| >> |
07/24/10(Sat)21:34 No.38342653“Publishers Fear Mangaka, Not Pirates”
"Shonen
Jump’s ultimatum to readers to stop uploading its manga online or face
legal consequences is in response to publishers’ deeply held fears
about a loss of control over their mangaka and a collapse in magazine
sales, say commentators.
Illicit online distribution is claimed
to have a disastrous effect on sales, but one of the most popularly
pirated titles, One Piece, recently set a national sales record with is
57th volume, selling 3,000,000 copies in its first edition alone. In
total it is said to have sold 185,000,000 copies. Sales of magazines
meanwhile have steadily declined.
The overseas popularity of
titles like Naruto, Haruhi, and Lucky Star is also said to have to have
been based largely on illicit online distribution – certainly Kadokawa
and company never marketed them at all overseas.
Some consider
the real reason for Shueisha’s anger at illegal scans to be quite
different to what the publisher would have fans believe – one
journalist claims that the real fear of publishers is actually digital
distribution as a whole, and the disruption it threatens to the manga
industry’s traditional control over mangaka. |
