industry you’re trying to protect.

Not trying to be funny but would the Anime industry be as big as it is today, if it weren’t for the thousands of fansubs that have been released to this day? Really?

Not forgetting related items of interest – Anime opening/ending songs as well as all the merchandising, first prints and limited editions.

Shops would not be stocking as much as they do today if it weren’t for hearing about it either by word of mouth or by reading about it on the internet.

Just this month I’ve had my first opportunity to purchase my first boxsets (Elfen Lied, Welcome to the NHK, Azumanga Daioh and Rumbling Hearts!) and I couldn’t be happier with them. Money well spent.

But, I’d never have been given the chance to purchase these Animes if it weren’t for hearing about them… or even getting into Anime in the first place.

I wasn’t inducted by Television. I was inducted by the Internet. And thanks, because now I have the opportunity to give back to people I’m so greatful for, for making such bloody, dramatic and absolutely damn wonderful stories available.

The Obvious Truth. The Failure of the Real Law. You are shooting yourselves in the head by trying to ‘protect’ copyright holders. Stop it for your own sake – because they are more than capable of putting a stop to it all should the wish to do so – and you know it.

Being able to share what isn’t available should be the law. Why? Because its fair. Major fansubbers have respect for distributors in their region, thats why they take them down when it is licensed (even before its released) in their region.

That is the peoples law. That is a law that sharing has created. And the fair law should be the real law – because the fair law is the peoples law – and that helps everyone (viewers, authors and distributors) a lot more than the ‘real’ law.

Thanks for reading.

- Senseito

Related posts:

1. Anime Bloggers could be Shafted from using Anime Pictures to a large extent; Japan Considers Fair-Use Clause Based on U.S. Copyright Law
2. ef – a tale of melodies 01 is OUT!

Filed under: Anime, Senseito's Blogging