Manga Publishers change stance on Scanlation

[Tsukaima]

Well, for those of you who read manga online, you may or may not have heard this news but it is very troubling indeed. It seems recently publishers have had a change of heart and insist all websites hosting scanlated manga (licensed or otherwise) remove their content. This means sites like Onemanga, 1000manga, Mangahut, etc. will no longer have/host any manga material on their sites.
Here's the official quote from the owner of Onemanga.

It pains me to announce that this is the last week of manga reading on One Manga (!!). Manga publishers have recently changed their stance on manga scanlations and made it clear that they no longer approve of it. We have decided to abide by their wishes, and remove all manga content (regardless of licensing status) from the site. The removal of content will happen gradually (so you can at least finish some of the outstanding reading you have), but we expect all content to be gone by early next week (RIP OM July '10).

So what next? We're not really sure at this point, but we have some ideas we would like to try out. Until then, the One Manga forums will remain active and we encourage all of you to continue using them. OMF has developed into a great community and it would be a shame to see that disappear.

Regardless of whether you stay with us or not, on behalf of the One Manga team, I would like to thank you all for your unwavering support over the years. Through the ups and downs you have stuck with us, and that is what kept us going.

As a certain Porky was fond of saying... That's all folks!

Time for me to go lay down and let this all sink in.

- Zabi

Now, what does this mean for those of us who read our weekly Naruto's and Bleach's or whatever online? I'm not quite sure. I guarantee there will be plenty of rebel sites keeping their doors open trying to fight the power and all that but it's a shame that we're stuck to the shadows now, reading manga in secrecy as if we had torrented it. I can understand where they're coming from, free chapters online means less money or what have you but is this honestly the way to go about it? It's the simplest and fastest solution by all means, however it just seems a tad too sudden and extreme at this point. Also what of us who don't live in Japan and can't get a brand new WSJ when it comes out? Are we just supposed to be doomed to reading the versions they release that are so far behind it's almost criminal? Well i've talked enough for now but i'd love to hear your opinions. Though like I said you really can't stop a community so strong. It didn't work with anime and it damn sure won't work this time either.

 

[Gryphman]

It's the internet. You can't fight the internet.

 

[Tsukaima]

China and Korea can :laugh:

 

[G-Raia913]

Then it's time to earn money for tickets to Japan. To go to Akihabara... I'm gonna buy the manga set of School Days there..

 

[Gryphman]

China and Korea can :laugh:

China has to have people who physically watch people use it, and North Korea doesn't even have it. I think this falls a little short of that. lol

 

[MrMonk]

Now, what does this mean for those of us who read our weekly Naruto's and Bleach's or whatever online? I'm not quite sure. I guarantee there will be plenty of rebel sites keeping their doors open trying to fight the power and all that but it's a shame that we're stuck to the shadows now, reading manga in secrecy as if we had torrented it. I can understand where they're coming from, free chapters online means less money or what have you but is this honestly the way to go about it? It's the simplest and fastest solution by all means, however it just seems a tad too sudden and extreme at this point. Also what of us who don't live in Japan and can't get a brand new WSJ when it comes out? Are we just supposed to be doomed to reading the versions they release that are so far behind it's almost criminal? Well i've talked enough for now but i'd love to hear your opinions. Though like I said you really can't stop a community so strong. It didn't work with anime and it damn sure won't work this time either.

You'll go back to doing it the "hard" way. Torrents.

Ultimately, they don't care if you're behind. Much like games that come out in one territory and then in another months later.

 

[NAND NOR]

I guarantee there will be plenty of rebel sites keeping their doors open trying to fight the power and all that but it's a shame that we're stuck to the shadows now, reading manga in secrecy as if we had torrented it.

How is reading stolen manga material on a website any different from torrenting that same manga? You're still not giving anything back to the people that make it and distribute it.

Also what of us who don't live in Japan and can't get a brand new WSJ when it comes out? Are we just supposed to be doomed to reading the versions they release that are so far behind it's almost criminal?

If you really cared about the manga that you read and the writers/artists that create them, then yes, you would wait and purchase legit products. Getting your hands on comics isn't a life or death matter. Having some patience isn't going to kill you.

And here's a thought for anyone that reads "scanlations" without supporting the actual product ... how do you think the creators feel about you? Do you feel that they view you as loyal fans?

 

[Skiks]

I give back by buying the mangas I actually care about which also happens to be the mangas I read. I never felt the scanalations ever competed with the mangas distributed now since they are so far behind.
Beyond Part 3 I can't buy Jojo in english anywhere around here so it makes supporting the author a bit hard. And it is very possible they will never translate them.

 

[Vitor]

Not to seem like the bad guy, but if this is actually hurting the manga industry like places are saying, then this is the right thing to do

If the translated manga in question has no hope of coming to the states (Like the original Kinnikuman manga), it should be allowed to stay up

 

[Skiks]

Thats the thing. Manga that would never be translated is being taken down as well when it's useless to most Japanese readers considering it's in another language. It's a complete sweep.