Why, manga publishers, WHY??????

[Hollock]

Aaaaaas you may know, recently most big manga publishers changed their policies so that sites like OneManga that previously allowed you to read pretty much anything online can no longer show their mangas.In my eyes, SERIOUSLY NOT COOL, GUYS. I don't want to wait until Bleach chapter 415 and D.Gray-Man 197 come out stateside... sob.

Anyways, does anyone know why they chose to do this?

also, if you're only replying to criticize my choices of manga... F**K OFF.

YOU'RE STEALING FROM THEM!
And of course they want you to pay for the stuff they work hard to make. Really, the people behind Onemanga seem like nice guys and I feel sorry that they can't keep doing this, but what they're doing is ultimatly wrong. We're not entitled to this stuff, most of us, myself included are leeches. It sucks that stuff costs money, and we have to wait for stuff, but thats life. And a google chrome extenstion doesn't make this a allright thing to do. How does that justify anything?

on a calmer note:
If there was a legal way to get manga online for say 50-70$ (about the price of a years worth of weekly shoen Jump) and this hypothetical site would be yearly (50-70$), monthly (5-15$), ect. subscription, would you go for that?

They don't even stop to consider the fact that they charge far too much per volume.($10+ bucks per volume, fuck that)

10 Bucks, those things are as thick as bricks! Not bad at all.

 

[Aura Guardian]

Isn't reading them for free pretty much pirating? I'm not trying to be preachy, I don't care if you obey copyright laws or not, but you shouldn't be surprised that someone should try to prevent their material from getting out for free when they should be making money.

So that answered my question

Is that sarcasm? I can't tell through text. In case it's not clear to you, the people who made the manga want money for their intellectual property, which they don't make if sites like Onemanga put them up for anyone to view for free.

Not sarcasm. Sorry about the confusion.

 

[Kiju]

Well, I have to agree with some of my fellow Escapists. To read a manga that hasn't been released in the US, for free, is legitimately considered pirating.

Now, if you were paying a monthly fee to view these mangas, and the site itself was paying the company money to put their manga on the internet for this monthly fee, then I would see no problem with it continuing strong, and prospering even.

However, if you were getting it for free, then yes, you were pirating it just as much as someone downloading free music from stuff like Kazaa. They probably took the site down because it was breaching their rights and didn't want to deal with it anymore due to the abysmal sales of manga stateside. Doesn't help that more often than not, when I come to a book store to buy a book, I see about eight or nine guys sitting in the Manga aisle, reading them so they don't have to buy them.

I've taken to reporting this to the store managers, since this is also a form of piracy. Then again, I have a steady dislike of manga, comicbooks, or anything of the sort. Pathetic excuse for reading material, they are...

 

[Enzeru92]

I knew this was coming and I don't care because fans will find a way to read their manga for free one way or another so I have no worries on that besides I usually buy my manga when I want to support my favs

 

[LooK iTz Jinjo]

Because this was causing them to lose money. The whole idea of business is to make money. They wanted to make more money. Pretty simple really.

 

[Bloodstain]

Noooo.....that.....that can't be. T.T
*sob*

 

[SilverUchiha]

I don't know anything about OneManga, but were they getting any money for that site?

I don't think they get paid for their work. Mostly because it is just fans scanning it online and translating. If they get paid, it probably isn't anything much

Isn't reading them for free pretty much pirating? I'm not trying to be preachy, I don't care if you obey copyright laws or not, but you shouldn't be surprised that someone should try to prevent their material from getting out for free when they should be making money.

Maybe, but the thing is that a lot of manga on sites like OneManga isn't released outside of Japan. Other cases, it is and the translations put out by companies like funimation or vizmedia are terrible for various reasons (mostly because they want to water down the alcoholic, sexual, and drug-related content). The free translations online were good to avoid those kinds or problems and more. ... but yes... Manga takes in more money than anime so the loss in profit for the artists is much greater... sigh...

 

[Funkysandwich]

I wouldn't have even bought any manga at all had I not read it online first.

They only got my business because of the scans, and I have a feeling that I'm not alone in that.

 

[r0botosaurus]

You know Onemanga isn't the only manga database in the planet, right?

 

[Caligulove]

Just skimmed over the site a bit- doesnt seem like its actually sponsored by the publishers or they get anything out of it. Seems like another classic policy of removing their content from somewhere they aren't getting paid for it. And they deserve to get paid for the work that is put into those big mangas.

And waiting is a part of being a fan of anything, especially things only in circulation outside of your country. But you have to deal with it and wait or be willing to find an alternative path to essentially pirating it

 

[Blue Musician]

I guess that it's the companies themselves that want to retire the sites, not the creators themselves...

But whatever...

 

[Arisato-kun]

Isn't reading them for free pretty much pirating? I'm not trying to be preachy, I don't care if you obey copyright laws or not, but you shouldn't be surprised that someone should try to prevent their material from getting out for free when they should be making money.

