A while ago, I had heard a rumor that governments were working on some international copyright laws that would severely punish those who spread copyrighted material illegally. What concerned me in the article ( [link] ) was that "it was revealed criminal provisions would target both commercial and NON-COMMERCIAL infringement, creating the prospect of jail time even in cases where there was no intent of profit."

Now, I've been on both sides of the table. I've downloaded stuff and also worked as a retailer for the last 6 years. From a retailer/company/artists' point of view, you worked hard to get your product out there, and then you wonder why sales are low and you find out that it's because people aren't buying, but instead downloading your stuff from the internet? Now you don't have the money to put out more stuff, and it really sucks (to say the least). Of course you'd get mad at those who downloaded your hard labor that you were expecting to make a profit off of, and would want to punish them as strictly as possible.

But from the other side...a majority of those, I think, are in high school or college (not to say that people younger and older DON'T download stuff they're not supposed to), and especially these days, don't exactly have the extra money to go out and buy DVDs or books or whatnot. And the Internet just makes it that much easier. And anyway, those big companies won't miss the couple of bucks that they would have used as toilet paper for their golden toilets, right? Stick it to the man!

...except that "The Man" didn't make that stuff you love. And sure, he might get a bigger cut (which, believe me, I am not happy about), but if you don't buy stuff than no one who worked on it will get anything for their hard-earned labor, or at least, they won't have money to fund future projects.


This kind of thing is easy to sympathize on a local level. But here's where things get tricky.

There's this show, Kamen Rider. No, not the Dragon Knights one you see on Saturday morning (well, actually, yes it is, but that's another matter). Anyway, this show has been running in Japan for, what, 40-or-so-years? It's a show that's geared towards elementary school boys, but often attracts an older audience as well. It's a show that's similar to Power Rangers, in that there's a new person or group of people and a new setting etc about every year but it's still essentially the same show, i.e. there's a monster causing trouble and the hero(s) transform into super powered beings to save the day.

I hate to say it, but it's not a show that would enjoy the same success here as it would in Japan.

Which is why I'm glad that there are people who post the episodes online, for free, with English subtitles so that I might enjoy them. They don't do it for profit. They do it because they love the show and they want to give other people the opportunity to enjoy the show too.

Now, you might say, "How do you KNOW that this show wouldn't be successful in the U.S.? I mean, look at Power Rangers! That's PLENTY successful!" True, but the Power Rangers show we see here is not the same Sentai that's in Japan. They basically re-shoot the show so that it can connect with American audiences.* But Ultraman** showed that dubbed-over shows just don't do as well over here.

Now, that's not to say that they wouldn't SELL. People love to collect. It's part of our hunter-gatherer nature. But licensing companies have not yet seen it fit to bring it over to wider markets because, well, the numbers probably aren't high enough to their liking.

I don't think that things should stay the way they are. I'm actually on the companies' side when it comes to the need for international copyright law, though I don't agree with their harsh punishments. I'm just afraid of loosing my Kamen Rider. Importing Japanese DVDs, if I'm able to do it at all, is more expensive than my college art student budget will allow. When a new episode is put online, it is one of the highlights of my week. And I'd like to be able to watch the episodes without having to turn to my Japanese friend every minute and ask "What does that mean?" "Why are they laughing?" "Why are they fighting?"


So, here is my proposed solution. Many companies, through the use of iTunes, Hulu and especially Crunchyroll (etc), have been able to expose their shows to a wider audience at a cost significantly less than the usual method of licensing and distribution. My plea is for companies to embrace these new methods of distribution, so that when the new copyright laws get enforced you don't loose any of the audience who spends hundreds of dollars on your merchandise.*** Not that money should be your only motivator...though there are a number of people out there who don't pay for your product, they are still your fans. My hope is to find a halfway point where both fan and producer can be satisfied.




*They've even brought the American Power Rangers back to Japan, dubbed over in Japanese, but it didn't do too well. Probably because the Japanese audience couldn't connect with the American actors, even though the show was dubbed back in their language.

**In the early 2000s, Ultraman Tiga was aired as part of the Saturday Morning lineup on Fox. The fact that the only other Ultraman shows to be brought over have all been direct-to-DVD should say something.

***I might not buy as many DVDs as I used to, but I still spend more money on merchandise than I will admit. It is my belief that merchandise and ad space is where the real money is.