Eyes Wide Open Over Anime Piracy
Earlier this month, Bandai Entertainment announced that it would file lawsuits against five companies it accuses of pirating its videos and other merchandise. The unauthorized products may be worth $300 million a year, estimated Bandai attorney Cynthia Nishimoto.
"We've tried some gentler approaches prior to filing the lawsuits, but the piracy has just been growing exponentially," Nishimoto said. "It's time to take more formal action."
While the art form is decades old, anime and its trademark wide-eyed characters have been on a roll in the United States ever since video games gave anime a major boost in the 1990s.
A major anime convention drew 25,000 people to Anaheim, California, earlier this month, a third as many as were expected to appear at last weekend's International Comic-Con in San Diego, the largest comics convention in the United States.
The schedule of Comic-Con itself was filled with anime panel discussions, giveaways and film showings. Counterfeit anime products are reportedly common sights at comics conventions. Among other things, pirates produce unauthorized copies of anime action figures and poster-like "wall scrolls." They also use logos without permission on T-shirts.
But pirated videos are the biggest problem of all, according to Nishimoto. They're easily and cheaply copied on home duplication systems, and the growth of websites like eBay allows people to order them individually from overseas, she said.
READ MORE HERE:
http://www.activeanime.com/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=339&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
And read this too:
http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/6742.cfm
STOP DOWNLOADING WHILE YOU CAN. DOWNLOADING ANIME IS THE SAME AS GIVING OUT PIRATED DVDS.
If you want to take this risk.. Good luck. heh..
Earlier this month, Bandai Entertainment announced that it would file lawsuits against five companies it accuses of pirating its videos and other merchandise. The unauthorized products may be worth $300 million a year, estimated Bandai attorney Cynthia Nishimoto.
"We've tried some gentler approaches prior to filing the lawsuits, but the piracy has just been growing exponentially," Nishimoto said. "It's time to take more formal action."
While the art form is decades old, anime and its trademark wide-eyed characters have been on a roll in the United States ever since video games gave anime a major boost in the 1990s.
A major anime convention drew 25,000 people to Anaheim, California, earlier this month, a third as many as were expected to appear at last weekend's International Comic-Con in San Diego, the largest comics convention in the United States.
The schedule of Comic-Con itself was filled with anime panel discussions, giveaways and film showings. Counterfeit anime products are reportedly common sights at comics conventions. Among other things, pirates produce unauthorized copies of anime action figures and poster-like "wall scrolls." They also use logos without permission on T-shirts.
But pirated videos are the biggest problem of all, according to Nishimoto. They're easily and cheaply copied on home duplication systems, and the growth of websites like eBay allows people to order them individually from overseas, she said.
READ MORE HERE:
http://www.activeanime.com/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=339&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
And read this too:
http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/6742.cfm
STOP DOWNLOADING WHILE YOU CAN. DOWNLOADING ANIME IS THE SAME AS GIVING OUT PIRATED DVDS.
If you want to take this risk.. Good luck. heh..