History of Digisubbing

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Im going Back before Digisubing Here is a excerpt I pulled from a site.

Of Otakus and Fansubs: A Critical Look at Anime Online in Light of Current Issues in Copyright Law(http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrb/script-...sdendnote11sym)



2.1 A (brief) history

As hinted at earlier, fansubs existed before the internet even entered popular consciousness.34 In the past, fans ordered VHS tapes or laserdiscs from Japan, routinely paid for translations, and used expensive specialized equipment to insert subtitles onto a finished videocassette.35 Fansubbers distributed or traded the finished videocassette tapes to others, but because of the time and cost involved of mailing out a physical medium, distribution was limited.36 At least one group distributed their fansubs and those of others on videocassette on a large scale, and even took prepayment by PayPal of the shipping costs.37 Anime clubs at universities often worked together to produce fansubs, which they then copied between clubs and placed in a club library for member use.38

At one time fansubs were virtually the only way that fans could watch (and understand) anime.39 Anime was mostly known only to a select crowd of people with access to and knowledge of fansub groups.40 Without any major distributors of anime in the U.S. market, fansubbers were not competing with licensed companies, and a significant, relatively underground, market for anime began to develop.41

Times, of course, changed. Forward-looking companies such as A.D. Vision (later ADV Films) saw the potential of anime and started importing titles into the United States, and eventually Europe.42 A customer base built on fansubs exploded.43 As one distributor representative has stated: “The largest video market was porn. Now it’s anime.”44 The internet also expanded at the same time as the growth of anime into the consciousness of the world.

Perhaps anime grew even more because of the internet—geeky fans were able to connect and network over long distances.45 But as with the music industry, the benefits of digital technology and the internet brought problems.46 Fansubbers started to take advantage of faster computers that allowed them to subtitle anime without the need for expensive, specialized equipment.47 This made it easier for more people to fansub because of the lower cost barriers to becoming a fansubber. The internet also meant that fans could meet from around the world, thus making it more likely that fansub groups would form.

Today, groups now make digital video files instead of videocassettes. The last fansubbers to still use cassettes closed their doors in 2002.48 It is a familiar story. This new style of fansubs, often called digisubs, doesn’t have the built in technological limits of analog cassettes and often results in a better quality picture. Fansubbed videocassettes offered a poor quality picture and sound that encouraged fans to buy the licensed product when it came out and also limited the number of copies that could be made from a single original cassette (or from 2nd and 3rd generation cassettes).49 Digisubs offer a quality comparable to official (DVD) releases and the ability to make limitless copies. Broadband connections mean that now otaku can easily get fansub releases from the comfort of their home—no waiting on the mail and someone with a day job to get around to sending your cassette. This makes it more likely that more otaku will acquire more fansubs. The music and motion picture industries have faced similar concerns with their products: Fans can get digital versions of music and movies easily and for free over the internet. Digisubs place the anime industry in much the same boat as the motion picture or music industries, and so their mutual situations invites comparison.50