Ask John: Is Sharing Unlicensed Anime Legal?

Question:
I was wondering about unlicensed anime. Is it illegal to download unlicensed anime? Or does it depend on what the laws are in the country you live in. Because I live in Canada and I know that our laws regarding downloading music and .mp3s are very different than in the US. In Canada downloading music and having it on your computer is not as much of problem because of the way our copyright laws are. But anyway, back to anime, I’m just asking because a lot of people think downloading unlicensed anime is illegal and it doesn’t really make sense to me that it would be.

Answer:
I’m actually asked this question quite frequently, so please excuse me if it seems like my answer is needlessly repetitive. I want to make certain that my response is clear and obvious.

I think the phrase “unlicensed anime” is a bit misleading for many anime fans because it seems to suggest to many fans that anime which isn’t officially licensed for local distribution is fair game for trading and sharing. But actually, in a technical sense, reality is just the opposite. There is virtually no anime that isn’t copyrighted, and technically, anime that isn’t locally licensed is not supposed to be available locally at all. If the official Japanese property owners wanted a particular anime to be available to foreigners, they would arrange an official distribution contract. In the case of the odd fan produced anime that isn’t legally copyrighted, common courtesy and respect for artist’s rights should dictate the extent of underground distribution.

All professionally produced anime is owned by someone, or some corporate entity, so sharing, trading, up or downloading, or fan translating that anime without the permission of the owner is stealing, or a violation of someone else’s property rights. I’m not a lawyer nor an expert on law, but I suspect that copyright laws in Canada are not significantly different from those of any other first world nation. Only the enforcement of copyright law may be different in Canada than it is in America. It does make perfectly logical sense that the distribution of unlicensed anime is illegal. Animators and copyright owners in Japan depend upon the profits from anime sales. When foreigners watch anime without paying for it, these foreigners are enjoying the benefits of the work of Japanese animators while these animators receive nothing in return. It’s natural to expect Japanese copyright owners to want to protect their investments and property, and natural to expect Japanese copyright owners to expect royalties from any distribution of the art they’ve created.

The theory behind fansubbing and fan distribution is that sharing anime not licensed for domestic distribution leads to that anime eventually becoming licensed, which then does benefit the original Japanese owners and artists. Furthermore, sharing unlicensed anime doesn’t directly compete with sales of officially licensed domestic releases. Traditionally, the purpose of sharing unlicensed anime was to advertise little known series and raise understanding of Japanese animation among non-Japanese viewers. The purpose of distributing unlicensed anime has never been to primary satiate our own selfish desire to watch particular shows, although that’s arguably one of the major motivating factors in the current Western fansubbing community. Importing legally purchased, authorized foreign DVD releases is a responsible means of obtaining unlicensed anime because the purchase legitimately contributes to the proper channels. Purchasing bootleg anime actively contributes to improper, undeserving channels, and fan distribution is considered only slightly more ethical because it simply doesn’t contribute payment to anyone, even though payment should be going to Japanese artists and businesses.

In light of my limited knowledge of international copyright law, and my own common sense, it seems absolutely logical, rational and appropriate that the distribution of unlicensed anime is illegal. Anime is copyrighted in Japan, if not in North America also, and any distribution of copyrighted material without the express consent of the owner is theft.