Question to the staff

[XIII]

we buy direct from Amazon Japan, saves on the middle man fees

[takenoko]

What Luna said. Plus some bootlegs just use TV broadcasts or even our subs with the TN stuff cut out. In terms of doing the right thing and for practical reasons as well, bootlegs aren't even on the table for consideration. They're really kind of a waste of money in every single way possible

[DrakosAmatras]

What Luna said. Plus some bootlegs just use TV broadcasts or even our subs with the TN stuff cut out. In terms of doing the right thing and for practical reasons as well, bootlegs aren't even on the table for consideration. They're really kind of a waste of money in every single way possible

So true. Nothing beats the original product quality, after all. If only the costs would be lower... [Sigh] If I were to get the whole series, maybe one DVD at a time, I suppose.

[Dororo]

Disitribution is the issue in the states at least. Toei does have a stateside division though, and other companies that work with Toei can act as a proxy as well.

If toei askes, all we can really do is comply. The only legal defense that could theoretically be argued is the artistic license of the subs as an art form over just providing it to people as piracy. Even that is questionable though.
Since we don't condone streams, or selling of said material, I would hope they'd go after other outlets first that try to sell raws or otherwise. While we may be in the grey area, those are the people making a profit off of Toei's work, whereas all we're doing is free work we don't see any money for, and push the legit forays when available while pulling our own. Just as we also push the purchasing of material related to shows.

Does that make it right? Probably not. It does at least keep us in a gray area though when various logos do obstruct it from being a pure copy. That being said, that means DVDs, and HD encodes aren't covered. At least if you use the degradation of quality argument that allowed VHS to win way back when. Even that's completely questionable though as the vhs argument doesn't cover distribution.

Overall? We'd just have to comply. There is no pure angle of acceptance across all platforms of shows. Some are hit or miss based on the property in question, but others not so much.

Then again, if cards aligned right, instead of suing I'd hope they'd recognize the amount of audience there is, and try to turn tv-nihon into a form of crunchy roll or itunes or otherwise digitally capable entity for their benefit, if it came down to it. That way they can benefit from the artistic value of what we do, make it legal, and profit on merchandising while still attaining a DVD license partner to distribute said subs in legal fashion of higher picture quality, or profit from the itunes or other digital distro models available. This lets them monitor the sales, gain a profit, and potentially even forego said similiar issues of the previous tokusatsu series that didn't fair so well.

That's a pipe dream. I would think as smart as toei is, instead of just killing a chunk of the fandom that wants to support them, they'd find a way to make it benefit them for a profit.

For sentai this becomes a different argument as it really depends on how much profit they get from said licensing fees, and the resale in their own regions of said 'refurbishings.'

And no, the commercials don't matter when it comes to the content due to the localized nature of said commercials. It's quite a heady issue with many factors attributing to it from ease of access, areas of availability(the japan IPs mentioned earlier or any other nation that licenses the shows) which includes license holders of various shows, and more.

So yes, if they asked, all we could do is comply. We couldn't argue it, but I would hope instead of just a C&D letter threat, Toei would instead opt to use it to their own benefit and open a dialogue of discussion for the best way to make it legal, for them to profit, and not to cause a massive fan backlash.

Though they are entirely in their rights to ask us to quit, and we would even defend their right and agree, the internet sadly doesn't work like that. The internet is more of a knee jerk pissing match about immediate satisfaction and ignoring what's legal or not just to be angry or pissy at a company for taking that away.

I for one enjoy the artistic merits of these subs, and feel that would be in their best interest for localization with of course, the method pending what toei is capable of doing in said regions where they could. There are business ways to both curtail pirating, bolster incomes, and increase audiences instead of just flat out C&D letters.

And no, bootlegs are not an option. As Luna said, we want to support them when we can. Not promote piracy. It's a very questionable area, and fine line of seperation of what we do. Trying to provide the quality and artistic nature, with support for the merchandise and related material, while still providing something that creates an audience for said forays. We're all fans here, we want to see it thrive and continue. This means supporting it(the properties) and the companies that own it which would include our compliance if it came down to it, if they felt we were harming their business which is not our intent.
This is exactly why we pull what's been brought stateside legitly and with integrity.

That's what really seperates us from others who sub material that is already available legally. We want that material supported, so we pull subs of that and tell people to buy the localized dvd. It's not about anime vs Toku, it's about what's available and what's not for purchase or viewing in its original intended form.

[DrowningFishy]

I got a question that popped into my head; maybe it's the fact I am tired. But what would staffers do if someone from official channels sent you a message not to disburse but that the would like to regulate what you do?

[Dororo]

I got a question that popped into my head; maybe it's the fact I am tired. But what would staffers do if someone from official channels sent you a message not to disburse but that the would like to regulate what you do?

Then I hope it would be discussed among the staff to best facilitate their needs, how it would help the fans, and how if we would be doing it officially that we'd be reimbersed for it commercially or if they intend to implement some form of free model and how.

But that's a big what if.

It depends on what the others view of it as, but if it meant we could still do what we love, bring this to the fans, and support toei better, that would be win win all around. Especially if it meant that toei themselves re-imbersed the currently free effort and work.

The drawback to that though is that we'd be tied to only one company's product to do that for legally. So instead of picking and choosing cool shows we like, we'd be stuck in doing it only for that company and their permitted material. Though with luck, if it proved fruitful for them, they would open their library of material for permission (though not likely more heavy hitter movies that they can license for more money like Kamen Rider: The First was), or other companies would consider doing it as well.

It'd mean a complete overhaul of the site and how things are handled though, including how this goes out to the public and the restrictions to who we can reach. So really as I said, it'd be a pretty long staff discussion and weighing of options as to what it completely means and the outcome of it, or if we should do it.

So it's really one of those things that's so far out there, it's best left for discussion if (in the unlikely event) it ever happens. As the terms to what they exactly want to permit, how, why, to what end, and what will change are a key deciding factor to that. Too many factors without knowing the full stippulations or 'contractual obligations' and what it would mean or entail for a simple answer.

[kikaida]

I think if it ever came down to it, that this can be settled by merely supplying the subs and an off site link to a copy of whatever episode was subbed. You've done nothing illegal by providing a translation free of charge. And since you did nothing to modify the episode, there is nothing linking you to the episode . . . because all you've done is the subtitles.

I suppose this is the old "soft-sub" vs. "hard-sub" question . . . don't get me wrong, I love the way TVN does hard-subs and it makes for easy burning to a disc for a player . . . but soft subs are better than nothing and since I watch 100% of all that I download on my PC, then "soft-subs" are no issue.

[gamerboy]

Hey guys, just wondering if the new Super Sentai Vs Theather post is the same Gekiranger vs Boukenger movie that is in the Gekiranger post. I know it's a movie that got shown on tv and the Goseiger "host" it. but is the actual movie/episodes the same?

[XIII]

technically its the same movie just edited down slightly,

you should have read the thread about the release as it contains all the information in there

[takenoko]

I think this thread has outlived its purpose. Just create a new thread if you want to ask the staff a question