The big bosses over there finally speak…
Source: ANN
To date, crunchyroll.com has complied with FUNimation’s demands to remove the applicable content.
Bandai Entertainment Inc. also informed the website crunchyroll.com to remove content that infringed on its copyrights and furthermore has been working with licensors in Japan, educating them about the pervasive illegal downloading and streaming of anime that has negatively impacted the market
They have been keeping a close eye on Crunchyroll and as we know, Crunchyroll’s users grow by numbers. I am wondering what stance other publishers might use but for now, only the bosses from the North American shores are speaking.
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March 13th, 2008 at 9:23 am #IcyStorm
Too bad I wouldn’t buy anime if “illegal” downloading and streaming was never available. I will in the future (need to gather cash), but they lose a potential customer every time they do something like this. Why can’t companies think of embracing these methods and thinking of ways of monetizing them?
We finally have the American music industry thinking in different ways, with everyone agreeing DRM-free is the way to go, streaming music sites are acceptable, indie music accounts for a significant amount of music sales, etc. etc. Why can’t anime companies think the same; blaming illegal downloading is not the solution.
I’m not saying all content should be free with no strings attached. But they have to learn how to provide services and content for free with other ways of monetization. We have NBC/Universal and Fox finally releasing Hulu to the public, and Hulu is completely ad-supported with free shows and movies. I don’t see why the anime industry can’t take a similar approach. But maybe they’ve already tried; if they have, I am not aware of it.