Throughout the ages, we've seen the progress and evolution of many different business models. Throughout the same frame of evolution, we've seen copyright holders fight technology at every step. It happened with the xerox, it happened with the radio, the VCR, with MP3s - heck, even the printer. The common argument used to oppose all of these is that they (technology and innovation) would lead to the death of one humanity's most basic desires: the desire to create. It has been argued since the invention of the term "copyright", that without ultimate control over the use and distribution of artistic creations, people would simply stop creating. Why create anew when these products and technologies only lead to them being "stolen"? Be it music, movies, novels, or even comics. It's always been the same arguments.
We, however, see things differently. We see people from various nations, religions, and ethnicities uniting under the banner of appreciating creativity. We see art, in its many forms, bring people together in appreciation and support of those who are gifted in ways the majority of people on this planet are not. From the paintings of Picasso to live performances by artists such as Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones, we have seen the consumption of their work serve as a surge of inspiration to thousands of artists around the planet. The Mona Lisa, a painting created by Leonardo da Vinci several hundred years ago, still to this day attracts audiences from around the planet who willingly pay for the privilege of appreciating its artistic beauty. This despite there being printed copies of the painting, painted copies of the motif, and even scanned versions of it online.
Which brings the question: why? Why do people still spend millions of dollars on a yearly basis to see something a quick google search could replicate in a matter of seconds in the comfort of their own home?
Some of you might recall a certain business document draft being spread around the internet last year. A document detailing a rough draft and outline for how artists and publishers could unite and work together in a mutually beneficial relationship. A symbiosis, if you will. What you don't know, is what happened after that document got distributed, and what this has to do with the evolution of art and technology.
In the wake of that document being spread, representatives from MangaHelpers were able to set up and meet with executives from some of the largest publishing houses in the industry. We were allowed the opportunity to present the idea that publishers and fans, artists and their consumers could work together in what would be a 2.5 hour meeting. Ultimately, there were too many walls and too many preconceptions to overcome for that plan to work. In the end we were, jokingly, told that if we wanted something like this to exist, we would have to publish our own magazines and series and go from there.
As it happens, we didn't actually dismiss this idea as a simple joke. After some brainstorming and half a year of hard work, we have created a solution to the many barriers and obstacles that hinders MangaHelpers from becoming what we hoped it to become. As with the many forms of art: we used the inspiration and ideas we originally had for MangaHelpers, and tweaked them.
The result of that is what we are here to present to you today.
Our goal was to create a platform that allows manga authors and artists to publish and earn money from their work, while still reaching a multi-lingual global audience. A platform that promotes and allows artists (and eventually interested publishers) to work directly with translators and scanlators to publish their work while still remaining in control of their creations. A platform that supports an artist's need for an income, with the possibility of free availability to the fan. A platform that is a completely new and separate entity from MangaHelpers, losing the restrictions and barriers that MangaHelpers had while retaining the ideology and opportunities we saw with our first attempt.
That platform is known as
OpenManga (
JP version).
The OpenManga platform is closing in on being ready for a beta within the near future. In preparation of the upcoming beta, we have been in contact with over 70 artists - many of which expressed great interest in using our platform to distribute their work, and build their IPs and fan communities while at the same time earning money from merchandise, sales, donations and other models that are included in the OpenManga system. Interacting with fans from all over the world that enjoy their art, and having a business model backing to support them so they can work on it full time, could and soon will be a dream come true.
There are a whole slew of features and functionality sets unique to the OpenManga platform that provide incentives and ways for those who are interested in legally working professionally on translating and localizing (scanlating) manga that will be unveiled as the project nears completion.
Now we are here to ask the online manga community to support us in showing the world that using the linguistic and graphical skill sets of dedicated fans is not only possible, but that it is profitable and viable way of doing business while still retaining the one request the fans have: that manga is free to be enjoyed by anyone and everyone. By reaching out to artists that you know and like, and by encouraging them to support our initiative for an open platform where artists, publishers, and fans can work together, we are set to bring a new era to the world of intellectual property.
If you believe that we're heading down the right path and want to give your support, or are curious about our work, email us at
community AT openmanga.org. Whether you are a fan, a translator, a scanlator, an artist, or even a publisher, we would like to hear your thoughts and feedback, and hopefully gather your support.
Edit: The email address was broken for the first few hours today, but has since then been fixed. If you tried to contact OpenManga and got an error that the mail could not be delivered, please try again now!
You can also
follow OpenManga on Twitter and
OpenManga on Facebook for updates and news.
