Why is downloading anime legal?

[munak]

Apparently, it is legal to download an entire series of anime, when getting the introduction song is illegal. Can you tell why this is? It makes absolutly no sense at all, and I want to get the bottom of this mystery.

-Thanks

[Suikun]

Originally Posted by munak

Apparently, it is legal to download an entire series of anime, when getting the introduction song is illegal. Can you tell why this is? It makes absolutly no sense at all, and I want to get the bottom of this mystery.

-Thanks

Actually, it is every bit as illegal to download anime as it is to download any of its music. Downloading anything with copyright protection is illegal (unless through an official/authorized service... such as iTunes).

So why is it generally okay to download (unlicensed) anime yet it isn't with music? My guess is that it all has to do with how practical it is. With anime, to get a decent amount of enjoyment out of it you need a translation such as the subtitles, which Japanese import DVDs (R2's) don't offer. Add on top of that the region encoding of Japanese DVDs which are incompatible with R1 DVD players, and the steep price when compared to DVDs over here, it's often just plain too impractical to expect people to buy the import DVDs of anime to support the creators. Thus, the downloading of (unlicensed) anime is generally much more accepted by sites like AnimeSuki who try to stay "in the clear".

But with music CDs, they're a bit cheaper, there is no region encoding to worry about, and you don't need to have any translations whatsoever to enjoy it. Thus, buying the official import CDs of the music is much more feasable than buying the import DVDs, making it much less acceptable to download it.

[Secca]

Originally Posted by munak

Apparently, it is legal to download an entire series of anime, when getting the introduction song is illegal. Can you tell why this is? It makes absolutly no sense at all, and I want to get the bottom of this mystery.

-Thanks

Distributing and downloading anime or MP3 is illegal.

But as far as I know, MP3s generally are quite accepted as a way to sample the songs before you buy the CD. You have to delete it in 24 hours after you download the songs tho. Unless you already bought the original CD, then it's really up to you what you want to do with your MP3.

In a general common sense, If you like the work or the song, then suport the artist by buying the CD, so the artist will know that their work is being apreciated.

[dreamless]

Originally Posted by munak

Apparently, it is legal to download an entire series of anime, when getting the introduction song is illegal. Can you tell why this is? It makes absolutly no sense at all, and I want to get the bottom of this mystery.

-Thanks

actually, I think downloading anime is illegal as far as I know, it's just that no one will try to sue you for downloading unlicensed anime. I guess it's like... crossing road with a red traffic light... I think strictly speaking, the japanese company can try to sue you for downloading animes, as the police can try to sue you for crossing road with a red traffic light... but they just don't bother... I'm no expert on this kind of stuff so I may well be wrong

[7thMethuselah]

I always thought that downloading is not illegal, it distributing which is the illegal part. But I agree with Secca, I see no problem in downloading stuff from the "try it before you buy it" perspective, that is if you buy the stuff you like afterwards...

[mantidor]

Originally Posted by 7thMethuselah

I always thought that downloading is not illegal, it distributing which is the illegal part. But I agree with Secca, I see no problem in downloading stuff from the "try it before you buy it" perspective, that is if you buy the stuff you like afterwards...

you can say that there is no problem from an "ethical" perspective, but the law is the law, its illegal, but as has been pointed out, the least concern of japanese companies is the piracy here, the have more than enough with chinese piracy.

And I think that the "dl for 24 hours to try" is actually illegal too, thats usually a lame excuse from the sites that offer this, the same with warez, and Im pretty sure that you cannot have a copy of the original even if you actually bought it, read that statement from the FBI at the beggining of almost every movie, or the little print in the games manual, you cannot have a copy for backup, its illegal.

[DukeGaladrien]

Hmm, actually I believe it says you can make 1 copy for backup, at least it does with certain games of mine.

[7thMethuselah]

Originally Posted by mantidor

you can say that there is no problem from an "ethical" perspective, but the law is the law, its illegal, but as has been pointed out, the least concern of japanese companies is the piracy here, the have more than enough with chinese piracy.

And I think that the "dl for 24 hours to try" is actually illegal too, thats usually a lame excuse from the sites that offer this, the same with warez, and Im pretty sure that you cannot have a copy of the original even if you actually bought it, read that statement from the FBI at the beggining of almost every movie, or the little print in the games manual, you cannot have a copy for backup, its illegal.

Well their is quite a difference between "the Law" and that which is "right and wrong" , but I believe it's better not to have THAT discussion here . Although i am quite certain you are allowed to have 1 copy for backup once you purchased a product. Of course that is for where I live, which isn't the US, the laws might be different there

[SlugZilla]

For almost any song it's almost guaranteed you can buy it within the moment you hear it. For anime that is not the case. You can't buy the anime the same day it airs on television, it just won't happen. There is also that slim chance it will never come out on DVD. Also, some anime will never be licensed and brought out of Japan. So how can you buy it if it will never come out elsewhere?

Anime is locally made in Japan and affects a certain population, whereas music is global and you can say it effects everyone. Now a whole lot more people are gonna be worried about their music being pirated compared to some people worrying about their anime being pirated, don't you think?

[Blue*Dragon]

downloading anime is legal. It's only when your'e going to share the downloaded anime to some one then it is illegale. That's the entire point . And it is all up to the copyright of the company.

