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Novelist Keigo Higashino, author of the best-selling mystery novel "Byakuyakou," and a group of six other authors and manga artists have filed a class action lawsuit against the owners of two Internet-based companies that enable sharing of digital copies of their works.
Higashino was joined by novelist Jiro Asada and manga artist Kenshi Hirokane among others in a lawsuit which was filed with Tokyo District Court on Tuesday, according to an NHK report. The suit attempts to block the activities of two companies -- Atago, based in Kanagawa, and Tokyo-based Scan X Bank Co -- that distribute ebook copies of the artists' work for as little as 100 yen each.
At a press conference, Higashino said, "These companies are on the rise and we feel something needs to be done about them now before the situation gets out of hand. Personally I have nothing against ebooks as such, but companies that copy artists' work without permission and make it their business model to distribute it without compensating the creators are breaking copyright law. That's what this lawsuit is about," NHK reported.
© Japan Today
13 Comments
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smithinjapan
Sounds reasonable to me.
nath
GREAT to hear. It's already easy to get pirated "raw" manga online for free, which is bad enough. But for companies to CHARGE for pirated comics is just evil. They need to get every yen sued out of their pockets.
billyshears
It seems a little strange that these "publishing companies" thought they could get away with doing this. Could it be that the legal punishment for this kind of copyright infringement is merely a comparatively small fine?
smithinjapan
billyshears: "Could it be that the legal punishment for this kind of copyright infringement is merely a comparatively small fine?"
If it's anything like the 'punishment' publishing companies face for libel, then yes. They'll have made enough money off the sales to more than adequately cover these suits.
Draconalis
On an unrelated note... I wish I could get manga on my e-reader.
سعد بن عبدالرشيد
law is law...
7solace9
This sort of illegal underselling and especially the free electronic file-sharing of Japan's cultural arts seems like a horrible undermining of what should legitimately be an even more vibrant part of Japan's economy. Maybe the leaked material stimulates more sales than would have otherwise been, but I doubt it. I hope the authors are fairly compensated.
On the upside, this article piques my interest in Higashino's novel. In my limited exposure, Japanese keiji novels tend to be well thought out and written.
nath
Along with pimples and a geeky looking sweater. I think the kimble has graphic novels for sale.
yobi00
Wow, what a horrible article full of selective reporting.
I can not speak for Atago, but if you just take a look at Scan X Bank, you'll understand that users have to send their OWN copy of the book to be scanned before they get an ebook back. In other words, the books are already paid for. This was a great service for people who wanted to have their books digitalized, but didn't have the equipment or time.
So the suing side are either trying to stop potential profit for a service they themselves failed to provide or simply trying to cut off the amount of ebooks as much as possible to prevent illegal sharing.
7solace9
@ Yobi: Thanks for clearing up that line. Good to see that the situation is not so bad as it had led me to think. If the authors take a percentage for the analogue to digital conversion, I hope that it does not interfere with the profitability of the business. Seems like a cool service.
Larry Woodworth
Reputable scanlating groups will stop distributing a manga in a country once the publisher starts printing the manga in that country. Then there are others who don't care. These e-book people have the gall to re-publish the works, and actually CHARGE for it! They're no better than the worst of the scanlating groups (who also charge for access).
nath
Those "reputable" scanlators, subbers, etc flood a market so that it is no longer profitable for a publisher to make a profit in it. Why wait fort an official product when I can watch a fansubbed anime within 40min after it aired in japan on the net.
The stopping might have worked when it came to VHS, etc (ie media that wore out) now with digital media that is even easier shared, don't degrade, ...
Plus, most people/fans got sooo used to get stuff for free or cheap that they will no longer look at the official product.
I been fighting pirated goods for over 2 decades and heard all the pro and con arguments, but the reality is give someone a choice between a free or a pirate copy and a licenced product 95% will go for the former.
Here it often "Oh I will rather wait for the fansub, scanlation even though I can have the real product now.".
And with advertising, hit-charges etc now on download/distribution sites they make plenty of money from that alone.
Pirating pretty much killed the resin kit market globally and the same will happen with anime & manga now. overseas manga publishing houses that used to translate and sell physical copies are all closing down.