Ask John: Does the Anime Industry Deserve Some Blame for the Popularity of Fansubs?

Question:
Do you believe that the anime industry is at least partly to blame for giving fans a reason to download fansubs?

Answer:
I think that it’s reasonable to claim that the policies and business practices of the international anime distribution industry have motivated individuals to create fansubs and caused the international fan community to develop an underground anime distribution network, but I think that the term “blame” implies connotations that aren’t reasonable or appropriate. Japanese animation has traditionally been a Japanese product, created in Japan (with assistance from international business partners) for Japanese consumers. Since Japanese animators and entertainment distributors have long thought of anime as a commodity for internal Japanese consumption, it’s not reasonable to blame these entities for not recognizing or responding to international demand. The fact that international consumers may be interested in Japanese animation does not obligate Japanese companies to satisfy that demand. Japanese animators and distributors have every right to decide who can and cannot have access to their products. That’s particularly why American anime fans should consider access to anime a privilege rather than a right; an optional luxury rather than a commonplace staple.

However, primarily during the 2000s through the present, as the Japanese anime industry has become increasingly conscious of the international demand for anime, and increasingly eager to profit from international demand for anime, Japan’s anime industry has responded to international demand laggardly. While recognizing an international demand for anime, and hoping to profit from that international demand, Japan’s anime industry has been slow to adapt to international market conditions and the desires of international consumers. As a result, international anime fans have felt compelled to take matters into their own hands and secure their own access to anime which the international distribution industry has not provided in a timely manner, or at all.

I’m not justifying the theft of intellectual property, only explaining why it’s happened in the anime community. If the anime that international fans want to watch was made available promptly and legally, there wouldn’t been a need for a thriving fansub community. While some degree of video piracy will always occur due to simple human greed, I do think that there would be significantly less anime piracy if international fans had a relatively equivalent alternative to fansubs and illegal, underground file sharing.

Blaming the anime industry for the existence and prolificacy of fansubs is an easy way for the anime fan community to avoid culpability. Regardless of the anime industry’s actions or inaction, unauthorized access to anime is illegal and immoral. (The fansub community has traditionally ignored the “illegal” aspect, and approached the morality of the situation as a relative factor.) However, it’s impossible to say that the commercial anime distribution industry hasn’t had some impact and influence on the fan distribution community. The ideal resolution to this conflict is for both sides to compromise for the collective good rather than continue to assign blame and maintain an antagonistic opposition.