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Japanese companies try a new way to combat Internet piracy
by Danica Davidson, 10/27/2009
Japanese companies try a new way to combat Internet piracy photo

It seems that asking people nicely to stop downloading illegal anime isn't enough. Since approximately 40,000 anime are illegally distributed online on a monthly basis, this is a serious concern for companies involved. After all, if they don't earn money for their work, they could lose their jobs and fewer anime can be made. 

Studio Ghibli, Sunrise and Toho are among the companies trying to stop this. Next month they'll start looking at large sites in China that are known for sharing videos.  But it's not going to stop with China. It's going to search for illegal downloads in other nations, too.

The idea is to instantly search for select titles, like Ponyo. If Ponyo or one of the other titles pop up on a site, the site will be informed it must take the video down. The site will probably be asked nicely, but the point will be made.  


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Legacy comments:

ROMaster2

Good luck with that.
 
JapanFan

*sigh*

What do they expect us gaijin to do? Get Japanese cable? Look, I like anime. I can't get (good) anime here in the states, I rely almost completely on the internet for my anime needs.

Until crap like this happens and everything is removed due to copyright infringement. It would be nice that instead of shutting the whole thing down, they'd say "Hey, we're sorry you can't watch it here. But if you go here, you can watch it/buy it legally!". Except they leave you hanging.

This is just a load of crap. It's like downloading music. No one is making money of this, except for the guys who made it (the company) who sell the merchandise from fans. I don't know I just think this is crap that more and more videos are going to disappear. This is probably the only time I have and will say this, but Japan; Shove it.
 
mangadazed

I am pretty sure they expect you to pony up. Cruchyroll "simulcasts" many of the newer shows and you can always import the R2 dvds so the excuse of "wah I can't buy it", is pretty much dead/dying.

You are right though about the disappearing anime, more and more anime won't be made because they don't want to invest in a risky proposition, a mind set furthered in some part due to piracy. Why do you think we get deluged with moeblob garbage? its cheap to make and japanese otaku will buy it. You notice that there is not a single mecha this season? get used to it.
 
ROMaster2

[quote]You notice that there is not a single mecha this season?[/quote]
Wow, took me this long to notice that.

No matter, gives me more time to watch anime on my to-watch list.
 
Neonie

How to get me to stop being downloaded: Release the digital versions of both Japanese and English translations when the damn episodes come out.

If I could have a service that streamed Japense animation to my computer with English subtitles, and download episodes of my favorite shows I would pay monthly for that shit. DO IT.

 
Karen Leslie

What Neonie said.

I'm all for money going to the people who made the shows, but tactics like this are a waste of energy. Instead of trying to stop piracy, which is impossible, they should put that time and energy into building a business model that works. Itunes has shown that it's possible.

I used to be REALLY hardcore about purchasing every anime I watched on DVD, but when you do that, you're YEARS behind the rest of fandom, and that doesn't suit the culture. When I can pay the studios what they deserve and still keep up with the discussion, that's the day I go back to paying for everything 100%.
 
Kilkrazy

The problem is the Japanese originators don't really care about the international market. Considering a lot of their own shows are finished cheaply at the last minute, they aren't going to upload a nicely subbed or dubbed international version even in English at the same time the domestic broadcast airs.

A Japan based fan can record the show as it goes out, rip the recording, sub it and put it up on a filesharing site in a couple of days (I'm assuming several people working as a team.)

If the fans can do it, I don't see why the actual publishing company can't do it and sell a subscription to their own site.
 
SeancetheBLADE

I used to pay 30 bucks for a VHS tape with "two full episodes" leaves a bad taste in my mouth, plus year late releases and bad talent is supposed to make me want to pay money?

plus you just CANT stop the chinese bootleg scheme. They do it to so much more then just anime.


 
Kougeru

[quote]I am pretty sure they expect you to pony up. Cruchyroll "simulcasts" many of the newer shows and you can always import the R2 dvds so the excuse of "wah I can't buy it", is pretty much dead/dying.

[/quote] Those options are not really valid options. Simulcast quality is horrendous compared to TV broadcasts..+ all the problems everyone has with crunchyroll (i dont know a person that doesnt have any), importing R2 dvds or even just buying dubbed dvds is a fools move unless uve already seen the anime and know it's worth the money to you.

 
neobeetle X

I gonna wish them(Toho,Sunrise) the best of luck. They are gonna need it.

 
brownkidd

Maybe they should stop making anime so freaking expensive. It's usually $20+ for 4 episodes of anime on DVD, but you can get an entire season of an American television show for the same price. With that sort of reasoning, why WOULDN'T people be pirating their anime?
 
Karen Leslie

@SeancetheBlade: Yeah, me too. Sometimes I look at the large quantity of anime VHS that I accumulated and wonder what the hell I was thinking.

@Kilkrazy: That reminds me of the debate that goes on in the anime gk scene, where some people get all up in arms about the recasting that goes on, and others say that they would be happy to pay the original creators if the Japanese companies had any interest in making enough units for the international market. They make like 10 kits, and then wonder why only recasts are circulating internationally.
 
mangadazed

@kougeru
[quote] Simulcast quality is horrendous compared to TV broadcasts..[/quote]

the simulcasts are in HD, so no they aren't horrendous.

[quote]importing R2 dvds or even just buying dubbed dvds is a fools move unless uve already seen the anime and know it's worth the money to you.[/quote]

my point is that its available, that you don't feel like you should have to pay for it, is another thing entirely.

 
Rank57

Agree with Neonie.

Today, if we want to watch anime legally, we have 2 options: or we watch the ancient ones with horrible dubs on the TV, or we wait one year and pay an absurd for a DVD with 3 or 4 episodes.

Make a streaming, or even better, downloadable format to watch our animes WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES and I will gladly pay.
 
dark

To keep my opinion short, they should go after the Chinese bootleggers who are actually making money off infringing on copyrights. Just look on ebay and you can see thousands of these knock off anime boxes.

I've been putting down in a blogpost how we got to this situation, I'll try and finish it this week and post it ;)
 
Girochin

@brownkidd: Are you freaking kidding??? Anime is dirt cheap here now! Go to Japan and try buying it. Their releases usually have 2 to 4 eps with an average price of 5400 yen (about $53.50 USD). Now we're getting half season sets for $50 with 12 eps, and if you are patient complete box sets for $60. Guess you don't remember when it was $50-60 for 4 eps on VHS back in the day. You kids today don't know how good you have it.

@mangadazed: Yeah... The simulcast quality is horrendous for them because even though they say they'd be happy to pay for an anime service they won't pony up the money to get the HD streams from CR. LOL
 
Yaku

@Girochin: that's true, I still remember when VHS was dirty expensive and I never could complete a series due to lack of funds; DVD boxes made things a lot easier especially when you wait for sales to come up.
 
shinigami50

In my country Japanese television where is anime broadcasted is not available at all. And there are barely any DVDs selling (either super cheap and crappy or overpriced on 20 - 30$ per dvd). Anime culture in my country is on a stand still and/or is not developing at all. There are only 2 shops where you can actualy by manga and also in a very limited amount. And barely any anime merchandise is sold.
 


  

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