As for the respect...

Well, this ist my yery first blog-post here and i want to talk about a thing that already weighs heavily on my mind for a long time.

Okay, theres one thing i want to straigthen out beforehand. I don't want to insult anybody with this post. I acknowledge the Team mentioned below as a Scalnation-Team with very skilled members. I only want to state my point of view and i've tried to keep it as objective as possible. Well then, let's start.

Many of you manga-readers probably know about a Website called MangaStream.com. There you can find some of the most popular manga series (among others the big three One Piece, Bleach and Naruto), translated in english and released way before the official magazine-release in Japan (approximately 5 days prior).
I don't need to say that this is not legal.


But it seems that the leaders of MS (MangaStream) are not aware about that (or they're well aware but simply ignoring it). So they're dropping slogans like "The way it's ment to be read" and prohibit others (mostly internatinol Scanlators) from using (or rehosting) their Scans for their own release in their own language on their own website. Additional to that  they're putting watermarks on every of their scanlated pages. Their main argument for doing so is respect. On the one hand they want respect for themselves and on the other hand they want the readers to show respect towards the autors and publishers. Sounds good, right? But every coin has it's other side. Let's take a look at the FAQs of MS.


There they say:

1. Why are there so few chapters of each series online?

• We have a very limited selection of series, and we have also limited the amount of chapters for each series to four. It's connected to our philosophy of scanlations.

2. What is your philosophy of scanlations?

• Our scanlations are just meant to be spoilers. You read the scanlations to stay up to date with what's happening in the series you enjoy. We want you to support the distributors when they release it in your language, so we won't undermine their efforts by hosting what they are trying to sell.

Philosophy of Scanlations!? Meant to be Spoilers!? Won't undermine their efforts by hosting what they are trying to sell!?  WTF!!!?

1. It doesen't matter how limited the selection of series and the amount of chapters is. It's already illegal to host only one page of a chapter. Besides that they don't limit the selection of their series. ATM they have 12 projects running. This really doesn't look like limitation. They're just doing what they want, if they only got enough staffies.
2. How can a complete chapter called a "Spoiler"!? They deliver full chapters every week, an everybody can easily save the pages on their harddrive via drag & drop. How's that supporting the distributors!?
   Ah wait, they said, they want the readers to support the distributers. Ah yes, that changes everything ....don't make me laugh!!

Okay, let's move on to the next point:

 3. Why can't I download manga from your website?

• After a lot of thought, we unanimously decided that it went against our principles to provide an easy way for fans to archive our scanlations. You don't need to have it on your hard drive, buy it if you want a copy that you can enjoy over and over again.

Yeah sure, against your principles, of course. Tell me why you share an easy accessibel DDL link at a Website called Mangashare for all of your releases then? There everyone can DL the chapters for free. And like i said before everyone who knows the meaning of drag & drop is able to DL the chapters direcly from MS.
To cut a long story: They only try to make us believe that they're respecting the distributors with that. But in fact they don't. Respecting them means not to publish their work on a website.

Nah, enough of that, next one:

4. Why don't you want international releases of your work?

• There are just so many reasons, but mostly we don't want anyone to alter our scanlations in any possible way. You have the same chances as we do to get a copy of the magazine, scan it, get someone to translate it, edit the images and fill in the bubbles. Too much work? Your problem.

Erm no, there's only one reason: They want all the fame for themselves. MS is a group with international Members. And they're releasing in english, an easy accessible language that nearly everybody can get. So they want to attract as many readers as possible. They won't lose anything if they share their scans with others. Manga-fans will read their version first anyway because they're the first to publish. But instead of sharing they watermark their scans. In case that some international group uses their scans, everyone will see immediately where it's coming from. Another prove that MS is only after the Webfame.
And as for the alteration of their scans through int. Scanlators... do you think the authors and license-holders are happy about you're altering their work?

Well, let's do a cut here and sum it up:

1. They think they showing respect towards the distributers in doing like they do.
If you want to show respect, dont scan and release their work in the Internet. Just a reminder: Scanlating has nothing to do with respect to beginn with. It's nothing less than plagiarism.

2. They don't want international Scanlator to use their scans and try to prohibit them from doing so with their policy and watermarks.
If you don't want others to use your Scans, dont release it to the public. You don't hold the licenses of the series, so you don't owe a single page or word of it. Regardless how many efforts you put in it. Therefore no watermark or policy can prevent others from using your scans and i'm sure you're well aware of that (that's the reason you came up with that policy and the watermarks, after all).

Dear MangaStream, you think you are the best because of your early releases and your HQ-Scans. Well, your scans are really belonging to the best in the whole scene but yet you're the worst Scanlation-Team ever. Because you release that early while talking about respect the whole time. You don't know a thing about respect, so please stop teaching others about it.
Think your so called "Philosophy of Scanlations" over and stop putting watermarks on your scans. Release on the same day the official magazine is published in Japan. Only by doing so you'll really be the best Scanlation-Team.

And if you want genuine respect --> go to school, to university or get a job and achieve something!

So far, so good,
Best regards,
Al~