Sincerely,
The OpenManga Team
It would be a great system if it can directly support the Mangaka/Publisher.
too lazy to read the full details >.>
As for the fan's side of the part, if this service is really for free for there side then it would be really great especially for people like me who can't afford to get them from the US (since it is not available in the local market) because of high price.
Also this would help fans get much more better quality scanlations & translations (especially the translations since i have heard that the published translations are not that great compared to the ones found on sites like MH).
Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut maybe we could poach some of the artists themselves so that they could work independently? some of the ones whose one shots didnt get picked up?
Good Luck
If I can still enjoy my favorite manga, then I'm ok with it :-)
they want to make the nr.1 online manga site...heh
they sure will get some shit load of money from that =))
I'll want to see if this works out first (call me a skeptic.) But if it really is as good as it sounds on paper, I'm in.
You didn't really read the article, did you.
really wishfull thinking considered how publicity ruins online readers especially xD
i think a more appropriate business model would be something like 50 cents for a chapter with top-ups, or for packs of weekly/monthly manga (for different publishers)
personally i wouldnt mind spending 0.5-2€ a week to read all my favorite series legally on a clean reader
Where in this article was advertising even mentioned? Not that OpenManga won't have some ads on it, but there are way more than 1 or 2 revenue models being built into place in OpenManga ;)
I am looking forward to this. Thank you.
But... I have a question...
how the spanish scanlations can help to Open Manga?
My english is bad, forgive me >.<
but I wish this open platform where artists, publishers, and fans can work together won't be just a plan or a dream. I wish OpenManga success ^^
I hope we can work this out, it'll be a whole new era.
Free while still profitable...sound like a dream...but if it's can be true, then you're The Man.
I don't mind to pay or give some donation for the mangaka or some premium membership as long as I can
..................(OMG! my imagination goes wild) XD ................................
Open manga/Scanlator get some donation (free amount) from fans/member...sent it to mangaka to get the raw manga...Mangaka receive the money, buy the equipment/pay the bill/etc...and Wala! everyone's happy with their favorite manga's new chapter.
Mangaka : popularity raise around the globe, Money, more fans
Scanlator: fast Raws, money, connection to mangaka
Fans: faster manga :) with little to no cost
Publisher: more sales
Hey! Manga Fans! did you read this?!
if you spent one cent every day from your allowance, along with 10.000.000.000 other readers, we can make mangaka pay all his bill for a month XD
it's awesome idea! I FULLY SUPPORT IT
Sincere thanks
This is information that we will be announcing when we are ready to do so. For now you will have to have faith in the fact that we have a very solid plan for realizing this, and are well on our way to do so :)
Anyway, Good luck with OpenManga.
It's good in theory but somehow I just worry about what will be in and what won't.
I want to talk about manhwas here as well, that are starting to get a little more popular nowadays. Is there a way to contact manhwakas as well?
Anyway, as a scanlator, you have my support. If this get's real and profitable for the artists, I'll definitely ask my scan group to scan for the benefit of Open Manga.
Best luck!
I find the industry's response to your proposal ironic; they're concerned enough about this distribution to want them all shut down (implying that it's large enough to be a problem), yet laugh at the idea of turning the problem into a profitable venture. If the online manga-reading community is enough of a problem to take seriously, it seems like there should be enough of a community to support online efforts. And considering mangahelpers offered to essentially do the dirty work for them, leaving an essentially free revenue stream of royalties, it baffles me, frankly, that they wouldn't jump on the opportunity. Again, the industry hasn't provided a paying alternative for those of us outside of Japan who enjoy manga either that isn't released in the U.S. or in its original form. Even Marvel and IDW figured out how to make a profit using itunes, so why can't the manga industry wrap its brain around what seems like a no-brainer? Sigh.
Exactly. That's what I was wondering about too. (Hense me being a skeptic.) This thing has a few too many hitches for me to be 100 percent behind it at present...although it is a good idea. Sorachi-sensei's got the full right to turn down this proposal, and then if he does I'm out a series....and what if that happens to every one I translate? Am I supposed to just find something new?
1) I really would like to know about who was contacted, who will be contacted and what series are going to be "published" on the site.
2) What is going to happen to scanlators? What I mean bye this is that currently there are multitudes of groups doing scans for the same series and admittedly some better than others. So, are series going to be given to one group only based on the authors discretion? Or are the raws going to be available to all?
3) What is OpenManga's role in this? If and when, scanlators can work directly with artists, are you going to be our "middle man", so to speak, to contact them? Or are we allowed to do what we wish?
