FOR AOT/MANGA FANS, PLEASE READ THIS!
Regarding the recent events of a twitter user who snitched on a group of fantranslators to the official editor of the Attack On Titan manga, if you could just give me a minute to explain further and give my thoughts over this situation…
Are fan translations or scanlations illegal because of illegally scanned translations or because it was illegally translated? Curious thought I had. One will still say that it doesn’t matter since it’s illegal, but I’m wondering a lot of things about this.
I think we can all agree here that the leaked scans are illegal, especially the raws. There is no question about it. It counts as copyright infringement and it’s seen as unethical since it has yet to be released. I’ve read the laws regarding it and I was wrong about the translated (technically still editing though) work that’s also included in this. I’m not going into too much detail regarding this to keep it simple.
Article 21 states authors have the exclusive rights to reproduce their work. United States copyright law also protects this (17 U.S.C. Section 106). Fansubs and scanlations are unauthorized reproductions and modifications of a work without the authors’ contractual permission.
The thing is, how far can someone decide to take down or take legal action against fan subs and scanlations, especially those already released but not in other languages? There are four criteria regarding fair use:
The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is for commercial or for nonprofit educational purposes.
The nature of the copyrighted work.
The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.
The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work.
Scanlations affect the fourth one the most at best. At the end of the day, the authors or owners of said work determine how much it can/or should violate copyright laws. Yet how far can this go?
Let me use myself as an example. I posted a colored panel of the official manga. The author has the right to want it taken down, but I also have the right to keep it up (as long as I am not profiting from it in any way as I’m using HIS character; point number 3). People who use official panels as to edit the speech bubble ( whether as a meme or rewording the speech for a different purpose) and those who use panels to create discussions have the right to be taken down by the owner and/or is also protected under fair use. This part is what I see as a gray(ish) area.
Let’s not even talk about the huge culture significance scanlators have and the fact that manga distributors and even the authors themselves have taken advantage of, then dispose of them when not needed. There are even scholar papers regarding this phenomenon. So yes, if not profiting is a very important factor, since the reason they get into trouble is because there is a possibility they are earning revenue on it (the group in question are not), not for the action itself. Accusing her and the team of this false info, in which is based on the screenshot below, is so malicious.
sadly, shuuko has deactivated their account…
Despite everything else, this is very unfortunate. In this case, severe punishment is not needed despite what the law may say. Fair use and copyright laws is a battle that has gone for so long and will stay as far as I’m concerned. It can also be confusing when not contextual. I am 100% for the author and their rights overhauls anyone else, at least, most of the time. I hope we learn a lesson from this and realize the toxicity of every fandom. If anyone else has anything to say, don’t shy away from replying or reblogging this post for additional info. Thank you for reading!
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