gah

[insaneneko]

I'm a bit peeved at yet another case of scanlation groups thinking they own the titles they are working on. Vices and Devices had scanlated the first chapter of Yoneda Kou's Ore ni koishite dousunda, a manga I want to read more of but can only find Chinese scans for. No tankobon yet, either. They then didn't update for nine months. Three more chapters came out in Japan during the time. Fairly recently someone started scanlating the series at Manga Fox (unfortunately the English is a bit painful, but better than staring at gibberish....). She'd almost finished doing all the chapters when she got contacted by the scanlation group about their "claims" to the title (as she put it in her post here). God, I hate this stupid sense of ownership that scanlation groups have. I want to read the rest of the damned series, I don't give a crap who does it! Especially when the original group even does an update post with a title that claims they are posting the new chapter but say "just joking!" in the post itself. Thanks for fucking with the people who want the next chapter released already.

In conclusion, Vices and Devices sucks. Not as badly as some other groups, but they still suck.

Comments

[teletha.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they suck. Especially since I'm reading half their projects and they never update anything I'm reading. You really lose claim over something when it's been nearly a year and no 2nd chapter is even in sight. The scanlation didn't compete with V&D to begin with. It's from Chinese and not edited all that well so it's not like people would skip over V&D scanlation.

I just wish groups would focus on one or two projects they could finish instead of grabbing things to claim.

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

I just wish groups would focus on one or two projects they could finish instead of grabbing things to claim.

Yeah, this makes so much sense. I understand that they are doing this for fun and may not have time. But don't complain when some other kind soul picks up the manga and starts scanlating what you've neglected.

[la-vie-noire.livejournal.com]

Dude. That's amazing coming from Vices and Devices. I was thinking the other day something like, "well, I have to be thankful because it's for free, and they aren't stopping any other group from scanlating." What a bunch of entitled asses.

[la-vie-noire.livejournal.com]

Now that I'm more awake...

but better than staring at gibberish....

Uhm. Are you talking about Chinese here? Granted, I can't understand it either, nor Japanese, but I wouldn't call them gibberish because of that. (Or maybe there is a meaning I don't know of for that word, "gibberish" I mean.)

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

You probably have the meaning right. I meant that the Chinese may as well be gibberish to me since I can't read it.

[wynddancer.livejournal.com]

*scratches head* Gotta admit, I really don't get that viewpoint. It's not like they're the publishers/creators of the manga as they seem to think they are. What a bunch of entitled morons!

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, it's not that uncommon...

[zehavit-lamasu.livejournal.com]

I am amazed that they still wank to this tune to be quite honest. It is a very old one and rather annoying considering how the entire business of scanlations is a bit legally shady to put it mildly.

I am not against scanlations mind you - I am just miffed at the use of the word "ethical" in that regard.

What surprised me is that s/he gave in to this ridiculous demand. I would have asked to see the law book or book of "copy right piracy manners" and ask if I vices and devices claims could be used as a statement in court... and then continued scanlating.

At the end of the day - they should take a leaf out of fan-subbers books - there are those who sub fast and those who sub well and those that do both and it is up to the fans to choose which to watch.

[warui-futago.livejournal.com]

I read this last night and was totally pissed of not only because they lay claim to the project that has remained stagnant but also to have the person scanlating it at mangafox join their group. I'm sure they hit a jackpot on that. They have time being a police watchdog at other groups but they don't have time to work on their project LOL! I think V&D are the ones who are unethical here and yeah, they suck!

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

There seems to be a very strong "ownership" thing going in BL scanlation groups that people tend to respect. If I was the scanlator I'd have continued with the scanlating, especially since s/he is almost done with what's available!

[flyby311.livejournal.com]

Agreed, agreed, agreed. I can see a scanlation group being somewhat annoyed if they're producing the manga at a regular, good rate, but Vice and Devices? The entitlement is just dripping off of them.

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Maybe they just sent the scanlator a friendly note mentioning that they'd released one chapter a long time ago, and she just decided that it'd be better (more "ethical") to work with them? I somehow doubt it, but you never know...

[silverthunder]

They are trying to claim ownership for *scanlating* a manga? Are you serious?

What an incredibly bitter and spiteful thing to do, demanding that the scanlator take her files down just because they want to be the only ones scanlating it. Obviously they care more about their sense of self-entitlement than the fans they claim to serve. There is no reason one scanlator should have to stop providing people with a series just because another group decided to do it first. What a load of crock.

The thing that has me baffled here is the fact that her post is getting a lot of comments like "I can understand if it had only been a short while since their last release".

How can you understand this in any way!? It makes no sense! Who cares how long it has been since their last release! They don't own the series! Anyone who feels like it can start posting scanlations until the day some official licensor picks it up. Plain and simple. I don't understand what logic they think they are following that makes them believe otherwise.

*shakes head* The Internet never fails to amaze me with how many levels of batshit crazy it can provide (and how many people will miss the absurdity and just nod and agree).

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with you about who can work on (illegal) scanlations...which is anybody. I'd totally disregard any "dibs" a scanlation group may have called on a project if I wanted to scanlate something, but there's such a strong culture of "claiming" stuff that people can't help but think this way. Practically, I think it makes sense that people work on different stuff so that more titles can be available--unless the original scanlation sucks beyond all belief. XD