Yesterday manga publishers in Japan and the US announced a coalition to combat manga piracy. Thanks to aggregation sites like onemanga, scanlations (a portmanteau of scan and translations) have become the most flagrant form of piracy on the net since people were posting whole movies on youtube. These sites have every appearance of legitimacy, require no downloads or insider knowledge, and tend to be the top google search results for anyone casually searching for info on manga series. And they aren’t just fan-created translations either – many of the series that show up on these sites are scans of licened English books. Even Return to Labyrinth appeared on one of these sites several times (removed last I checked).
Digital piracy has become such a hot-button topic, and I’d rather not get into that debate here. A couple months ago, I posted an epic rant about how the manga industry is broken. Today, in much fewer words, I wanted to outline a suggestion for a better model.
It starts with creators releasing their work digitally with text kept on separate layer. Whether these digital editions are accessed via free ad-supported sites, subscription sites or by micro-transactions is up to the creator and their publishing partner, but in any case, they would be released on a global platform. Registered users can activate an “edit” mode and create their own personal dialog tracks in any language. These translation layers can be public or private. Public translations can be rated, ranked and commented on by any other registered user. In addition to translation tracks, users can add footnotes, post questions, or otherwise mark up the work with location-specific mouse-over commentary. These translations could be done by individuals or teams, pros or amateurs. They could even be done open-source with the translation a constant work-in-progress, like a Wikipedia entry. If publishers and creators approve, users could even charge for access to their layers, allowing the best-of-the-best to be compensated for their effort.
Creators wouldn’t have to forfeit all control either – in posting their work, they can opt to only offer authorized translations. Creators and publishers would also have admin powers to take down translations for obscenities or even, if the creators preferred it, fidelity (ie, a creator could chose whether or not users could totally redub a work, ala “What’s Up Tigerlilly?” or Robotech).
For readers who prefer a cheap hard copy to reading on screens, ever improving print on demand technology should satisfy most of the demand. Users could even create their own custom anthology magazines by subscribing to the series that they like with the translation track they prefer. How cool would that be?
Where does this leave licensors like Yen or Tokyopop? Well, if they can’t control access to the work (which is pretty much impossible at this point anyway), and they can’t control translation, that doesn’t leave them in a very fair position, does it? That’s sort of the point, and one of the things publishers don’t like to talk about in the scanlation debate. The truth is, localization doesn’t need a lot of overhead. The localization business is dying, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In this hypothetical reality, licensed publishers would need to focus first and foremost on being book publishers. What they can offer is a tactile/keepsake experience, a deeper relationship with their audience, and authority in translation. US publishers get an unfair rap in some circles for translation, but fair or not, authority is something that has to be earned. Maybe that authority comes in the form of a Fred Shodt translation, or copious footnotes by Carl Horn, or even by a flipped presentation and a Chip Kidd cover. If sales for a series don’t justify top-notch production and translation, then let digital and POD handle them. Licensed publishers can focus on mass-market and special editions (which is how things are trending anyway).
What I find most exciting about democratized localization is that anyone with the skills, initiative and passion can be a publisher. The late CMX caught a lot of flak for its ineffective marketing. In this hypothetical model, anyone who runs a fan site could become a publisher. By creating editorial content about a series, forming a partnership with translators and leading the discussion with the community, you are doing half the job of a publisher anyway. Since this is just idle dreaming, we’ll assume that the licensing side of things is as simple as becoming an Amazon affiliate.
Getting to a model like this from where we are right now will take time – it might even sound like a pipe dream—but in the long run, a model like this would be better for creators and readers alike. On a small scale, this is already being done by the brilliant Alex de Campi, whose serialized comic Valentine is available in 14 (and counting) languages and on any digital platform. Valentine isn’t as popular as Black Butler now, but if the project sells enough to stay afloat for a couple more years, maybe it will be. And by thinking globally and going platform agnostic from the get-go, de Campi will be in a much better position when that happens. In the meantime, I’m sure it’ll be baby steps for American and Japanese publishers, and companies like Apple and Amazon will find ways to take a disproportionate cut in the move to digital, but even if this is just a pipe dream, isn’t it better to talk about solutions than just argue back and forth about whether or not piracy hurts or helps or can be stopped?
Another well written manga commentary, Jake. And I agree, Alex is really charting new territory with Valentine. As a caveman and semi-curmudgeon, I don’t have a smartphone or e-reader, so I won’t read it until the print edition becomes available. But there’s no doubt in my mind that that’s where publishing is heading. Manga would do well to position itself at the forefront of it.
I admit to being guilty of reading scanlated manga, BUT, if I may defend myself/come with a good excuse, I always buy manga whenever I can. And I never read manga on the internet if I am currently buying the series. Also I agree; Having the comicbooks is truly a deeper relationship than the screen (my mum, though, fails to see this and thinks that I should just borrow from the library). However my primary reason for reading on onemanga, etc. is that I cannot read manga elsewhere. Denmark is soooo slow when translating, and there’s only so many times I can read Tokyo Mew Mew, Shaman King, Conan, Magic Knight Rayearth and a few other. I am an impatient girl who cannot wait until someone (coughCarlsencough) publish more manga so I check them out beforehand. But I will buy the ones I like and I will stop reading manga on mangafox etc. if you say so Jake
pshh… who would even read those digital things… even though they’re free…and digital…
I mean, it’s not like we watch those movies on Youtube anyway. Just the newest released anime in Japanese…
lol now I’m just ranting.
