piracy exist mostly because of viz not really being the best service.
I'm inclined to agree but it's not just Viz, it's the current lack of manga being universally and readily available.
That's not an easy task to accomplish. But steps are being taken to take the release of manga into a new era.
Here is a great counter thread
I've read all the counter 'ideas' and have entertained uninformed anecdotal debates for hours, but in the end, piracy is piracy. There's no leg to stand on that it's 'right'. It's simply convenient. And personally I don't care how people privately enjoy the series they read. But being comfortable doesn't mean it's a birth right or that a case can be made in defense of it in the modern age.
I know plenty of people who never heard of OP and in all likelihood even never came across it while skimming through webpages( including my wife).
Anecdotal evidence doesn't apply. A modern manga/anime fan who regularly uses the internet and is up to date on manga/anime news having never been exposed to One Piece in a legal form (knowingly or unknowingly) be it news/images/memes, etc. is an impossibility in this day and age.
You literally have people who opened the New York Times and were exposed to it.
I'm not suggesting just seeing it means being hooked, but I am saying the chance for exposure is great. My point stands.
Whether one decides to follow legitimate or illegitimate means to pursue an interest in that exposure is another case.
I could make a similar hypothetical (and anecdotal) argument that legal means of availability don't exist in some countries because of the futility of attempting to publish a legal version in countries where piracy runs rampant which is simply a Catch 22.
I'm an user from outside the "viz zone" who has the viz app, and wsj installed and paid for, for 4 years now.
It is kind of hypocritical of me, as I will read gintama to completion in its current illegal source, but every other series that I care for, I've been paying like 0,25$ an issue.
Only for android devices:
First you use a proxy to create a viz account from inside its territory
Then you instead of downloading it from google app store, do it from amazon app store, this is the step I'm currently iffy on, as I believe its only possible if your amazon account is from a viz country, so there is some account juggling needed.
Then you log in, and through the viz page and a PayPal account you pay for your subscription of a year for 25$.
I worry that step 2 might be harder right now.
That's right.
I also purchase Viz from here in Japan. One poster cleverly noted that users are extremely clever when it comes to working around country blocking when it comes to area-unique gatcha prizes but suddenly users lose all sense of creativity when it comes to purchasing a legal material they say they 'would support if only there was some way'.
I’m used to this now.
This is what it comes down to and I have nothing but the utmost respect for people who can admit this as opposed to the 'all people have a right to it' argument which comes up so frequently.
That's really what it comes down to. Ease of access and familiarity. I'm looking forward to the publishers being able to slowly improve the current system.
No, but you are a case that is completely outside the curve.
I don't have to be :) In fact I wish I wasn't.
I think you are missing the point here, nobody is arguing that the public has a birthright, using your words, to manga.
No, nobody here is arguing that.
That's why I'm not addressing anyone in particular here.
That argument has been raised to me time and time again. It takes me a few hours to wind people but in the end, that's what always comes out and I wanted to address it before it came up. I have entire DM/PM discussions archived of well-known individuals arguing fervently that all people have a right to free manga. 'Believe it!'
The common person will not drive one hour to consume a product they don't need.
If you're interested and passionate about something enough with no other means to obtain it, you'll do whatever is needed. And considering the length of your dedication to this forum, you are definitely interested and passionate in the topic at hand.
you assume people will be interested by default.
I know people are dedicated to what they're passionate about.
I read Trigun.
I wouldn't have driven an hour to pick up Trigun.
I'm passionate about One Piece and wanted to support it, therefore I researched the best way to obtain it and I did it. If piracy didn't exist, everyone who was just as passionate would do what it takes to get the series. Like giving a Japanese businessman money to bring a tank from JP to Africa.
And what we are arguing is that that interest, the very interest that is the root of the demand, has been guaranteed by the pirate content
Nah mate, the 'interest' that is the root of demand has has been guaranteed by the author.
If One Piece was not readily available at an early point to everyone thanks to the scans, its online presence would be only a small fraction of what it is, there would not be fan communities discussing it, there would be nearly no word-of-mouth (finger?) spread, and all that that comes in a domino effect because only a much smaller part of the fans would actually come in contact with it.
I mentioned above how one of the 'final stage' arguments is 'having a right to manga'.
The argument that 'popularity is due to piracy' is another one of those bottom of the barrel arguments that comes out after everything else has been exhausted. At one point in history, I don't necessarily disagree. But we're well beyond that period now.
What you're suggesting is that the product itself has no worth. You're suggesting that the community itself is what sells the product. I agree more than anyone that word of mouth sells a product. But you can't sell the product….if you're not actually selling the product.
Piracy has created buzz. That's for certain. But when you share an experience about reading a series, that comes from the product itself and if the product itself isn't entertaining or marketable to a certain crowd, it may fail regardless of buzz. The product itself creates the atmosphere and in turn, that atmosphere is taking advantage of the product for the benefit of the atmosphere, not the product, despite the fact that the product is the root of demand.
In truth, the user her/himself has become the true product now. Your interest is being purchased by that atmosphere which is merely a by-product of the source itself.
Now, with the advent of platforms like Netflix, anime became much easier to simply stumble on, but not before.
This is what I've been saying (perhaps not well) and I'm glad you accept this.
I completely understand the role piracy had in the time before access was more readily available. But now it's a different time. And just like we went from sharing fanmade tapes or text-based translations to downloading anime episodes and manga, a new way to enjoy manga enjoyment will be available in the future.
I reiterate for lurkers or anyone new, regardless of the reality of piracy, it's not my business how you enjoy what series you read, nor do I care or judge you as a person by that. I know I speak passionately at length on the topic which can come off to some as 'hating' scan readers but I don't want to 'hate' anyone I've never even met. I don't define people how the enjoy manga, we're more complicated than that ;)