4) Take this scenario into account. Say one of the series on OpenManga has been approved by its artists and a scanlation team is so working with said artists to release this series. Now, what if that same team is doing another series that has not been approved? Would the artist really want to be in conjecture with them knowing they are in all rights breaking the law? So my ultimate question. If scanlators do join your movement does this mean they will be limited in the legal series they can do?
I have more questions but for now these are the more important ones I would liked discussed and answered. Now, don't take this the wrong way. I think the idea and concept are sound and nice I just think that a lot of obstacles stand in your path and in order for this to truly flourish you would need the consent of every artist. Again, just really want some answers not bashing.
If I'm getting this newspost right, then if the manga industry would be the music industry, then publishers are record companies and authors are artists, OpenManga will be the equivalent of MySpace or YouTube. Indie music is huge, indie games are on the rise; let's see some indie manga.
I only hope that the OM team isn't overlooking authors from other countries :) Veritas and The Breaker are two of my favorite series right now.
Is there a timeframe where you will release it? I mean something like "ok in about 2-5 months"?
And I hope you won't block certain areas/countries like crunchyroll does. I will have some sort of subscriptions if I can download what I want... but I won't get one if some sort of ban annoys me *_*
Thanks for your hard work ^^"
it means OpenManga, like a publisher will give rooms to mangakas to publish their work. it could be a new manga or it could be their current manga, depending on who holds the copyright to the current manga. but mostly it will be a new manga.
The advantage of OpenManga compare to traditional publisher is, it can reach global audience in a very short time, plus the mangaka can interact directly with his fans. aside from that, there no limit to the number of titles that can be publish as you don't have to print it in form of books. So, every mangaka can start new manga,just after their current manga reach the end. with the system used by the publishers right now, they have to wait for someone to finish a manga before they can draw again, as there is limited space in the book. on top of that, they fight for the space with other mangakas.
this advantages is very attractive to mangaka as they do this for living and want a constant income, not a 3 years with income and next 2 years without one.
am I right?
good luck to you and all.....but don't be surprised if it crashes and burns.
1. Who art the artists involved?
2. When will this launch?
are we gonna need to pay subscription for download or reading manga from the website?
EDIT: Nevermind, just read the previous news post. Oh well, plenty of other scanlations sites out there that wont shutdown.
As bitter and annoyed about this I am, mangahelpers was useful to me in the past so I'll keep my angry commentary to myself for now. Thanks for all the help you've given me in the past, MangaHelpers.
We are with you all the way!
(Imagine 100,000 readers, all of whom read manga for free online via scanlators. Now imagine 1% give a mere $1 toward the artist/publisher of a manga they read on OpenManga. That's $1,000 dollars they weren't getting before, $1,000 that they *still* wouldn't be getting simply by cracking down on scanlation sites since everyone would just find another route or be out of luck.)
I doubt big time artists will want to share free work online and work with a website who can't provide them with a contracts that states their fair share (set amount of royalty) ... especially big time artists who already work for big publishers and have contracts with them don't have the day and time to create work for joe smoes like the one proposed.
If the artist has extra time on their hands to draw they would do so and sell it themselves at comic book conventions .... long behold they actually do and I'm pretty sure they make all the money directly with no middlemen. Hence they really don't need you now do they?
Yea you can help them get their work translated into another language and spread through the web blah blah, but don't you think if this concept worked then all these big publishers would have already started doing so? They must have a REALLY good reason as to why they don't provide digital mangas because it's just not that profitable.
You're only addressing the issue regarding artist losing money but the real issue here is that big publishers want to sue us scanlators because they claim we prevent their books from being sold. Your idea would still cause fury with big publishers and most likely they will find a way to prevent your idea from ever happening. Just the idea of providing free manga would make publishers angry and not because artists are not making money but because their business are losing money.
This would be a nice plan if it was working with Publishers and helping with the works we know and love but it actually just sounds like you have a lot of unknowns that are trying to get their big break and you want to make a buck off them and us.
I can't see the vast majority of people supporting this until we know more details past what you guys have just posted here. Sounds like you guys seem to think people will want to put hard work in for you guys for nothing while you all cash in.
I somehow don't think this is gonna work out to well.
Actually "big time artists" have the most to gain since it is there work that is pirated the most. If the publishers feel that there is a way for them to make money off of this I am sure they would try it our as well.
It's really grate idea. But I'm not sure it will work for the mainstream titles.
