SOURCE: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-11-24/gdh-int’l-head-condemns-illegal-anime-distribution

As of late Fan subbing has gotten a lot of press on anime sites and social networking sites such as digg.com Now it seems the industry has finally woken up and now lashing out at it’s fan base. I wanted to share my opinion on the subject as a fan myself I really feel that industry is trying to copy the RIAA / MPAA in their tactics and single everyone out and in the end doing more harm then good.

First this quote “Viewing fan subbed versions before official release is not different from smashing the window of a Mac Store and taking an iPhone the day before it is released,

First I’d say thats a bad analogy we aren’t getting the episodes days before they air on teh contrary while residents of Japan get to enjoy them right away fan subbers must wait days or even weeks for a fansubbed version of a show to be released so in this sense we aren’t watching a show that hasn’t already been aired.

Smith then stated that fansubs are hurting the anime industry both in Japan and in the United States. According to the interview, because of the decrease in DVD sales caused by fansubs, G.D.H. has had to lower production budgets for a number of its current series and limit staff salary increases.

I call BULLSHIT on that whole statement. Since when are US anime companies feeling the pinch from fan subbing I don’t see ADV or Bandai blaming slow dvd sales on fan subbing. As for the budget costs technology has decreased the amount of money you have to throw at a series.

You don’t have to hire as many people as you once did what once needed someone a computer has taken their place and thus their job was eliminated.

At the same time, Smith acknowledged that fans are frequently dissatisfied with the long time it often takes for an American company to begin releasing an anime series it has licensed. In response to this, G.D.H. is looking into legal ways of distributing anime online (such as via Apple’s iTunes and Microsoft’s Xbox Live stores) and into any other possible ways of cutting the wait times.

This quote inspired me to write this post alone. Its crazy at the length some of these animes come out to American audiences. We have fans who dedicate their time to do subbing for people who can’t watch the show as it airs. Many times these groups in their subbing say “stop distribution once the show has been licensed”

The fan subbers themselves want to see the anime do good and be successfully outside of Japan they are just providing the means for none Japanese speaking peoples to enjoy the art form and entertainment.

I don’t think we’ll ever see the licensing process get sped up because it’s a lot of work to package a on US release just because we have distribution services like iTunes or the current generation of consoles doesn’t mean new licenses will be ready for an american audience any faster.

Plus I believe much of the anime that gets fan subbed DOESN’T GET LICENSED I honestly don’t think we’ll see a School Days license a Kodomo No Jikan license or a bamboo blade license. Again I may be wrong but there is always those anime series that are good but never licensed or it will take an awful long time many times years after the airing of it in Japan.

If the studios / broadcasters gave audiences out of japan a way to legally purchase subbed versions of the show at a cheap cost to the fan I think many people would jump on the idea but the studios have to realize people will still pirate anything if it’s there for free people will always choose the free option.

In the end I think the studios should give us an option and stop pointing fingers they haven’t given us much options to choose and just recently started using the internet as a medium to distribute trailers or full episodes fan subbing has been around for years and that’s all we have at hand to be able to enjoy the shows that are currently airing in japan.

We don’t have the opportunity to wait for big TV stations like CBS, NBC or FOX to whip out the checkbook and start airing the show in America so until you think of something don’t make the same mistake the RIAA / MPAA are currently doing by slandering their customers and assuming everyone is a criminal just because your profits are falling.

The only people I can stand are the jack asses who profit from fan subbing. When School Days was airing I did eBay searches for some memorabilia or stuff like that and often saw DVDs for sale from people taking the fan subbed versions and burning to the disc and passing them off as a legit product that is what pisses me off and I think this group should go after the real reason their profits are falling!