Delusional Manga Helpers tries to woo Viz.
 

I think someone has spent too much time scanning books and is starting to lose it.

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Read the above, then the follow up here

You were wanting a post describing what is going on about the document that has been leaked. Well, here it is.

Before that though, let me take a minute to remind you what MH stands for. That is respect to those that create something.
In any and all cases of scanlation or translation stealing we have taken swift action to resolve the issue. From going to other sites to request - to banning the group/people/individual responsible. Why? Because we respect the work that people put into each thing they do.

The document posted was us presenting an opportunity for a great publisher to work with what we believe are the greatest fans they have. Each week fans of all kinds of manga dedicate their time, effort, and energy to help let others enjoy manga. That is the solid reason why MangaHelpers name is Manga Helpers. People helping others enjoy it. With this in mind, along with Crunchyroll's successful business model we created that draft. As you can see from spelling errors, grammar mistakes and the likes it is still in a very VERY rough form and extremely far from presentable. Why it was leaked at such a state is beyond me, but yet is has. And we are dealing with it.

The goal behind presenting that document to a company was so that we can promote the fans - not their work. We wanted to create a bridge between publisher and fan (scanlator - translator - artist) to help everyone work together and not only make online distribution legitimate, but to increase the amount of released manga by promoting the talented translators, editors and artists we have at MH. Through working with them, perhaps faster and better quality raws would have been do-able (like crunchyroll and their episodes). Or even professional translators helping out other translators on the site - sharing their experience and know how. By making what fans are doing legitimate, or at least finding a medium, we could have progressed so much further than being pirates leeching from the publishers.

Our goal was to find a way to support the publishers while keeping the fans - community - and those that work hard each week satisfied. Has this leak changed things? Probably so. As a result, when online distribution comes, chances are it'll be no different from anything in the past. Not saying that it's a bad thing, but it could be so much better.

In the end, all we were working for was a better place for everyone to enjoy the surreal worlds each manga introduces us to. In the end, we wanted to do good for everyone. Maybe, miraculously, something good may still come of all of this.

For now, that is all we have to say.

Taylor, Founder of MangaHelpers.

P.S. Just so we are crystal clear on this. As I stated in the opening, we respect everyone and the work they do. There were no plans for handing over any translations - scanlations or art that was released here. Our goal was for those that want to work with the official companies to have an easier shot at getting recognized. So anything and everything would be voluntary.

I'm not sure what the drama is.

I thought the email was perfectly straightforward, and grammar aside, presentable.


I'm not a member of the MangaHelpers community, so that might explain why I don't give a damn.

The drama is that a scanlation group would have the cajones to approach one of the publishers they essentially steal from and try and strike up a partnership where they have 0 leverage and 0 legality. It would be like a thief offering to sell you back the stuff he stole for 50% off the market price...and that thief gave you his home address and telephone number.

Holy crap, I am obviously out of the manga-bootlegging-underworld-loop, and it's apparent colloquialisms. I've never heard the term "scanlation"


But this, MMM, is a scandalous bit of info.


That is respect to those that create something.
In any and all cases of scanlation or translation stealing we have taken swift action to resolve the issue. From going to other sites to request - to banning the group/people/individual responsible. Why? Because we respect the work that people put into each thing they do.

Is this not true? Because if they are taking measures to stop the situation, then it's really irrelevant whether the members are passing links and fansubbed manga. I bet people are doing the same via PMs on JapanForum.


---EDIT II---

After reading this several times, I've concluded that that guy was indeed, delusional, and was most likely drunk at the time.

I think he is talking about people stealing "their" scanlations, which they are stealing from the publisher they turn around and and offered a deal to. True craziness.

wow, you would think that guy would have a better understanding of things since he is technically running a pirating site. i mean even piratebay acknowledge the piracy that their links enable.

its probably got alot to do with piratebay actually, i mean if its owners can turn around and flog it for millions then this guy has every right to try as well,as far fetched as it may seem.... especially if the companies themselves are making moves to make official translations thereby making the purpose of his forum void.

as you said MMM poor guy doesnt realize that he has no leverage, unlike piratebay.

The sad thing is, manga publishers have been pretty lenient about the scanlations, and fansubbing. Something like this may do nothing but cause them to start strictly enforcing the law. It's like going up and poking a complacent guard dog while you're robbing his owner's home.. He wasn't messing with you, but now that you've gone and poked him he's going to rip you apart. SMH

The comments are great (and long). There are some seriously insane people out there.

"Scanlations are by fans for fans" Ha ha!

?!



....Sorry, but the grammar really makes me wonder about the age(and intelligence) of the people behind this particular site, and the fact that they are trying to make a profit from stuff made by another(in other words, piracy) contradicts the subsequent statement they made after people found out about this.

As far as I know Viz is only for USA. The scans they do are not yet licensed to Viz, so they are not 'stealing' (you're clearly trolling) from Viz.

No, this is big news in the "manga world" today.

Iphantom, did you read the link at the top of the first post?

I am unsure as to whether or not you are familiar with our website, so I will give you a brief introduction. ******* is, for all intents and purposes, a very large international community (Asian, European, US and South American) dedicated to the promotion and appreciation of not just one or two IPs and brands currently owned by Viz Media, but dozens.

They certainly are licensed in the US, the guy admits it right there.

The link above isn't available to me... country restrictions?

Anyway, big news? Who cares about MangaHelpers. I never used them. MangaShare is much better imo and MS terms state that manga is removed immediately on request.

Here is the content of the email that was to be sent out to Viz, but apparently leaked prior.

uI hope this email finds you well, and that I am contacting the right person.

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Christopher Carter, and I am one of the owners of a leading online manga fan community.