But the most scary thing is that I'm almost sure there will be some area restrictions like for Crunchyroll, YouTube and every other "free" site.
I'm wishing you good luck, and know that I and the scanlation group in which i participate will support you.
i belive the current stance taken by the pubishers is the fault of manga helpers . Dont belive me read on . It would be foolish
to think that publishers did not knew about scanalotors . They knew and some time send warnings to sites about licenced
titles . But they had some what pacified stance toward raws and scan of unlicencd mangas .
But when manga helpers went directly to publishers and god knows what in the name of god they talk about in 2.5
hour meeting. But result is in front of you . Still dont belive me . In real world lot of things however bad or grey they are
seems to be go around . People know about them but they let them slip . But all it takes a stupid whistle or i should say
trumpet blower to make all world stand up and take notice . In current days look how suddenly banks crashed .They were
working fine before with all the irregularities but when the cat came out of the box every body started panicking . you think
officials did not knew about the back hand tactics that banks were using . Still not convinced how about some visual clues .
Steroid are banned but look at huge bodybuilders . they say that they are using strict diet and some super supplement but
anyone can see they are lying because the diffrence between in a natural bodybuilder and a steroid enhance bodybuilder is so
vast that it seem stupid to think that they are are natural . But when some bodybuilder were caught everyone started chanting
rubbish about steroid . Were they blind or fool before . Still not convince how about truth closer to home. Some months ago a
stupid or to say a pervert was caught with a manga . you all know how manga fans were treated after that . Even japanese
publishers started acting on that news . Before that incident everything was normal .
so how manga helper did this i will tell you .
First let me ask you how many of you when you read a manga think in their heart ' yeah i screwed this manga's publisher' I
doubt any of you ever think in that way but that what manga helper did .They went to the publishers and show them that we
the fans and scanlators are screwing them of their money and unless they take the offer given to them by manga helpers we
fans will keep screwing them . What happend after that is in front of you now .
why manga helper did this it may sound ridiculous to you but it was for money like the biblical figure they sold us for some
pieces of silver .
Now i want to ask some question what make a parasite a parasite?
A paprasite feed on its host thats what manga helpers did . Sound harsh its the truth and here is why. How many of you manga
reader ever try to translate or set a manga . it is a hard job and scanlator did this because they love their hobby which is
simply reading mangas like us . what manga helper did was just provide a server where they host manga and fourm where
scanlator talk . Ohh it such a heavy job running a server and maintenance looks thats way isnt it ?but have you ever ask
about the money they get from all the ads .Have they ever disclosed the true amount they are making . last year or later two
torrent sites showed how ugly they were .if you follow those site you know what i am talking about .
manga helpers hunger for money made them go to the publishers and when publisher swated the parasite , host got hurt too
which is us the fans .
still belive manga helper innocent then maybe you should know that their draft is not their original work someone else
posted about it on their fourm and at that time they simply banned them . if later they thought that it was such a good idea then
they could have talk to the community not run with it behind our back in the shadow .
Okay some of the manga helper supporter will say that fan and scanlator are feeding on the mangaka . sure manga making is a
very hard job and that is the reason we like it so much and love reading it . but we do not make money with them .sure some
scanlator get donation but as i said before scanlating too is not an easy job and what manga helper did was to feed on that
hard job and make lot of money .
Now they show us Open manga like some promised land for fans and lure not only fan but this time new mangakas too so
they again leech them with ads revenues . That parasites do after leeching they move on to new pray .
I know i am not using nice words . But i am angry because of the greed of the few many will suffer . I ask you manga helper
how are you going to redeem yourself . Scanlation is not your properity but you acted like you you were our shepherd and
we were your sheep ? what gave you right to play Moses ? Nothing but the pure greed .
Manga helper atone for your sins before you run in front us 'the fans 'with Open Manga .
All i can think you can do now after your debacle is that you make a big torrent of the unlicensed work and seed that so Fans
will be able to get some relief from your treachery or are you too eager to bend in front of the publishers cause parasites
dont possess a spine .
Manga helpers i am waiting for your answer and i am sure fans too .
Your post is naive if you think publishers weren't aware of the money they were losing before. It's also naive to think that before the publishers were just thinking to themselves, "Oh well, that's just money we're losing. We shouldn't send any lawyers out or anything."
The problem is more than just MangaHelpers for them. Online reader sites are some of the main culprits when you actually stop to think about it. Are you trying to tell me that publishers on both sides of the ocean weren't aware of sites like OneManga or MangaFox? Are you trying to tell me that they looked at these websites and thought to themselves, "Oh, we're losing money, but that's okay. None of them have contacted us and told us about the money we could be making yet so we don't have to sue them."
