Just a reminder - Don't use other groups' scanlations for your scanlations!

To clearify, chinese scanlators in general ask their scans not to be used by anyone else. If they have watermarks, like say, JojoHot, it should actually be obvious too, no need to be a genius to understand that.

And did I mention that the translations are doomed to be fail?
Jap -> chinese -> english = can't be any good. And oh christ, if you then translate that fail english one into your native language, we've got epic fail.

I don't get why any scanlation group wouldn't want their scans used, after being asked at least, or even without being asked. Getting the manga out to be read by fans is the most important thing, and having additional languages would only help. Even if the quality isn't that great, it's better than nothing and may later promote an official publication or better scanlation. And if some group denied the using of their scanlations (or even translations) to an international group for the sole reason that they don't like having it used, or some other ego thing, I'd say fuck them and use it anyways. The only real reason I could see for not letting another group use them is if the group is known for terrible crappiness, or they make profit off the scanlations. And in either case, they're probably gonna use it without asking anyways. If the group didn't ask, but put credit where it's due anyways, I'd say that's fine. If they didn't ask but put credits in after being asked to, I'd say that's fine too. If they don't put credits in after being asked, I'd say they're assholes but what're you gonna do about it but get it removed from mangahelpers.


Japanese-> chinese -> english can be ok. The longer the sentence, the more likely it'll be accurate to the content (provided the longer sentence structure doesn't confuse either of the translators, which can happen just as well in J->E translation). Smaller stuff and sayings can get really f-ed up though. Knowing if the J-C translator was good is important too, and can be found out by a japanese translator checking against the original, and also asking the C->E translator how fluent the J->C translator's chinese sounds. More risk and work, but can be done well when all other hope is lost. But on average, you're summary is probably much more correct zidane.

Well if the group is ok with it - as in gives you permission, then there's no problem from our side. This is for those that have issues with people taking and claiming their hard work as their own.

Well, that was to be expected...

Since finding RAWs of the most read mangas got harder, more people are using other scanlations to make their own version in their language. I thought it was bound to happen since when MH announced there wouldn't be Shuueisha and Shogakukan RAWs hosted in the website anymore.

This is silly!
A group of people takes something that does not belong to them.
Modifies it.
Posts it on the internet.
Gets pissed when other people take their modified material and uses it.

Grow up. Seriously. The manga belongs to the creator/copywright owner. Not to some whiny scanlators.

For me, Mr. Teatime is absolutely right and in essence I wanted to write the same thing, what is now obsolete.

It's the Honor among Thieves principle. Just because we're all thieves stealing the mangaka's property and posting it without permission doesn't mean we enjoy it when it's done to us. ...is what I want to say, but it's never happened to me before. I don't think I'd mind though, the more the merrier.

Not to mention that some of the people that steal scans are using them to make money of them....

Scanlation involves 'new' work. Translations are original work, and nobody can argue that no work is involved in cleaning and typesetting. Those of us who take pride in that work don't like it being co-opted by others who a) try to make economic profit off of the work of others, b) claim the work of others as their own, or c) use high-quality work to produce low-quality work. The removal of watermarks and credits pages to produce speedscans with subpar translations and poor editing only serves to reduce the ambient quality level and serves no one but those releasing on ad-supported download services to make a quick buck.

Scanlating is its own microcosm with its own rules. While yes, the original creators are well within their rights to pursue means to stop scanlations, mostly they have chosen not to do this. This fact does not mean that within our microcosm we are not entitled to pursue analogous means to stop others from misusing our work, if we so choose.

If you are a scanlator or translator, and you believe the restriction of free reuse of your work is unprincipled, simply release your material with a statement that you are allowing unconditional free use - if enough of you do this, perhaps it will become the norm.

If you are a leecher and are moaning about this, frankly, you don't have any skin in the game so your opinion is basically immaterial. If you want things to change, vote with your downloads or dollars - either stop reading the material provided (as a free service) by scanlators who don't want their material reused, stop reading scanlations altogether and start buying authorized tankobons, or create an entirely new subculture in which 'steal and steal alike' is the governing ethos.

Of course, this last will never happen, because people who have enough love for the work and material to build up a subculture from the ground up don't want crappy speedscans and heterogeneous quality. All the real e-rage is unreasoned knee-jerk reactions from casual leechers - in the words of Shakespeare, 'a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.'

Bottom line - having work stolen is an annoyance to both mangaka and scanlators alike. Mangaka continue to do their work because they get paid for it, for which all of us are extremely grateful. Scanlators and translators, by and large, do not; they do it for enjoyment or for the love of the material. If this sort of theft continues unchecked, I think you'll find that a lot of the better scanlators and translators will simply stop producing their work, much to the long-term detriment of the entire community.

You should be translating from the japanese anyway...

If an int'l scanlator needs a link to PS, I'll give it to you. If you need a link to the raw my group used in the release...we'll give it to you.

What?! Because you're int'l you can't clean? So you're gonna use mine. No hell way bro. It doesn't work like that. Whatever the language we speak is...we've got two hands so you if wanna release, put some sweat into rotating, resizing and redrawing the damn thing to make it pretty.

Scanlations are serious business.

I could honestly give a fuck about the rest of the scanlation community thinks, but I feel if I do something, the person who wants to jack what I just did should do the same. That means if I went out a bought the book, scanned it and edited it, then that same bastard needs to go out and buy the book, scan it and edit it.

I guess that to scanlators the profit is the fans' appreciation and respect.

They feel pleasure on being the ones responsible for doing a work to please the manga fans, so they do all the cleaning, translation and typesetting, and then they release their chapter to the fans, and hope to be appreciated and thanked for their good work. The more fans reading their release, the better.

So when someone takes their finished work, temper with it a little by simply changing the text, and release it again, as a complete new work, and claiming the credits for the work, they feel like if they are loosing part of their fans appreciation to some other people who did only half the work they did.

So I guess it can be considered that their interest is indeed to receive some form of profit, but not money.

And there are even hidden contests to see who is the better at what they do, like who makes the best scanlation, or who is the fastest, so that they can be the group most appreciated by the fans, for their work. So they feel like if someone is cheating in the contest when someone change their work to make a new release.

But I guess that is natural, after all everybody who makes something does it to get some kind of gain, maybe it isn't money, but there is something who gives them their motivation to do it.

Tbh, I straight up don't care how I get my manga, whether it be ripped off some group or other or not.

If scanlators don't want thier work being used by other people than fair enough, but it's not like they can really do anything about it, i mean it's not like they're using the original material without permission in the first place.

So yeah, a certain amount of respect for scanlators is deserved but ultimately it's down to whoever wants to use those scans if they'll use them or not, the least they could do is credit the first group.

I guess that to scanlators the profit is the fans' appreciation and respect.
No, see, it's usually that temporary self-satisfaction they get. You wouldn't really know, and even if you did, you'd lie to yourself about it and insist that it's for the sake of the fans and say all those other shenanigans that make you look cool. Prior experience. No remorse.

Anyway, yeah, respect people's illegalities and stuff. Do it.

Well it's simple - for those that don't respect their wishes, you'll get banned. Sure it won't stop you from releasing your work on other sites (that is if they don't follow the same policy), but at least you won't be welcomed here. Without respect there'd be a huge decline in quality - and quite frankly we don't want that :).