Fansub - Recent Legal Action

Recent Legal Action

There is a belief among some fans that an "unspoken agreement" exists between the fansubbers and Japanese copyright holders that fansubs help promote a product. Steve Kleckner of Tokyopop noted:

Frankly, I find it kind of flattering, not threatening To be honest, I believe that if the music industry had used downloading and file sharing properly, it would have increased their business, not eaten into it. And, hey, if you get 2,000 fans saying they want a book you've never heard of, well, you gotta go out and get it. "

This belief was challenged when in December 2004 Media Factory (MFI), a Japanese copyright holder, directly requested that their works be removed from download sites, and since then numerous other companies such as Nippon TV have followed suit in the wake of the appearance of fansubs on YouTube.

On December 7, 2004, a Tokyo law firm representing Media Factory sent letters and e-mails to the anime BitTorrent directory AnimeSuki and fansub groups Lunar Anime and Wannabe Fansubs requesting that they halt the fansubbing and hosting of all current and future fansubbing productions. AnimeSuki and Lunar Anime complied, and shortly after, other fansub groups such as Solar and Shining Fansubs followed suit. Despite the request, Wannabe Fansubs and a handful of other fansubbing groups continued to produce fansubs of MFI anime series. To date, this has been one of the few legal actions taken by a Japanese anime company against fansubbing.

After MFI's request was made public, only Genshiken, whose fansubs had been completed before the notifications, and Kimi ga Nozomu Eien were licensed in the US. MFI's other major projects, including Pugyuru and Akane Maniax, were not picked up by American distributors. The lack of buzz that surrounded these titles has been linked by fansub supporters to MFI's suppression of fan distribution. They argue that by cutting off this means of "free advertisement," MFI has alienated fans who would normally buy their products after they were licensed and kept the shows from being as widely exposed as they might otherwise be. The end result, say fansub supporters, is a reduced interest from American anime companies and a loss of revenue for the studio. However, in August, 2006, School Rumble was finally licensed by Funimation thanks to popularity of the series garnered from its manga release by Del Rey. It took the series over 2 years to be licensed, which is normal for anime licenses around 2002. Since MFI's legal action against fansubbers, their number of licenses secured is below the industry average.

MFI's actions are sometimes used as an example in the fansub debate as a reason why other Japanese companies should not pursue similar injunctions. However, their titles are still being licensed. The anime series based on Emma and Aria were both licensed in 2008, and Area 88, Gankutsuou, Kurau Phantom Memory, Noein, Shura no Toki, and UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie were all licensed after the legal action in 2004.

Recently, a few titles such as Street Fighter Generations were prelicensed, meaning that they were released simultaneously in Japan and North America, in an effort to negate the need for fansubs. However, some fansubbing of such titles still occurs, as some people prefer fansubs over commercial releases.

Fansub opposers claim that Japanese licensers have reportedly grown discontent with fansubbers because the ease of access with which their works are obtained has begun to affect foreign licensers' willingness to license a series, as evidenced by the Western market's sharp drop in new acquisitions in 2005. They also suggest that anime fans in Japan have reportedly begun to turn to English fansubs which often appear days after a show's release, affecting sales in their home market. Indeed, Japanese companies have banded together to form JASRAC, a copyright holders rights company, which has frequently taken YouTube to task for providing content which domestic Japanese viewers often use, which includes fansubs, as seen on their official site. A growing anti-fansub stance has been taken by US distributors, as seen in Geneon and ADV's comments at the State of the Industry Panel at Anime Boston, as well as recent comments by Matt Greenfield of ADV Films at Anime Central:

"Answering a fan question on how ADV perceives the threat and challenge presented by fansubbers, Matt answered that while fan subtitling is hurting the industry both in the US and in Japan, 'the industry has to learn and adapt to new technology, and has to find ways to work around it.'"

In Singapore, anime distributor Odex has been actively tracking down and sending legal threats against internet users in Singapore since 2007. These users have allegedly downloaded fansubbed anime via the BitTorrent protocol. Court orders on ISPs to reveal subscribers' personal information have been ruled in Odex's favour, leading to several downloaders receiving letters of legal threat from Odex and subsequently pursuing out-of-court settlements for at least S$3,000 (US$2,000) per person, the youngest person being only 9 years old. These actions were considered controversial by the local anime community and have attracted criticisms towards the company, as they are seen by fans as heavy-handed.