It's a very vast and complex issue. Moreso than just, "Oh, this site MangaHelpers came to us with an idea where we could monetize this scanlation thing. We should stop scanlations."
why did it became such a site? FANS ask for more.
do they steal SCANLATORS's work? no WE put it here OURSELVES.
do WE care if they gain some little tiny profits from this? no WE don't care as long as they provide it to the fans for FREE.
why they contact the publishers? They are getting C&Ds(few months before they plan to meet publishers) from publishers, they SAW this COMING and act TO SAVE THIS COMMUNITY even if some of the fans it against it.
OPENMANGA, will fail? it is better to DO something than DO NOTHING. FAIL OR NOT time will tell. but if you follow the trend of mangaka nowadays, you will know that this is not a rubbish.
It would be great to not only have manga and manhwa from professional authors but also comics and manga that are made by non professional authors from other countries : D
You have my support XD
The Industry will stamp this out like a plague of roaches...... Greed doesn't like competition. Case in point, RIAA.....and SCO.....
If you had Artist buy-in, documented and on file before launching, I'll happily amend my above statements, but without that, any verbal promises will vanish like alcohol on a hot plate once called by Industry lawyers and agents standing to lose millions in fees and royalties (or who think that's in their future).
The bottom line: Never underestimate the ability of a corporation to push the status quo in favor of changing with the times. But with sales in continuous decline, expect that change to grow increasingly necessary. The bottom line is crucial in any business, and once that falls out, that's when they'll sit up and take notice (which they are).
but there are still things not really clear to me like : how will the artist earn money ? from donation from the fans ? how will the artists work with the scanlator ? Who will be paid in all the chain ? (artists : ok it is normal, we are using their work as scanlator, but are the scanlators also paid ? @_@ i don't really understand all of this...sorry) ?
I think I trust you, I mean you work on this project very hard, right? and you even gather artists so they must have thought your idea could work ! I am with you on this, I just need more information to understand how the whole thing is going to work : ), thankssss a lot for coming up with such ideas for all the manga fans of the world ! thanksss really for your hard work on this !!! this is good to know there are people like you who will think a way to overcome scanlation and illegal issues !
your answer is naive
did you even read my post . In second line i have written 'It would be foolish
to think that publishers did not knew about scanalotors . They knew and some time send warnings to sites about licenced
titles . But they had some what pacified stance toward raws and scan of unlicencd mangas . ' . In their i had clearly stated they knew about it . What my post is about is a weird rule of the world.
where lot of things is being done in a somewhat grey area and people tend to ignore them however damaging they may be . i have shown that with three example [ read again to contemplate ] . but all it takes a stupid to say something stupid to make people to start a witch hunt . in this case was the manga helpers jump on publishers . So before saying i am a naive person read again my post to see my point and anger over this stupidity
From the beginning, does US ever pay attention to Japanese mangas like naruto and bleach? No, becouse they has their own comics like marvel and DC. Without scanlations evil act manga naruto and bleach would have never been stepped a foot in US comics territory. That only 1 example, there also lots mangakas who is now known around the world becouse of scanlations and manga sites like onemanga and manga helpers.
There is a bad side from scanlations that is piracy but the good side from it is lots of mangakas became famous all around the world in an isntant. There are lots of manga books i want to buy after i read the manga on manga sites, but only few available in my place. I like to read a book better than to read in on a comp, i can keep it and collect it on my bookshelf for a long time. And im sure lots of manga readers think the same the way i do. We love mangas if its a good one then its worth to buy. Now after the manga sites and scanlations open a path for the Japanese mangakas to go out to the new countries, i think the mangakas now should think to publish their mangas on lots more countries.
I am reading manga for about three years so no i am not aware of the history of this site. but a history is just a history and i am talking about present farce .
i have done some editing for my favorite manga and i am learning Japanese so i can read more manga . i think that will give you some clue about me being a fanboy .
in my post i have written that this site provided a place to host mangas nothing wrong with that . BUT in return they also made money . So they cannot claim that it was only for community sake . That was a give and take relationship and i am okay with that but in my post i have clearly stated why they have to go to the publishers behind our back . what make them such a authority . They could have at least talk to the the fans first ,cause its fans who made this site what it is right now . They saw it coming? Dont make me laugh its them who made this mess and the weird thing is that it was not their idea in the first place .
it is better to DO something than DO NOTHING ? yeah its better to make money then not making any , after their stupidity they will need another source of income and this time they will make money from mangaka instead on fans . Dont you agree with me ?