So that answered my question

Is that sarcasm? I can't tell through text. In case it's not clear to you, the people who made the manga want money for their intellectual property, which they don't make if sites like Onemanga put them up for anyone to view for free.

The thing is, they still wont make it.
It's like the gaming companies and their "war" on pirates. People who aren't planning on buying their games are never going to buy their games.
People who don't plan on buying manga wont ever buy their manga. Attacking websites will simply mean a lot of people wont ever read another volume of manga again. It wont force them to suddenly want to start coughing up 10 bucks or more for a single volume.

This is true. In fact in some cases online scans can lead to sales. I know I never would have bought any of my volumes of Genshiken if I hadn't read it online first. Many people want to read a sample of a series before buying it and many won't do so in stores. Doing this will accomplish nothing except leading to a further decline in manga sales.

 

[TehCookie]

The manga companies are blaming sites like OneManga for their abysmal sales here in the states(As well as in other countries).
They don't even stop to consider the fact that they charge far too much per volume.($10+ bucks per volume, fuck that)


I don't see this doing anything to improve their sales. Nothing will change, except maybe a decline in the amount of manga read outside Asian countries.

$10 where have you been buying yours I've been paying $25!!!

Every try Boarders, Barnes and Noble, or the interwebz? It's almost always around $10. Unless you're buying a discontinued series, then it is more expensive.

 

[Rednog]

This won't change anything people aren't going to run out to the bookstores to buy the manga they were previously reading online (especially since so many are obscenely far behind). People will just delve into the deeper regions of piracy or just go to border for a day and read a stack of manga when it finally catches up. I worked in a border for a year and a half and I think I'd see 10x the amount of manga books read in the store than actually being bought. I really think manga publishers should get into an iTunes style of releasing chapters, have them reasonably up to date, cut out the cost of printing and shipping, hell I know I'd pay for it if they were reasonably priced...as opposed to the $10-20 gouge fest some publishers charge.

 

[Arisato-kun]

Just skimmed over the site a bit- doesnt seem like its actually sponsored by the publishers or they get anything out of it. Seems like another classic policy of removing their content from somewhere they aren't getting paid for it. And they deserve to get paid for the work that is put into those big mangas.

And waiting is a part of being a fan of anything, especially things only in circulation outside of your country. But you have to deal with it and wait or be willing to find an alternative path to essentially pirating it

But let's be honest. There are plenty of series that those in America would have no knowledge of without scans. For example, I would have had no knowledge of the manga Bakuman without scans. Because of those scans that publisher at least has my sales as I now plan to purchase every volume. It's a double edged sword really. At least in my experience I've seen many people who support the manga industry by buying volumes AFTER reading the scans since having a hard copy is so much nicer than reading a scan on your computer. There ARE these kinds of people too and a lot of those fans would not be fans without scans.

 

[Silver Patriot]

Isn't reading them for free pretty much pirating? I'm not trying to be preachy, I don't care if you obey copyright laws or not, but you shouldn't be surprised that someone should try to prevent their material from getting out for free when they should be making money.

So that answered my question

Is that sarcasm? I can't tell through text. In case it's not clear to you, the people who made the manga want money for their intellectual property, which they don't make if sites like Onemanga put them up for anyone to view for free.

The thing is, they still wont make it.
It's like the gaming companies and their "war" on pirates. People who aren't planning on buying their games are never going to buy their games.
People who don't plan on buying manga wont ever buy their manga. Attacking websites will simply mean a lot of people wont ever read another volume of manga again. It wont force them to suddenly want to start coughing up 10 bucks or more for a single volume.

If you aren't willing to give them your business, then they aren't obligated to deliver you their product. Plus, some people who read the manga for free would pay if they had to, but choose not to because they want to save money.

I don't blame you for wanting things for free, but it's pretty unrealistic to think that people are going to charge you for their material, unless you really don't want to pay for it. That's not how the world works.

I am willing (and do) give Manga publishers my buisness, but when (insert manga here) is 30 chapters ahead of the states I am not waiting until they get around to releasing it. I want to know what happens.

On a side topic I feel that this can't wait attitude is a byproduct of the internet.

 

[Edward Elgar's BFF]

oh my god, that is so true!! There is a 2-year lag from Japan to London. I don't want to have to wait 2 years for Hellsing OVA 8!! T_T gosh darned manga companies.

 

[Sacman]

The manga companies are blaming sites like OneManga for their abysmal sales here in the states(As well as in other countries).
They don't even stop to consider the fact that they charge far too much per volume.($10+ bucks per volume, fuck that)


I don't see this doing anything to improve their sales. Nothing will change, except maybe a decline in the amount of manga read outside Asian countries.

$10 where have you been buying yours I've been paying $25!!!

Every try Boarders, Barnes and Noble, or the interwebz? It's almost always around $10. Unless you're buying a discontinued series, then it is more expensive.

I haven't cause I can only think of one that is the next town over. I go to my local book store, they do have a good selection though...