The Japanese government is stepping in to help anime companies battle the pre-dominantly overseas trend of fansubbing anime titles.
In their new “Intellectual Property Strategic Program 2008”, the Japanese government aims to stop unauthorized online sharing of content and distribution. While the report doesn’t specifically mention fansubbing, it does leave hints that this year will lay the foundation for tackling this problem on a global scale.
Anime is a multi-billion dollar industry in Japan. It is only logical that they want to make sure they continue to see that money stay in Japan. To read the full Intellectual Property Strategic Program 2008,visit the English translation. Via Sankaku Complex.
This looks grim
indeed, metatron-dono – though let’s just see what happens.
I sense alot of haters and angry anime fans here in the US. But I say let the Japanese do whatever they want. Its thier stuff….
It’s such a double edged sword. Without fan-subs, we would be left way behind in anime because U.S. distributors cant keep up with the demand.
Now, if say Japanese companies automatically subtitled their releases for different languages, that would be another option. However, that may hurt U.S. distributor’s sales numbers. Not everyone likes dubbed anime.
If the U.S Distributors would actually dub properly and not cut episodes out they may see better sales. Online Fandubbes for Anime and JDorama is how i got introduced. Without it, I wouldn’t have gotten to know alot of Japanese Culture and History. (ie/ NHK Shinsengumi, Fuurin Kazan, Gokusen etc etc)