P.S. you are a scanlator ? what about my idea for making a giant torrent ? i your word - it is better to DO something than DO NOTHING ? isnt it ?
Sound like you blame Mangahelpers (and may be other scanlation site/forum) for current situation. OK if this current condition is Mangahelpers.com (and others mangasite) fault, at least they redeem their self with Open Manga, sure it's sound so dream like, but...hey! even Wright Brothers being called crazy for try to make some flying vehicle first before they succeed, don't spread negative thinking of yours, keep it your self,OK?!
About Mangahelpers talking on your (fansboy) back...I wan't to ask you...who do you think you are? hm?, some messenger for us? or some henchmen from publisher?
Are you want money (that Mangahelpers.com get_if there is any amount left after server bill, maintenance, etc) too? hm?
Or do you want a share of fame? hm? Scanlator may be?
You know, I am angry, VERY, to people like you, when some one come with some idea, even before they come to fruition, people like you shut it down, brutally (via. mind influence). I watch a lot of people like you, who looking at the future with cynical eyes, since 400 years ago, become obstacle for an idea to change the world to the better.
OK, Mangahelpers.com didn't ask we as fans or a roots of this manga forum first, but it's their urge to save me from lost my favorite manga.
May be you see them as evil, leech, parasite, Las Plagas, Uroboros virus, etc
But for me..they're a good guys with good idea
If you don't like the idea, jut shut up and wait in the corner, see how this new idea struggle to survive, and if your prediction become true while we fail, laugh by your self there.
btw,
your idea to make Giant Torrent is good too, but you forgot there's some fans which it's country (excluded mine), ban almost all P2P software like that, do you want to enjoy the fun of reading manga yourself (or at least with your own buddy's) and abandon others? that's mean! T-T
It is thanks to these sites and the Internet as a whole that the manga community is no longer some nerdy niche. It is thanks to these sites that there is an international manga community and audience that is perpetually interested in the works of mangaka and which further drives people to seek out hardcover volumes.
It is thanks to this heavy-handed action on the part of publishers that the manga community will be sent two decades into the past. No longer will series we would never have even heard of without manga sites get any international attention outside of the limited magazines that publish them. It is truly a sad thing when foolish laws are used to stifle incredibly sensible ideas that actually benefit the publishers, community, and mangaka as well (though legally they would never admit it due to copyright law being the bastardized beast it is today).
I advise everyone who cares about manga to NOT support the publishers as it is through their own misguided apprehension that they hurt everyone. This is the distribution network of the future and these are NOT lost sales (if anything they support sales). If published manga dies, so be it...it's only a small part of the grand scheme of life.
What would really be nice before these sites go the way of Napster is for some manga site directory databases to be put somewhere online so that before the final nail is put in the coffin we might still be able to cherish the artistic works locally and free from the volatility and uncertainty of the increasingly bleak future.
Stark intellectual honesty is needed in the world today. It is sad when so many are blinded by what is "legally right" as opposed to what is "practically right," "morally right," or "just." These sites benefit everyone and encourage a community to exist that otherwise would not have existed.
My only regret is not seeing this coming a year ago and enriching myself by reading all of these wonderful series and/or saving them so that in the event of something like this happening, I would never need to worry again.
You'll be missed Mangahelpers.
~Xion
The reason that publishers have taken this stance is that in the last year half a dozen sites have appeared which allow online reading of manga. They've done a very good job of making manga easily accessible, and as such are becoming a real threat to the publishers.
On a side note I'd expect to be seeing some 'official' online manga viewers popping up in the near future. I doubt the publishers will want to kill the online market; they only want to monitize it.
@openmanga: great idea, I just hope that you can start with enough quality mangakas to get the following required to be successful. I expect it'll be hard work though, the publishers will fight you, making it hard to host series from the real talent..
Its a good idea, however I would need to know further details in regards to how the payments work, would there be a monthly fee, or just pay for what you want to read?? Also how long will it take to go from raws to translation?? Can we also suggest Mangaka's who have not yet been licenced in the US??
But, will this be like an online reader like OneManga?
Because I don't like online viewing. I rigther have the file on my computor.
Oh, btw, fuck you for removing all the downloads that had been added. on Download Manga. -_-
R.I.P. MHs. i will miss you and curse the people who killed you to hell for eternity, for they deserve to be there.
