law and downloading...

BlitzKrieg

This is just a quick querie.


as far as i know the animes that appear online (subtitled in english) to download are not illegal to download if said anime is not licenced for release in america.

now i dont know what law this falls under or if its a little urban fib but as far as i can tell an anime is freely available until pioneer or someone snaps up the rights and then the fansubs disapear (*cough*)

i'm curious though, if said anime is licenced for release in america, does that make it still illegal to download a fansub if its not licenced for release in Europe. (for example, gungrave and full metal alchemist?)

or can one get around it by having it in english but with irish subtitles (no product licenced in irish )

Asuka

Common misconception. The truth is that fansubs are illegal. In a purely technical sense. However, fansubbers usually adhere to a morality which states that once a series has been lisenced for distribution in any english language region (US, UK, Australia, it doesnt matter) then the subbing stops, the distribution stops, and if you want it, you buy it. This is why it has been overlooked for so long. As long as fansubs stop once a series is lisenced, they are drumming up interest in anime faster than they are taking away potential DVD sales.

So, no, you cant get around the issue legally, since it was never legal in the first place

A

honru

Yeah, plus GunGrave and Fullmetal Alchemist are licensed for release in Europe, so you're still lawfully fúcked.

BlitzKrieg

fine cheers for that.


(when will gungrave et FMA be out over here...dont see them in any shops)

Scratch Acid

Gungrave Vol. 1 - 02/05/2005
Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 1 - 16/05/2005

(You lazy bastard.)

saado

Maybe i'm wrong, but when an anime is licensed for distribution in the US, doesn't it normally mean that it's also licensed in europe too?

Asuka

Nope, they are completely different territories with regard to distribution lisences.

A