Attitude toward making money off of fansubs and scanlations

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by False Dawn

I've often wondered why no legit source has gone down the ad-supported route

What about Funimation and VIZ? They're both streaming shows with commercial inserts via Hulu. (ANN has some streams as well.) Funi is currently running both Noitamina shows on a next-day basis.

[cyth]

Almost everybody went down that road, but nobody is making real money on it. It is nothing but a pipe dream.

[Access]

Originally Posted by Kristen

AFAIK, anime airs on public television. For free. And fansubs are distribute on torrents. With the exception of Animesupreme (Not going to get into this), for free.

"Free" broadcast television is a bit of a misnomer, at minimum it is supported by advertising. By removing the advertising, or the value of the advertising, it becomes non-viable. In this case, the advertising is being cut out, and it is being taken out of its target environment.

But point aside I just don't care. A wise man once said, the laws of man are meaningless next to the laws of heaven. Morality and Philosophy is not an end itself, plenty of more productive ways to spend your life than debating things you can do absolutely nothing about.

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

What about Funimation and VIZ? They're both streaming shows with commercial inserts via Hulu. (ANN has some streams as well.) Funi is currently running both Noitamina shows on a next-day basis.

That's just great for those who don't live in the USA and get nice friendly letters telling us to GTFO when we try to watch the streams.

Streaming will continue to be a pipe-dream while they keep placing artificial barriers on them. I'm on the boat of those who would pay for a download-to-own-without-drm alternative to fansubs but alas even the closest thing (CR) has me locked out of most series because of my location (a freakin EU country!).

But back on topic: I'm with those who think that anyone dumb enough to pay for fansubs won't get my pity but those who make money of them won't either. However I also won't loose sleep because such people exist, it's just one of the sad realities of human-kind: if there's any way to make money off something someone somewhere will find a way to do it.

[karice67]

Originally Posted by Access

"Free" broadcast television is a bit of a misnomer, at minimum it is supported by advertising. By removing the advertising, or the value of the advertising, it becomes non-viable. In this case, the advertising is being cut out, and it is being taken out of its target environment.

It sometimes depends on the series. For late night anime and for me personally, I'm more inclined to think of the show itself as the advertisement for the DVDs (I tend to ignore ads anyway). But you're right, it's a bit less viable when taken out of its target environment - overseas fans aren't likely to buy as much merchandise etc after all.

Originally Posted by Dextro

But back on topic: I'm with those who think that anyone dumb enough to pay for fansubs won't get my pity but those who make money of them won't either. However I also won't loose sleep because such people exist, it's just one of the sad realities of human-kind: if there's any way to make money off something someone somewhere will find a way to do it.

Interesting that you're saying that, given what DMP is apparently going to do. If they make it available worldwide, I might want to join...though admittedly, I'd prefer to have the manga available in Japanese (too)...

[Vexx]

I guess my opinion is, "There's a sucker born every minute" pertaining to people who pay for fansubs. However, there is a caveat or two to this - some people can't torrent (ISP restrictions), other people have hideous transfer caps and no alternative (satellite ISP). if IRC is too daunting for them, paying for a DDL service or a "cut to disk" service may be more important to them. it also saves the time required to troll the "mega pirate files" ddl sites. Just saying...

Myself, I'm on a land wireless ISP that prohibits torrents to keep it from melting down (mom'n'pop operation) but I have the time and skills to find other solutions... and there's always "hanging out at the coffeeshop for a bit" for that rare torrent-only item. I live in the woods, but not that far out into the woods.

[idiffer]

oh come on. first, what vexx said. i, myself paid 2$ a dvd of .avi fansubs for 2-3 years once. and i dont regret it one bit, cause i had no internet AT ALL.
second, the guy burning the dvd's and selling fansubs gets paid for just that - burning the dvd's. sorry, but i doubt many of you burned more than 2-3 dvd's in a row. i have (like 10-15. for anime exchange) and its not pleasant. the process is worth the 2$ a dvd imho. (and the 2$ include the cost of the dvd itself).
oh, and the seller also takes the time to meet you...(a meet with a delivery boy costs 3-6$ in my country)

[GDB]

Originally Posted by idiffer

(and the 2$ include the cost of the dvd itself).

DVDs cost pretty much nothing if you buy in bulk. I bought multiple 50 packs at $7 each ($0.14 per DVD) at Best Buy back in 2005 or 2006, so I assume they're even cheaper now. And these were Sony, not some random non-name brand DVDs.

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by GDB

DVDs cost pretty much nothing if you buy in bulk. I bought multiple 50 packs at $7 each ($0.14 per DVD) at Best Buy back in 2005 or 2006, so I assume they're even cheaper now. And these were Sony, not some random non-name brand DVDs.

Sure, but there's also the time it takes to burn them, which is like 5-10 minutes.

$2 would be like, $20 an hour ... Seems reasonable for the labor involved.

[idiffer]

i'm in russia, can't really compare prices that easily. moscow prices live their own lives. and i remember clearly that dvd's back then weren't dirt cheap. but this isn't really a big deal still.

[MasterCJ]

Originally Posted by Kristen

AFAIK, anime airs on public television. For free.

Public TV isn't free if you're referring to Japan. You (are supposed to) pay fees if you own a TV, to the tune of about 15,000 yen per year. Even if you don't pay the fees, it (the programming) is not "free", it's "stolen".