I am writing this email to you for a few reasons. First and foremost, the timing of this email stems from the recent announcement about Viz' online magazine, Ikki, as described in this link: VIZ Debuts IKKI, New Online-Only Manga Magazine

The second reason for writing this email is more directly related to Viz' IPs and Brands, and how they relate to our website and community. Allow me to elaborate with a little bit of back story.

I am sure that by now, most everyone at Viz including yourself are aware of the huge online market for manga distribution. The numerous online manga readers such as OneManga, MangaFox and MangaHut serve as a great testament to this fact, despite their main focal point of English language manga. I am also sure that I do not need to go into detail about the 'grey-area' legality of such websites, and how this is currently a market share which, to the best of my knowledge - correct me if I'm wrong, Viz holds very little control and monetisation over.

This is where the relevance of our Manga Website comes into play. As mentioned previously, I am one of the co-owners of a Manga Community website; namely MangaHelpers.com. I am unsure as to whether or not you are familiar with our website, so I will give you a brief introduction. MangaHelpers is, for all intents and purposes, a very large international community (Asian, European, US and South American) dedicated to the promotion and appreciation of not just one or two IPs and brands currently owned by Viz Media, but dozens.

Our website came into existance originally as a forum community dedicated to translating manga from japanese into international languages due to the problems associated with print edition distribution and localisation of Japanese Manga series. In short; the speed of which Manga became available and readable to an international audience was so far behind the desire and demand of the market. Over the years we have grown from being just a translating resource, to an all out international manga community servicing dozens of brands and series on a weekly basis. Our goal, in it's purest form, is to make manga available to all fans around the world at the same speed which it is released in Japan; much like the goal of Viz Media itself.

The only problem is; we are operating independently and in a manner that does not directly (read financially) benefit Viz media outside of the social and viral marketing/PR and exposure a reputable website like ours carry. This is something that we, the four owners of the website, have been discussing internally for a long time on how to change. It has now come to the point where our resources, our strategies and planning, and our capabilities both technologically and creatively, all point in one logical direction: Co-operation with Viz Media itself.

MangaHelpers as a website is considered by many as _the_ greatest and most notable manga community in the world. We reach millions of visitors worldwide, and from there the happenings and activities of our members spread to virtually every manga fan site on the net which deals in online manga. Yes, even OneManga, MangaFox and MangaHut retrieve both volunteers/staff and member submissions from our community. We would like to think that over the years, we have served an integral yet unofficial role in making Manga brands known and appreciated on a global basis. It is through this indirect cooperation that we got the idea; why not go all the way?

It is true; there is a large market out there which is outside Viz' current reach. Our website, for better or worse, is at the center of this market. Anyone who has been following online trends recently will have noticed the success of online business models such as subscription and microtransactions in regards to gaming brands and IPs. These business models can easily be transferred to the Manga market, and we believe we have one of the most innovative and best approaches on the net for this. This is where partnering with Viz comes into play.

Our thought process is simple; Viz gets direct influence and control over the 3rd party market by teaming up with a reputable, stable and well liked online resource such as us, and we get to work with, develop and help promote something every one of us has a genuine passion and appreciation for. We have many valuable resources to offer; from global exposure and marketing possibilities to business models (advertisement sponsored, subscription, and microtransaction based digital distribution of online manga) that could potentially give Viz a very large newfound revenue source, to the hundreds of (professional) translators and image cleaners/typesetters who already publish their work at MangaHelpers for free; there are lots of possibilities and potential business ventures to be found. We even have the web framework for distribution and publishing of fanlations in place!

It is our opinion, and hopefully yours, that mutually beneficial partnerships like this at least deserve a deeper looking into.

I apologize for the lengthyness of this email though I hope what I have written has spiked your interest, at least to some extent. We are very interested in hearing your thoughts (and possibly concerns) in regards to the "wall of text" that is written above.

With that, I will conclude this email in hopes to hear back from you soon,

The funny thing is the scanlators are angry that it appears this site would be trying to make money of "their work" when 1) the work never belonged to them in the first place and 2) concern about paying the creators for their work never crossed their minds before.

You can't really censor the words used for piracy, since the means used are legal, its the data that's being obtained that's illegal. A torrent by itself is perfectly legal, and can be used to share legitimate data; it just so happens to be the tool of choice for a lot of pirates.

"Omitting" it from a search would be like me telling the world we should boycott boats - after all, people use them to smuggle in drugs. Or a complete ban on firearms - who cares if people use them for legitimate hunting, people hurt others with them!

I'm not saying I agree with piracy, but censorship is dangerous territory. Unfortunately, its one of the only 'real' ways to 'police' the internet at this juncture.

I'd agree with them, but not because they are right. It's because MangaHelpers has been the same as them, illegal. Why should they waste their time in order to feed MH with money?

The same as who? I don't understand what you are saying here.

I believe he means the other scanlators, who "stole" from MH the same things they (MH) stole from Viz and other manga publishers.

So iphantom is saying he agrees with the publishers? That would be a first.

Heck no. Ever hear the phrase about medicine being worse than the sickness? That's the same mindset that causes people to needlessly lose their freedoms and rights in this world. The internet police (or any "police") get lazy and give out blanket rules that also adversely affect legit users.

A huge problem with the internet is that too many people are taking for granted that you can get (steal) media for free. This, of course, is bad for the producers as well as the legit fans. It's hard for a producer to produce when they don't get the money to do so.

If those guys really want to be "helpers", they'll make sure that the originators of the manga get their dues and promote the production. Also, although I don't know how, the legit people that due pay dues have to get something going that will get people to start wanting their version over the free ones.