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NEWS: Creators/Publishers Issue Letter to Shops That Digitize Manga

Copyright infringement isn't limited to illegal distributors and sellers, it covers anyone who makes copies of copyrighted material without owner permission. Technically, it's illegal to make copies of any copyrighted works, even for personal use.

Also, many copy shops have policies forbidding the copying of copyrighted material. Staples, for example, won't make copies of copyrighted material unless it's for educational purposes (but even then, only up to 10% of the material). Fedex/Kinko's, which you mentioned, has similar guidelines, stating that customers must receive written permission from the owner before reproducing any copyrighted material. Kinko's has even been litigated and held liable for such infringement, despite the material falling under "fair use" for being of an educational nature. Many institutions, like libraries and universities, have similar policies.

The right to produce copies of a work is granted solely to the copyright owner of the work, and those to whom the owner has granted permission. By making copies, we take that right away from the creator to control reproduction of their works, and give it to ourselves. Chances of litigation are small, but I have seen people caught, fined and fired from their jobs for personal use copyright infringement.

GhostShell wrote:

Just curious. The manga and books that I have that were published in North America have something similar to the following wording on the copyright page: "No portion of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission from the copyright holders." Do books and manga published in Japan not have something like that as well?

I assume they do. My english ed. of Golgo 13 from 1986 that was printed in Japan includes that warning.

The amount one can copy from a text is controlled in most universities- and even then they often have licensing agreements in place that pay royalties to the publisher and writer when the copy is made.

So basically, these people are selling people a 2nd copy of the book for a price that's two to ten times the actual cost of the book. That's pretty sketchy, and what sort of legal action can be take probably depends on Japanese copyright laws.

Also, many copy shops have policies forbidding the copying of copyrighted material. Staples, for example, won't make copies of copyrighted material unless it's for educational purposes (but even then, only up to 10% of the material). Fedex/Kinko's, which you mentioned, has similar guidelines, stating that customers must receive written permission from the owner before reproducing any copyrighted material. Kinko's has even been litigated and held liable for such infringement, despite the material falling under "fair use" for being of an educational nature. Many institutions, like libraries and universities, have similar policies.

Lightning Leo wrote:

Copyright infringement isn't limited to illegal distributors and sellers, it covers anyone who makes copies of copyrighted material without owner permission. Technically, it's illegal to make copies of any copyrighted works, even for personal use.

That is not true in the US if you are making copies, undistributed, of something you own. Personal backups are legal. CDrips are legal. Microsoft and Apple wouldn't give you the ability to do that if that weren't the case since they'd be liable too. The plethora of online backup services would not allow you to make copies of your digital possessions (whose copyright you don't own) if that weren't the case either.

Quote:

Also, many copy shops have policies forbidding the copying of copyrighted material. Staples, for example, won't make copies of copyrighted material unless it's for educational purposes (but even then, only up to 10% of the material). Fedex/Kinko's, which you mentioned, has similar guidelines, stating that customers must receive written permission from the owner before reproducing any copyrighted material. Kinko's has even been litigated and held liable for such infringement, despite the material falling under "fair use" for being of an educational nature. Many institutions, like libraries and universities, have similar policies. The right to produce copies of a work is granted solely to the copyright owner of the work, and those to whom the owner has granted permission. By making copies, we take that right away from the creator to control reproduction of their works, and give it to ourselves. Chances of litigation are small, but I have seen people caught, fined and fired from their jobs for personal use copyright infringement.

you are conflating making store policy with legality and distribution (in the fair use case you mentioned) with making copies purely for yourself like I mentioned. The only reason why some stores have that policy for photocopying is to remove any liability on their part.

But in reality, it's no different than going into Kinkos, renting time on a computer with scanner and scanning your own book yourself. Which is again legal so long as it's not distributed (see above about backups). So why is having literally different hands doing the same task somehow any different?