Forum - View topicAnswerman - Why Is It "Wrong" To Buy Digital Manga From Other Countries?
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TarsTarkas
 Posts: 5831 Location: Virginia, United States |
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After years and years of buying physical copies of books, it came down that most of my books are sitting in the garage in several boxes, some of which haven't seen the light of day for many a year. Unless you are well off or are rich, you are not going to have a dedicated library in your rental or home. I was slow to go to digital, because reading hard and soft cover books is great. But it has become more practical to go digital for me. What good is a book in a box in the garage. All the U.S. manga distributors need to go digital. Keep selling physical copies, but after a few months get those digital versions out there.
I found out quite recently that Amazon does ban manga (and probably novels too) from their Kindle store. Amazon will sell the physical copy, but will ban the digital version. Doesn't make much sense to me, but neither does the idea of Amazon doing it also. Amazon was supposed to be the anti-Apple, but it seems they are getting closer to doing what Apple does. Justin's comments about calling digital books a service is debatable. Not in so much that Justin is wrong, but that it is a mixed bag. You are still buying a product, not a service. I pay one fee for a book, we are not paying a subscription service (unless you are using Amazon's unlimited reading service). So I get a book downloaded to my Kindle. Even if I lose my access to the Kindle store, I still own the books on my Kindle, and I can use other content providers to provide new content. So I pay for a book, and I get a digital book that I own. The only service I am getting is the transportation of the digital book from the Kindle store to my Kindle (though they provide some cloud storage for free, but that does not affect the books I own on my Kindle. So I don't see the 'service' argument as being viable in this topic. |
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Dr.N0
Posts: 149 |
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Greed1914
 Posts: 4428 |
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I think the distinction would come down to how the content is provided. In what you've described, it is buying a product, but there are other content providers that charge subscriptions, and allow you access to lots of things for an ongoing fee. When I stream from Funimation, there is not copy that remains on the hard drive, and I can only access those streams by logging in to their site/app. |
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 7580 Location: Wales |
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You're not "buying" a subscription, you're paying for a service. If you took out a service like a cable subscription, then moved to somewhere where that service was not available you would need to cancel (and would have to pay any applicable fees for doing so). In the case of digital services like Crunchyroll it's obviously not the same thing since there is no fixed physical connection involved and you can pretend you haven't moved by using a VPN, but the same logic applies as far as the service provider is concerned. |
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Mr. sickVisionz
 Posts: 2173 |
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What you described is not "a single copy for private use and not distribution." It's buying it for the sole purpose of distribution. |
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ScruffyKiwi
 Posts: 675 Location: New Zealand |
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Yes and no. What I'm talking about is the argument that was used by Netflix and co to crack down on ISP's in New Zealand providing VPN accues to USA (Netflix) and UK (for BBC TV). They dressed it up as a tax issue when in reality it was nothing to do with tax. It was a good way of getting the government to move though! |
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mrakai
Posts: 40 |
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There's another law/doctrine in play as well (in addition to right of first sale) which says that when a book is not legally licensed in a country in the language you want you can still buy it.
So if somebody has the french language license for Harry Potter to sell in France, but Bloomsbury has UK English (UK and Ireland region) and Scholastic the US English (US and Canada region), then bookstores in France can legally choose to import either the US or UK version. However, if a french publisher has the English rights, they are only supposed to be selling that version. So while technically ebooks should be for sale in any region where there is not a local licensor, the technology and law has not caught up with that. |
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GrayArchon
Posts: 393 |
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Yes, and what exactly is your point? He was claiming that importation of copyright goods was illegal except for "a single copy for private use and not distribution." My whole point is that he is wrong in claiming that it's illegal to import copyright goods for distribution without a license. The US Supreme Court ruled on the issue just a few years ago in the case I linked to. With the result being that, yes, you can legally import copyright goods for the sole purpose of distribution because you have the right to resell copyrighted goods you buy that were legally manufactured, no special license required. In other words, the same right that allows you to sell a book to a used bookstore, and the used bookstore to sell the book to other people, also applies to books and such that were legally printed overseas. |
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TarsTarkas
Posts: 5831 Location: Virginia, United States |
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Not saying you are wrong, but I would need to see it in writing. I could see it if you are using their Unlimited reading service/subscription (not sure how the process works) or if a book was inadvertently sent to your Kindle. But when I buy a book from the Kindle store, I click the BUY button. That means I have bought the book. Money has changed hands. If Amazon goes into my Kindle to remove a book that I have legally bought and paid for, that is criminal theft. There is no terms of service that I know of. The Unlimited Reading service might have it, since it is a service with a subscription. |
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LadyKuzunoha
 Posts: 91 Location: United States |
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Here's Amazon's page about the Kindle store terms of use: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201014950. The part which really jumps out to me regarding this topic is "Kindle Content is licensed, not sold, to you by the Content Provider.", Kindle Content meaning any digitized content available via the Kindle store, Content Provider meaning either Amazon or a third party selling via the Kindle store, depending on the content in question. This page also states that "By using the Kindle store, purchasing or using any Kindle Content, using any Kindle application, or using any aspect of the Service, you agree to be bound by the terms of this Agreement." I have yet to find a passage where it seems to state or imply the removal of content from one's personal device, but this part is pretty clear about ownership, I think. |
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peno
Posts: 349 |
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I know your point was different, but being nitpicker I am, I have to point out that Scholastic only has right for Harry Potter in US. In Canada, UK version was always published, originally by Raincost, now by Bloomsbury itself, though Scholastic Canada somehow became publisher for Cursed Child, but the main books are still out of Scholastic hands in Canada. |
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Dr.N0
Posts: 149 |
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Sorry, TarsTarkas, I got lazy there. Unfortunately, I am afraid you are wrong. Indeed, it has happened before. Here is a recent article from the LA Times that confirms it: http://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-digital-content-20160513-snap-story.html. |
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RAmmsoldat
 Posts: 1261 Location: North wales coast |
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Real books ftw
I understand people need digital when space isnt an option but i much prefer having an actual book collection. To me digital is just paying to have access to the content and that can be revoked at any time for a bunch of reasons. Anyone who bought into jmanga knows all about that though. |
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TarsTarkas
Posts: 5831 Location: Virginia, United States |
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Well, consider me 'schooled'. Think this is something Congress or the FTC needs to take care of. I don't care about the other stuff, but if I buy a digital book for my digital library, I don't want to fear that I could lose everything. The whole purpose of going digital is that you don't need physical copies, especially if you have an extensive library which you have no room for. |
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Kadmos1
 Posts: 13556 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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Ah, the Berne Convention. I wish this treaty had not initiated copyright to expire at least 50 years after the creator(s) died. Heck, I would like to time travel back to prevent its instigation. That instigation was done by Victor Hugo.
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