I see. So such popular mangakas as Oda/Kishimoto/Tite/etc. will benefit much more than less popular mangaka; I mean, if it would be about "advertising" and seeing pages, the more ppl browse your "page" <in this case would be probably chapter of the manga>, the more money mangaka make. Cool, if it was that way.
Still, I'm skeptic if this will really work out.
Good luck and keep up the good work.
you cant just post something and think a serialkiller will stop killing
because you posted something well... at least you made a few poeple now tha truth.> GJ <
Do you have a narrow vision or a convenient short memory . Read my post and did i write anything bad about open manga , heck i did not even mentioned about its quality or future .
So before being sure sureman [ Hey thats rhyme ] and angry Very with me at least read my post again before becoming sure sureman [ Hey thats rhyme again ] .
As for me who i am see my name . I am just [ anotherone ] of the fan who are angry with all this pandemonium . Now this site IS called manga helper. Not manga master. So if you are a helper of the fan it would have been such a bother to at least tell the fans that they are making a draft which is not their original idea in the first place and will decide a big roll in a fans hobby . Have they played too much splinter cell so they started sneaking around the back of fans .
In the situation we currently are is the sole reason people like you .Who are so sure of themselves they think they know every thing without thinking anything properly LIKE MANGA HELPER DID .
You know what i want ? i want to see the draft ? I want to see what gem of a corporate move that was ? Or their really was a draft in a first place maybe they scribbled something on a paper and shoved in the face of the publisher ? I mean come on. Why are you so being so secretive after making such a move which had put us in a lurch .
Thank you for supporting my idea about making a giant torrent . But Sir again you have a very narrow vision cause if manga is floated on the net it can be loaded by any person on any hosting site for our unfortunate fans who can not operate a p2p service .
why manga helper in a hurry to purge all the data ? Is they want to create a vacuum so it can be filled with another site in the question ?
I think now you are not so sure sureman [ this rhyming is becoming lame ]
Please envisioned this scenario [ you know some kid is plucking flower in the backyard everyday but like the weird rule of the world [ which i have showed with three examples in my orignal big post ] you just yell or avoid doing anything . But one day that kid come through your front door and say he wanted to pluck the flower . Now tell me what would you DO ? I am sure you will say its far enough . now i will stop this charade .
Publishers like any corporate work on making profits and when someone come on their face and say ' Hi i am the one who was chewing on your profit . Now give me your official permission to chew on your profit . Now what publisher did is front of us.
Why dont you make a demand to see what in that drft was ? What sort of corporate move was that done by the manga helpers ?
What do you think about torrent idea ?
I expect that, as in the rest of the publishing revolution taking place, this venture will lead to places that nobody expects or can now foresee.
I love those kinds of adventures. Count me in.
z.
Having some sort of hit counter for downloads of a mangaka's works would be good to generate revenue. the more people who like the manga, and download it to read, (assuming it WILL be a downloadable) the more money the mangaka makes.
Making manga costs money, printing it costs money, distributing it costs money. I wouldnt think many big titles (like WSJ's) would pounce on "the big idea of free" when its not even their website (because after all, it is a business for mangahelpers too, they just want to be involved, and no, its not a TINY amount of money that they've made. If it's a TINY amount, its TINY in size 72 font). They could just make their own official site for their own manga and have whoever licenses it in English do some quick translating, and it'd be like Crunchyroll for manga.
Seriously though, if it's all about the mangaka and the fans, then why are you trying to involve yourself lol. You could have just as easily suggested to Shueisha that they make their own online reader for Bleach. Maybe add a time delay from when the WSJ magazine is sent out. Maybe put some ads on it. What I found funny about this is that I always figured that publishers first thought was to do just that. How did anime companies start to kill fansubbers? Crunchyroll -they put out episodes before even the speedsubbers can get the raws. So it seemed like common sense for me for a publishing company to think, "Well, if I want to kill scanlating, all I would have to do is release a translated manga myself before the scanlators do." I'm sure they've at least thought of/mentioned the idea to themselves, because they're businessmen and it's their job to look at all the options and see which is the most profitable. And they have not yet done that, because it's not profitable. If they do, it would mainly be to try to end scanlators stealing their work, not because it was a super special awesome business idea.
So if any future exists for online readers of the current big manga titles in a legal form, I would doubt it involves mangahelpers, openmanga, or scanlators in general. Not to be a rainy cloud on this 'day of sunshine', but yea.
this is what i wanted to do in the future.
