The Anime Primer: Fansubs

Otaku (anime fans) in their quest to quench their never ending thirst for anime, began fansubbing years ago. As a favor to fellow fans, those fans who could translate the various anime, would do so, subtitle them, and then distribute them. Fansubs are still in existence. But you might wonder as to the legality of it.

The Legality of Fansubs

The following is based on the US Code, Title 17:

The US Copyright Act provides a fair use clause which allows for reproduction of works which is not an infringement of copyright. The following are used to determine fair use:

the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit purposes;
the nature of the copyrighted work;
the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
These factors are not equally weighted, with the fourth factor taking precedance in most copyright disputes.
From a Japanese company's perspective, under the Berne convention the US government's obligations "may be performed only pursuant to appropriate domestic law" meaning that any fansubber only has to obey the US Copyright Act. The influence of making (and even distributing) fansubs in the US on the Japanese market is minimal, because most of the requests come from people who would not be intrested in the raw Japanese version anyway.

Some of the American anime companies, however, can view fansubbers in a negative light. Fansubs can harm their sales now that there is an English language dialogue or subtitled version available. That is why fansubbers will discontinue distribution once a series is licensed. Fansubs are something of a catch 22 for Anime Companies... they often times are what gets the companies focused on purchasing the series for American distribution because of the interest stimulated in the fan community, but those fansubs can hurt the available market once the series is released domestically. Many anime fans however want a better quality tape, they tend to be tech heads, and will when they can afford it invest in the domestic copy.

Keeping this in mind, fansubs that charge basically the price of a blank tape, shipping and handling, and a small usually $1 fee for electronic usage, is quite legal, but if someone is selling fansubs for more than $10 (at least within the United States) then they are breaking the law by making a profit. Also fansubbers who continue to distribute commercially released titles are in violation of copyright law. The only exception to this is if they release a subbed version, and the commercial company never released a subbed version. Then you can sort of exist in a legal grey area, but for the sake of all fandom, don't obtain commercially available anime through fansubs. We want to support the companies that bring these series over to let Japan know that there really is a huge market over here. It's just sorta still underground.

Finding Fansubs

The best place to really look for fansubs, is on Anime Web Turnpike's fansub page. It might be in your best interest, to shop around, do price comparison, and keep a sharp eye out for quality of the tapes used, and turn around time. And a word of advice, stay away from Artic subs, they are notorious for being the absolute worse, and I have yet to see a fansub to prove them wrong. @_@

LEGAL DISCLAIMER: The information provided here does not constitute advice, and should not be acted upon without first seeking approval from a lawyer or another person in authority. The author is not liable for any actions taken by individuals known or unknown based on the information given on this Web Page.