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NEWS: JManga Site Launches with Works Never Printed in U.S.

Einhorn303... You realize these are manga publishers right?
What manga publisher in their right mind wouldn't use DRM protection?
They are in business to make money, and they MUST protect their copyrights. If they don't, courts can assume they have given up those rights... At least in the US.

Remember that Jmanga is a consortium of Japanese manga publishers... They aren't a 3rd party.

They are in business to make money, and they MUST protect their copyrights. If they don't, courts can assume they have given up those rights... At least in the US.

Anyway, of course illegal scans are going to pop up everywhere if you remove the have DRM along with prices people are unwilling to pay, but that isn't exactly something new. Heck, people may go as far as buying English JManga.com releases and scanning ripping those and once it's on the net, it's practically impossible to remove. The trick is not to force people to do things your way, but to convince them your way is better/easier/cheaper for them. Pretty much what Crunchyroll is doing.

Yeah, manga aren't lightbulbs or mechanical pencils...

Anyway, of course illegal scans are going to pop up everywhere if you remove the DRM, but that isn't exactly something new. Heck, people go as far as buying English releases and scanning those and once it's on the net, it's practically impossible to remove. The trick is not to force people to do things your way, but to convince them your way is better/easier/cheaper for them. Pretty much what Crunchyroll is doing.

Tamaria wrote:

Anyway, of course illegal scans are going to pop up everywhere if you remove the have DRM along with prices people are unwilling to pay, but that isn't exactly something new. Heck, people may go as far as buying English JManga.com releases and scanning ripping those and once it's on the net, it's practically impossible to remove. The trick is not to force people to do things your way, but to convince them your way is better/easier/cheaper for them. Pretty much what Crunchyroll is doing.

Fixed that for you.

For some manga at least, they will be better (higher quality) and easier (no scanning, translating, editing, cleaning, typesetting required) than other options. Their main challenge will be finding the right price. I can't say I'm surprised they are starting at prices identical to print volumes though. It's much easier to justify lowering prices at later date than it is raising them. In the meantime, someone who really wants a local digital copy of something they bought, could rip a 200 page volume in ~5 minutes.

ArthurFrDent wrote:

They are in business to make money, and they MUST protect their copyrights. If they don't, courts can assume they have given up those rights... At least in the US.

This is a copyright myth. It's true for trademarks, but not for copyright.

All DRM does is annoy and impede legitimate customers. DRM is really only a minor inconvenience to maybe one or two pirates....because everyone else will be downloading the DRM-free file.

Illegal scans have existed for these series long before JManga existed, due to scanlations. Making the subequent English official release DRMed, and a hassle for consumers to use, will do nothing to stop scanlations from existing.

I can't say I'm surprised they are starting at prices identical to print volumes though. It's much easier to justify lowering prices at later date than it is raising them.

Personally, I would prefer a different business model. An all you can read buffet for a monthly fee, but with a print on demand service for those who'd love to have a physical copy. But that may be to avant-garde for most Japanese publishers...