Miscellaneous stuff
You call it filler, I call it… blog tapas.
Nothing worth a full blog post here. So here’s a few random thoughts:
1. Nabari No Mo
Fansub group Rumi has been issued a takedown notice by Funimation, who has “obtained an agreement authorizing FUNimation to act on behalf of d-rights to prevent infringement on specific titles.” So no more than 6 episodes from the end of a series, I’m forced to stop watching it, “though these series have not been licensed to a local distributor in North America.” That means I may never see the end (you know, where the inevitable gay sex will be).
I have a couple questions here (perhaps someone like a jpmeyer or an Omo can answer them):
- Firstly, is it not the distribution of raws that is the illegal part? So wouldn’t releasing a script (like an .ass) be a reasonable “circumvention?” Obviously, that’s up to the subbers, if they want to play it clean, they might not even want to enable people who obtain the raws, but if you obtain the raws you’ve already done the dodgy part… or am I wrong?
- Second, how does the DMCA, and US federal copyright law, apply to a property that isn’t licensed in the US?
- Does this imply that there will be a license for the series, and the other ones in the package (Bamboo Blade, Monochrome Factor, etc)?
- Could someone pull a pirate bay and locate (their tracker) outside the jurisdiction of Funi and the DMCA? I’m not saying it’s a great idea, just curious.
Anyway, I can’t say I’m really that rootin’ tootin’ about the series, but now that I’ve come this far, it’s at least a rental. Provided it actually becomes licensed.
2. I am an extremist, and I enjoy seeing pretty girls being dismembered.
According to Author anyway.
Well… let’s not get carried away. I mean… are there robots involved? This affects my answer. I suppose I did caption that image “Fuck yes,” but really that picture was just enabling some fine-ass Kabitzin punnery.
And if what you meant was, “I would rather see some sweet spattering gore as long as it’s in a good anime than watch a bunch of underage nekomimi cavort around in their underpants for 24 minutes a week while pretending to be airplanes,” then yes. I am an extremist.
Anyway, I do understand the creators are in the place where they are through no fault of their own, but my 2 bucks doesn’t care where the blame goes. It cares when the new Blassreiter comes out.
3. I can’t find my Netflix.
This is irrelevant to most of anything, but people have been talking a lot about Netflix lately for some retarded reason. Here are some Netflix fun facts:
- I have been on the service for 8 years.
- I watched a lot of anime on Netflix.
- The delay stories are true. You have to know just how fast to return your movies for maximum value. Not too fast, not too slow.
- “Watch Instantly” is kind of a drag because the DRM requires Internet Explorer (and thus, Windows), there is a really small selection, and anime always shows the dub.
- There is no big fucking whoop or revelation about Netflix, and if you’re watching anime using it, you are about the 8 millionth person to do so.
- I have never once made a spreadsheet of my rentals.
Problem is, I moved recently, and all my boxes have finally been unpacked, and some miscellaneous disc-shaped things from one corner of one room are missing: The bonus music CD from the Home Movies season 1 box set, my RahXephon box, and two movies from Netflix. Possibly some candy. Kind of sucks.
4. That reminds me.
Primer is a really good movie. You should try it. Not sure you can get it from Netflix though. I hear some guy is hoarding it at his house. Weird.
Pure crap is a little extreme: it’s hard to imagine something so poor that there is nothing which is not crap. Even Kaibutsu Oujo had one or two slightly witty jokes.
Ironically, it was deficiencies in a ‘net DVD rental service which indirectly made me aware of fansubs’ existence.
OK, I suppose there are redeeming points, most of which I can’t tell are intentional or not:
Get it? They don’t wear pants, so it’s funny! Haha.
@IKnight
Kaibutsu Oujo was severely disappointing. I…I don’t like to think about the wasted oppurtunity there much…
@otou-san
I actaully scrolled through an episode of Nabari and read a summary at the same time so the whole thing took around 7 minutes. It was the only way I could get through an episode of the show. Oh, Blassreiter ftw.
It’s starting to sound less like justifiable hate, and more like hating for the sake of hating. Where’s the love man?
I’m pretty sure that a translation is classified as a derivative work, so that’s still not OK.
Pretty much every country is a signatory to the Berne Convention, which recognizes overseas copyright.
The kneejerk response would be yes, but for all we know it could’ve been a clause in another deal or maybe a separate agreement. Maybe they subcontracted out the whole download hunting to Funimation since they’re much more skilled at that sort of thing. Then again, why those specific shows unless it’s some kind of deal? Shrug.
Hell, they could just continue what they’re doing. Nobody’s ever going to get sued because it’s not feasible financially (both in terms of legal costs and the fact that they’ll never be able to get any damages from like a 20 year old student with no assets and tens of thousands in debts from student loans).
I know JP is not a lawyer so I feel compelled to add some notes, although he’s got it right in practical terms. Here are some rambling that you should not take for serious legal advice, or seriously in general:
1. The right to create derivative works is a protected right under copyright. It’s just like the right to reproduce or distribute. Of course a digisubber group arguably do all three. Loosely speaking, a derivative work is something “based on” the original, such as a translation.
The legal case against “fansubbing” (in quotes because it’s not a well-defined concept in this context) is not a sealed deal. This goes to point #4 below.
2. Copyright ownership is recognized across all Berne signatory nations–there’s this treaty that a bunch of countries signed. As an aside, a while ago I was reading (IIRC) William Patry’s blog (head copyright counsel for Google) and he mentioned how the Iranian local film scene is blooming the past few years. How funky would it be if Americans can pirate it without any repercussions, as they’re not a part of the treaty? Heck, not even pirate–you can rip it off and call it your own and get away with it. If the fans let you.
3. This is actually the $$64,000 question. I suspect no one knows the real answer to the question. If anyone, Funi and d-rights folks might have the best clue, so ask them. The technical term, as I heard from Heiskell (funi marketing rep @ otakon who actually spoke on this), is that they have the right to power of attorney. Power of attorney means that they can sue people on d-rights’ behalf. They didn’t say what countries or regions they the rights for, but I presume at least in the US.
4. This ties in with #3 and #1 a bit. At otakon the impression I got from this was that Funi actually just have the power of attorney. In that sense, it’s already much cheaper for Funi to sue people than d-rights, since they’re based in the US and won’t have to mess with translation too much. At the same time, the exact fee structure is uncertain because at the end someone has to pay the lawyers. Maybe it’s out of Funi’s pocket, d-rights’ pocket, or both.
It ties in with #1 because this is not an open-and-shut case if fansubbers were to go to court over something that’s not being locally published. For what it is worth, regardless if whoever prevails in court, because it’s not an open-and-shut case it’s going to cost a lot more money.
In practice, however, like JP said it doesn’t matter since they’re not going to take anyone to court besides bootleggers, and those people don’t have much of a presence in the US that’s prone to lawsuits. Why not? Because it cost like in the ballpark of 20,000$ just to get the ball rolling in federal court. Actual trial? Probably at least 100 grand? LOLZ. And it’s not like any fansubber has the money to pay the Funi/d-rights even if they win.
Uhhhh… Author said you dismissed Strike Witches despite “the strong story in it?”
WTF? Is there an alternate dimension anime fans have access to? I stopped watching Strike Witches at episode 05, but until that time, the story consisted of “GIRLS RUNNING OH NO PLANE YAY GUNS NOW BOOB GRABS”.
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