But I can understand the frustration of piracy, and the ignorance of people who support it (that doesn’t include you JessicaDK. You have a good reason.) It’s the same exact thing with giving mix CDs to friends. Unless you erase the music you burnt to the CD from your own library, it’s considered piracy.
I don’t read that much manga lately (I’m probably going to quit buying it altogether after RtL ends), but I know plenty of people who still read manga, and they seem to favour online scans.
Sometimes it just comes down to not having the money to spend on actually buying the manga. But if the series is good enough, more often than not people will buy the physical volume when they do get some money to spend.
I know sometimes publishers will put up a few pages of their mangas on their websites, but a few pages may not be enough to entice readers to take the plunge and buy a volume.
I have a few manga series that, if I had been able to read multiple volumes of online, I wouldn’t have even bothered to buy them in store because the series when down south after a few volumes (I won’t name names, but there are definantly some manga not worth the cover price). All in all, it’s money that I could’ve spent on better series that would’ve kept me interested far longer than just the first three volumes.
The few series I’ve resorted to using online scans for are manga that either are discontinued/not avaliable in english, so scanlations are my only resort. I remember seeing a few scan sites in the past that would remove mangas from their libraries if the series was picked up by an english distributor.
I’m not going to delve into the whole legal/illegal part of scans, but I think online scans can be very helpful in enticing and maintaining readership.
I totally agree with Jake’s well thought out and rational assertions for what is necessary to fix the problem, but the continued rationalization by people who STEAL the work of creators to “try out” the value of a series or because they “can’t wait” is insane.
What good is readership if it undercuts and devalues the very lifeblood of the work you claim to support or enjoy? All of these arguments are, at the end of the day, justifications for incredibly selfish behavior on the behalf of the fans.
I’ve worked in content – mostly online content – for the past 12 years, and I live with someone who lives on his creative work. That would be Jake. Every time someone justifies taking a piece of content that has a cost, for free and illegally, that person is actively stealing food, housing, and a *living* from people just like us. When people do that, under the banner of being justified, makes Jake try to find solutions that the industry should consider. Me, it just makes me angry as hell. ^_^
For a very convincing explanation of why pirate sites are not harmless, I recommend checking out comics creator Colleen Doran’s post from last year: http://adistantsoil.com/2009/03/20/felony-copyright-violation/
Recently I’ve had a few conversations about copyright laws, returns to creative products and the internet (regarding music, newspapers, google books, and so on).
One problem is that copyright laws in many countries are becoming conglomerates of articles without having a coherent framework and without really addressing the internet as an entirely new medium.
Another problem, as you mention, Jake, is that the industries are slow to change their business models, and are attempting to carry out a similar mode of operation (subscription) online – recently The Times went entirely subscription based. I wonder if it will work.
Regarding manga and graphic novels – many are overpriced for what they offer, or, as KirstyO said, drop in quality later on, which is why I usually look at them in the bookshop to work out whether or not they are worth reading. I suppose like taking a car for a test drive. Is there a difference between looking at a book in a bookshop or on the internet? Some publishers offer sneak previews, which I find very useful.
But I do agree with Jake that the industry could, and should, change and adapt. Not just the manga industry, but all industries that are currently finding it difficult to combat online piracy. And also that the copyright laws should become more transparent and coherent, both within countries and on a global level. With the internet, there are very few reasons to maintain geographical boundaries.
Thank you Maggie
And jess, you hit me in the heart with your words; never shall I again read manga on the internet
But as Kristi O. and Dishwasher said I think there are two major reasons for reading on the internet: 1) People just won’t buy manga, and 2)as jess said, ‘try out’. It’s safer to buy a book because they have been reviewed and you can most likely borrow from the library. I (think I) have never seen manga reviewed by professionals, only what other people have said about it (which can be perfectly fine, nothing wrong with these reviews) and the publishers will of course say something positive about the manga. Then you buy the manga, which sounded promising, just to discover that it wasn’t what you thought it would be and it was a waste of money. Okay, enough rambling, but am I right or did I assume the wrong thing?
@JessicaDK But also because the Internet is now a vehicle for distribution. We just need to learn how to use it to support the creators of manga, music, film etc.
Sorry – I post too much about this, but it’s a very interesting issue…
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PS: I really like this interactive / open / free-to-edit separate layer text idea. And having legit digital editions and printed ones too.
But would the copyright be the same for the product regardless of medium? Could you print out a digital book? I have never understood why Apple i-tunes prevents you from burning a track to CD (valid backup which one is entitled to when buying hard media) or why BBC i-Player keeps a programme online for 7 days, lets you have it for 30 days if downloaded, when one can record the programme from TV and keep it forever..? That is just one reason why the legal framework should be re-evaluated.