I started this year, something i planned for a decade now, my own publishing company for comic and manga. After it gets bigger and more famous i was planning on doing something you guys are doing now.
Well, in the end i wanted to make it for the fans and artist, so it doesn't really matter if i do it first or you guys.
Anyway, WAY TO GO
really great idea , hope it works out .. :D
( please god , make this dream comes true ) *cries*
I don't see anything stopping piracy of this particular site. If the translators do pirate, then this is all over! Even if the translators don't pirate, what about the users of the website? It's pretty easy to make a few digital images become pirate copies. With today's image duplication techniques, this site can easily lose it's own purpose. Even the enemy of leechers only slow down distribution at the best. For example, Youtube videos (.flv) can be downloaded and saved onto the hard drive using a youtube downloading program.
Once the data is on a hard drive, the next step is to distribute using methods such as using a flash drive to move the files onto a second or third host computer (i.e. a library computer, a school computer, or another home computer) and uploading the file via torrent hosting sites or p2p files. It's too easy to pirate these days, and the main problem is the fact that there is no way around piracy. Millions of dollars to waste on this useless war is the same thing as the effort on war on drugs concept. Honestly, whatever Japan is doing, it's basically pouring money down the drain because there will be smaller scale sites for this kind of pirating.
I can't buy something that's not selling anywhere near yet.
and I don't like much of paper. what should i do with that great amount of magazines ??
I don`t get it. IF, the mangaka and the publisher want to made their work available for free in a lot of country, they wouldn`t say anything for the copyright problems.
This OpenManga sure is a good idea, the place where we could get in touch with the mangaka. But, are the manga would become available for free to us to collect...?
Yes, i bought manga (a lot...), but there also some manga I didn`t get. Because the publisher in my country don`t buy the license (ex. Gantz), or the manga in demand got sale fast there none to buy (Yes, there is several volume that exist, but my term is in complete series, I don`t buy something that not complete)....
And, don`t say about buy online. The currency will kill me for just one volume.
Soo, i enjoyed downloading manga that I couldn`t get in my country. Are this new web could answer the question...? That the manga will available for free to us to collect (in complete chapter, volume, and series)...?
And, i doubt that....!!!!
sasugabooks.com is located in USA if you're worried about shipping. They take a LONG time though. I ordered matantei roki (My favorite series, but maybe only because it was my first physical copy of a manga in Japanese, but I still love it!) and the prices are around the same as if you bought them from a store.
maybe then we could have some influence overthings such as global manga popularity, merchandise to sell, and such
I`m also interested how this will work. Can you show later in case it will work, the business model for this?
Fighting !?
So I'm really looking forward to this project and I won't mind paying some fee to gain online access to my favourite mangas :D
having said that, I admit that free stuff would still be much better ;)
Guys, it's a nice idea and all but keep your feet and this project on the ground, I know you have high hopes for this and that's good, at the same time you should remember there have been many projects that build on the same idea of technology-boosted creativity, etc. Some of them made it out okay, some just failed, very few made a huge difference on their own. Remember that the world, even the technological world, is very sluggish in a lot of ways and besides, revolutions aren't always what is needed. Try it with your all but if you notice it's not doing too well, don't just push on and waste away at it. If it does get going, great, but remember, you say yourselves that you want to start a movement and part of that is knowing when to pass the torch. Finally, stay on the right path no matter what, take care to see when you're about to go wrong lest you turn into something that's as bad or even worse than the traditional publishing companies.
Good luck
Those things happens all the time in internet and that's the main reasons why it's so hard to work legally in internet and I dont't think you have a plan to deal with it yet.
erm, either way.. i read online because theyre slow at publishing, some are not even in my country yet publishing company didnt even try to improve themself but using underhand method hiding in the name as something like copyrights and laws
just for their convinience
well, thats just my personal opinion actually..
no way! ∑(O_O；)Shock！！
This project would propel manga into the itunes era, and would open a huge flood of revenue world-wide.. hopefully leading to even more manga artists and greater mangas!
I love the idea!!
I'm just too lazy to go looking for manga books and I'm just fine with the internet..Well you can't go carrying the ONEPIECE series with you everytime you go somewhere else..
Oh! I don't know if it really matters, but the country I live in has portal sites with manga called webtoons.. Its completely free and the clicks made on the webtoons create advertising effects, in other words, makes money.. The artists get money directly from the sites..
I can't wait for this to be up!
You have all my support, this really looks like an innovative idea where everyone wins. Hope I can do something to help this project :)
Thank you!!!
You have my complete support.