Of Otakus and Fansubs: A Critical Look at Anime Online in Light of Current Issues in Copyright Law

Zimuzu and Media Industry in China

“…The end result can be better than if only one or a few people had worked on the project. 42 Hatcher calls this "distributed production", a key idea of disseminated, collective creativity. 43 Media projects can be virtualized like an assembly line: segmented, engineered, roles and tasks assigned, centrifugally projected with complex processes simplified, linearized, put into phases.…”

Examining the potential of fansubbing as a language learning activity

“…The lack of major anime distributors in the USA led some groups of fans to create translated subtitles for unlicensed shows and distribute them to other anime lovers. Though fansubs constitute a form of derivative work that infringes upon many countries' copyright laws, and can also be regarded as a form of piracy when they are paired with unauthorized distribution of the cultural product they are meant to be used with (Hatcher 2005;Lee 2011; Rembert-Lang 2010) they were often the only means by which non-Japanese speakers could consume anime that were unlicensed in their country (Hatcher 2005;Lee 2011). …”

“…Some fans feel localization limits their access to, and full appreciation of, these cultural products, as it 'represents a form of corruption presenting audiences with a distorted experience of the foreign' (Perez-Gonzalez 2012, 5). As a result, they may prefer fansubs, as these often include extra information on particular cultural references or local colloquialisms that appear in the cultural product (Hatcher 2005;Rembert-Lang 2010). The blog pop!gasa, for example, will often include linguistic or cultural notes with their translation of Korean pop song lyrics, such as an explanatory note regarding the significance of the 2 O. Lakarnchua…”

“…Originally, making fansubs was both a time and labor-intensive practice that involved numerous steps. Each step required hours of work from one or more individuals with requisite language and technological abilities (Hatcher 2005). Fansubs for a 25-minute anime episode, for instance, could require anywhere from 8 to 20 hours to complete (Lee 2011).…”

Between fan culture and copyright infringement: manga scanlation

“…That is, overseas fans are willing to digitally copy, translate and distribute these products for other fans, particularly those who cannot access them due to geographical and linguistic barriers. For example, many Japanese animations or 'animes' are now digitally 'fansubbed' and popular light novels (an entertainment novel targeted at young adults, where the story is led by comic or animation characters) are 'fan-translated' (Hatcher, 2005;Leonard, 2005). …”