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Wouldn’t it be awesome if we had something equivalent to the cinema? For a small amount you can read the manga (per book) at the bookstore. Naive, yes I know, but I still wanted to air the idea.
Dishwasher: We are being educated to debate, it would be such a pity if we didn’t use it
@JessicaDK, in Japan, Manga Cafes sort of serve that purpose. The only problem is, they feed very little back to publishers/creators, so the Japanese publishing industry has been trying to fight against them for years. Manga cafes are quite an efficient model for Japan with its incredibly high population density, but they’re much less practical abroad. We do have a system, however, that allows anyone to go and read books for free and even take them home for a few weeks at a time — libraries! Of course there’s no guarantee that libraries will have what you’re looking for when you want it, but that seems like a fair compromise for free.
But dear Jake, libraries only work if they can offer a wider selection
In Denmark we (still) haven’t got many mangas, even if they pulled in some untranslated ones into their collection. Even the Head Library doesn’t have that much to offer. Bet you probably have better equipped libraries in USA, yes? And anime! please don’t get me started on anime. It’s truly a miracle that we have dubbed Candy Candy (but only the first season, I think). *Sigh*. guess I’ve have to wait a thousand years for more manga. But I promise, if I get my dream job, manga translator in Carlsen, then I will try my best to get them to publish more manga.
Library selection depends a lot on where you live. Where I live in San Francisco, we have a great manga catalog, but then it’s one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country. A secret about libraries that a lot of people don’t realize is that librarians listen to requests from readers and will start carrying a book if there’s enough proven demand in the community.
As libraries are increasingly digitising their collections it might hopefully become easier to get access to material, improve inter-library loans and generally make life easier.
I know that there is a drive to digitise resources for academic research, but I wonder what the future of fiction/entertainment books will be.
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I’m actually in Japan right now studying, and the difference in the manga selection is so jarring that you get to see both sides of the coin. I’ve never supported piracy, but if that was turned into a legitimate system it would be very helpful for mangaka to get their work to more people.
On a side note, we visited a used manga shop today, and I looked like a dummy with my stack of books at the checkout. Everybody was just reading the ones they wanted right there!
Well, I’ve never really read the online mangas. There’s something about holding the book in my hands that just makes it seem so right. Staring at a bright screen to read something is not as appealing to me if it’s already on paper.
And I used to just read manga at the book store, but I like to look at them when I draw too, to get a better reference to proportion and style. And I can’t really do that when I don’t own the book, and once again, staring at a screen won’t help me with that either.
But at this rate, people soon won’t even buy books anymore, they’ll upload all the newest best sellers and classics on their iPhones and Smart Readers (or whatever they’re called, I’m not quite up to date on the newest technology). I suppose it could be a step to getting rid of piracy, seeing that more digital book sites would be monitored.
Wow Kelly, that’s so envious! If I am lucky, then that would be me before ten years. Thanks Jake, I’ll start requesting right away
You know what survived the implosion of CMX? Megatokyo. A creator owned, read it for free, webcomic. The intial press release about the end of CMX even suggests that it will actually have DC Comics as the imprint on the spine, the first to receive that privilage from the Big 2 on that side of the market..
A model for profitable digital distribution has been established. We’ll see how much longer the publishers continue to drag their feet.
This is probably the closest model that I’d agree with. I’m not a fan of just having the text versions available, but I like the idea of a WikiTank table that allows for various translations. If possible, people could pick & choose from the best samples available and combine them into the best Bowdlerized version available.
More (rambling) thoughts at my blog here:
http://sundaycomicsdebt.blogspot.com/2010/06/manga-crackdown.html
DanielBT: I have also found some gems among the lesser known/shorter mangas. Though I cannot support scanlations after reading all these arguments against it, it is true that along with their disappearance, many older, untranslated and lesser known/smaller will also disappear. It’s sad, so what can we do? Not everybody can speak and read japanese and the publishers have to think of profit. Can we request them, like Jake said libraries are listening to requests. I know it’s a lot harder than a library; is the solution then found in Jake’s model and/or publishing online?
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The suggestion of going to the library is all well and good, provided you have a library to go to. While I live in the US, the local yokels, in their infinite wisdom, decided that a library was frivolous, and have twice refused to fund one. It’s a difficult thing to come by the newest titles, or those out of print, in the local bookstores. Sites like that will remain popular as long as there are people without other means of access.
Wouldn’t it be best to create a Crunchyroll-type service for online manga? Both fans & publishers need to seriously evolve for the sake of the manga industry.
You can also blame the fact that Japan doesn’t seem to see a need for digital distribution rights.
I wrote a few arguments against the publishers. You can check it out at: http://www.mangatherapy.com/post/703231700/scanlationdebate
A crunchy roll model would certainly be better than what we have. I do hope that the models that evolve create more give and take between Japan and other countries. Aggregation alone is fine if you’re just taking localized product, but for comics/manga, it would be more exciting, I think, to find a model that worked as a true publishing platform for new and localized content alike.
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