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by 7thMethuselah

Well their is quite a difference between "the Law" and that which is "right and wrong" , but I believe it's better not to have THAT discussion here . Although i am quite certain you are allowed to have 1 copy for backup once you purchased a product. Of course that is for where I live, which isn't the US, the laws might be different there

You are allowed to make one backup copy for archiving. Of course this is something the video game companies dont' want you to know, so they say it's illegal in the manuals. However, there really is no need for the average consumer to make said back up copies.While you can do so, the law was really intended to let universities store intellectual property without being sued.

[7thMethuselah]

Originally Posted by Kamui4356

You are allowed to make one backup copy for archiving. Of course this is something the video game companies dont' want you to know, so they say it's illegal in the manuals. However, there really is no need for the average consumer to make said back up copies.While you can do so, the law was really intended to let universities store intellectual property without being sued.

Well for games it's often useless since it requires the original copy to run ...

[AvatarADV]

Downloading anime is, in fact, illegal. "Archival backup" requires you to have a legal copy, and then you're just making a copy of your legal copy; if you don't have a legal copy you can't make a legal backup of that copy, much less "share it with your friends". (If you DID have a legal backup copy, you've got a responsibility not to lend it out or give it away, and you can't unload the original and keep the copy.) Basically laws about backups have zip to do with fansubs and the internet.

Serving anime over the internet is illegal. Downloading it is also illegal. Both the server and the recipient are both guilty. It -used- to be that it was a lot easier to catch servers, because they're the ones sitting out there offering the anime, but with BitTorrent, it's kind of trivial to spot downloaders too (they're -also- servers.) BT is great for bandwidth consumption but no good whatsoever for concealing your identity...

[Imazul]

On a side note, downloading music is legal in Canada (well not legal but the Supreme Court vote that companies cannot take any action against Canadians downloaders comparign the system to a public library).

[Mr_Paper]

Originally Posted by Imazul

On a side note, downloading music is legal in Canada (well not legal but the Supreme Court vote that companies cannot take any action against Canadians downloaders comparign the system to a public library).

Actually they ruled that having copyrighted material in a shared directory does not constitute distribution. Downloading copyrighted materials from non-authorized sites is still illegal.

[dreamless]

I think when it concerns universities and research, the law differs from country to country. I think when it's for use of research and study, downloading games and other IP stuff is legal in some countries...

[kj1980]

If I, a Japanese person living in Japan has to pay 600 yen per episode to watch "Samurai 7" on SkyPerfectTV PPV, about 5000 yen per month to watch anime shows on BS and CS satellite...then aren't people who are distributing and downloading anime shows outside of Japan are literally - "bootlegging?" (bootlegging defined as: "To produce, distribute, or sell without permission or illegally")

The often word of excuse that I hear is "Japanese people get there anime shows for free, we should be able get them too." The fact of the matter is - almost half the shows require subscription to BS and CS satellite and many of them are pay-per-view airings.

With the definintion, technically then, "fansubs" which are "produced" falls into jurisdiction of being a "bootleg."



What is my stance on downloading anime and "fansubs?" I could care less. But I do have one comment: "Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. A company may or may not pursue litigation, but when they do, you are powerless."

[dreamless]

Originally Posted by Narutard

deleted

I think the answer is simple, if they think stopping fansubbers are beneficial and cost-effective to them, they will. if they think fansubbers of unlicensed animes are beneficial to them, they won't. They could care less about the law and more about the profit. Same goes to Japanese companies...

But I do have one comment: "Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. A company may or may not pursue litigation, but when they do, you are powerless."

well, indeed, but I think the japanese companies never will have enough power (time, money, oversea relationship, international affair, etc. etc.) to pursue litigation in this case, so they are also kinda powerless...

[kj1980]

Originally Posted by dreamless

well, indeed, but I think the japanese companies never will have enough power (time, money, oversea relationship, international affair, etc. etc.) to pursue litigation in this case, so they are also kinda powerless...

Ah, there in lies the situation where many Japanese companies do to resolve that matter - alliance. As the old saying goes, "it's harder to break three arrows than one" (old Japanese proverb about three brothers who work together are stronger than each going their separate ways)

Once a market has reached a certain point, Japanese rival companies actually form an alliance to set national goals and hit certain achievements. One of the most powerful associations in Japan is the Nihon Keidanren - which is a group of the top corporations in Japan. Hence, this is also where technology is exchanged and partners are made both in and abroad - such as Toyota offering hybrid technology assistance to Nissan, Sony reaching out to Dell and HP for DVD+R, while Pioneer-Toshiba-Apple alliance of DVD-R. The power of the Nihon Keidanren is the de facto economic engine of Japan.

For quite sometime, Japanese anime companies has suggested that they too form an alliance in which each company shares a pool of collateral and money to set goals and niche the growing market. One topic that has frequently come up is the issue with illegal distribution of anime across the internet. Of course, the formation of this alliance is probably five or ten years off if at all, but there are indeed many ways to get together to go after something if they wanted to...

[Yamano667]

Downloading anime mp3s and downloading anime fansub is ILLEGAL.
no matter is licensed or unlicensed, because we rip the tv series and make them into divx, without asking permission of the STUDIOS; the same way goes with MP3 ripping and coding, and distributing .


Violation of copyright is very simple but we care ??! nahhh, are we selfish ? yes!! Are we committing PIRACY even though is UNLICENSED?? ..YES WE ARE
We put unlicensed label to the NEWLY anime arrivals to feel ourselves better