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A fansub (short for fan-subtitled) is a version of a foreign film or foreign television program which has been translated by fans (as opposed to an officially licensed translation done by professionals) and subtitled into a language other than that of the original.^[1]

The practice of making fansubs is called fansubbing and is done by a fansubber. Fansubbers typically form groups and divide the work up.

The production of a fansub typically begins with obtaining the unsubtitled source video called a "raw" that typically comes from DVDs, VHS tapes, television broadcasts, peer-to-peer networks, and directly from Japanese-based contacts. Then a translator watches the video and produces a time-stamped text file of the screenplay with any relevant notes. A person takes the translated text and uses a program to time it so that the subtitles in sync with the dialogue spoken and with the silence. An editor and a translation checker reads over the script to ensure that English is natural and coherent while still retaining the original meaning. A typesetter then sets the font, size, orientation, color, and general appearance for all the subtitles. Fansubs groups also typically include a final round of editing known as quality control as a final check for any errors. Encoders then take the script file and create a single subtitled video file, often aiming for a target file size or video quality. Finally the fansub is distributed through services such as P2P software, IRC channels, and newsgroups.^[2]

Early fansubs were produced using analog video editing equipment. First, a copy of the original source material or raw was obtained, most commonly from a commercial laserdisc. VHS tapes or even a homemade recording could be used as well, though that would entail a lower quality finished product. The dialogue was then translated into a script, that was then timed to match the dialogue, and typeset for appearance. The two most popular programs used in this process were JACOsub for the Commodore Amiga and Substation Alpha for MS Windows. The next step was to produce one or more masters, a high quality copy of the finished fansub from which many distribution copies could be made. The fansubber would play back the raw video through a computer equipped with a genlock in order to generate the subtitles and then overlay them on the raw signal. The hardware of choice was an Amiga PC as most professional genlocks were extraordinarily expensive. The final output of this arrangement was then recorded. The master was most often recorded onto S-VHS tape in an attempt to maximize quality, though some fansubbers were forced to use inferior but less expensive VHS or Beta. Once completed, the master copy was then sent to a distributor. ^{[citation needed]}

Modern fansubs are produced entirely on computers. A raw is still required, but unlike the fansubbers who relied on laser discs, most raw sources comes directly from recordings off Japanese TV, which are widely available via Japanese peer-to-peer programs such as Winny, Share, or Perfect Dark. Some larger fansubbing groups have cappers in Japan that supply them with an MPEG transport stream. While TV recordings are now the primary type of raw used today, rips of region 2 DVDs are also used. For older shows not available on DVD, some modern fansubbers use computers equipped with video capture hardware to get digital copies of older analog media (laserdisc or tape) to work with.^{[citation needed]}

One alternative to using the raw Japanese file for audio translation is the use of video that has been subtitled in Chinese. China, Hong Kong and Taiwan have their own fansub groups that also release to the Internet. Several fansubbers are known to translate into English from the Chinese translations of the original Japanese, although this inherently reduces the accuracy of the translation because of the fact it has gone through two translations. To account for this, fansub groups using Chinese subs often have one or more Japanese translation checkers to minimize the loss of original meaning. In a similar way, English-subbed series can be retranslated into other languages, notably Russian.^[3]

Translation is usually done solely by listening to the recording. Most translators are not experienced with fansub technology and only provide a translation.^[3] While commercial releases will often have access to the scripts, fansubbers have to translate by ear. This can sometimes lead to mistakes or unclear spellings of names. Many groups have translation checkers to reduce the chances of letting translation errors slip through, and/or to give an alternative wording/meaning of a certain line to aid in editing an ambiguous translation. Translations for most shows are between 200 and 300 lines, though some dialogue-heavy shows may reach over 500 lines.^{[citation needed]}

Another, more recent, alternative with the growing availability and usage of .ts raws is translation from Japanese closed captions. The closed captions can be exported from the .ts raw into various formats, and most fansub groups use a program called C-Cats to accomplish it. This method often results in a fast, yet still fairly accurate translation due to greater ease of translating text to text, rather than audio to text. This method, however, is not as widespread, as it is still not commonplace to have a .ts raw for a show. In addition, not all .ts raws have the closed captions in them, as some raw providers remove the captions, and some Japanese broadcasting stations do not broadcast with closed captions. Groups that use closed captions from a .ts raw use the audio to verify the closed caption translation, as it cannot be guaranteed that the closed captions are flawless.^{[citation needed]}

Timing can take place before or after translation. Many groups will "pre-time" before the translation is done, then upon completion of the translation, apply the translation to the timed lines, while at the same time doing what is called "fine timing." Fine timing often involves applying "scene timing," which is a process whereby a line's start or end point is made to correspond with a nearby scene change. This prevents "scene bleeds," which occur when every line has the same lead-in or lead-out time, resulting in some lines starting before or after a scene change.

The next process is to typeset both the text or other parts of the video which have been translated (signs, cellphone screens, etc.). Stylizing the apperance of text helps differentiate between for example speech by an on-screen and off-screen character, thoughts, etc.

Editing takes place any time after the translation has been completed. It is the editor's job to make the subtitles as easily understandable to a native English speaker as the Japanese audio would be to a native Japanese speaker, while still retaining as much of the original meaning as possible. Different groups have different guidelines for editing, for instance some insist upon keeping as literal subtitles as possible, while other groups are more liberal with their editing.^{[citation needed]}

Quality control, or QC,^[4] is one of the final stages of fansubbing. Many groups do what is called a "soft QC", then encode the episode, then do what is called a "hard QC." The goal of quality checking an episode is to catch any typesetting, timing, editing, and, in the case of hard QC, encoding errors.

The subtitles are then encoded into the video. "Hard" subtitles, or hard subs, are encoded into the footage, and thus become hard to remove from the video without losing video quality. "Soft" subtitles, or soft subs, are subtitles applied at playback time from a subtitle datafile, either mixed directly into the video file (.mkv, .ogm, etc.), or in a separate file (.ssa, .srt, etc.). Soft subs can also be rendered at higher resolutions, which can make for easier reading if the viewer is upscaling the file, but also are more difficult to blend into the video (for instance rotated text/moving text). Hard subs have traditionally been more popular than softsubs, due to a lack of player support and worries over plagiarism, but most fansub groups now release a softsub version of their releases.^{[citation needed]}

The resulting fansub is a computer video file and can distributed via CD, DVD, DDL, P2P software, and by file-sharing bots on IRC.^[3] This distribution is usually handled by a distribution team, or "distro" team, composed of one or more individuals with a server or very high upload speed.

The internet allows for highly collaborative fansubbing, and each member of a fansub team may only complete one task.^[3] Online fansubbing communities are able to release a fully subtitled episode (including elaborate karaoke^[3] with translation, kana, and kanji for songs, as well as additional remarks and translations of signs)^[2] within 24 hours of an episode's debut in Japan. While this kind of speed is possible, the groups that favor speed in determent of quality are known as "speedsub" groups and tend to release low-quality fansubs (in terms of subtitle accuracy, video quality, and other aspects). "Quality" groups often take several days, weeks, or even months to release each episode after its initial airing. However, with the advent of new techniques and technology, such as softsubs and modern hardware capable of encoding high quality video quickly, combined with larger fansub groups tending to have a large staff capable of performing tasks in parallel, the line between speedsubs and quality subs is gradually becoming blurred.

The first distribution media of fansubbed material was VHS and Betamax tapes. Such copies were notoriously low quality, time consuming to make, expensive to produce (over US$4000 in 1986).^[5]

The first documented Japanese animation to be distributed in the United States was The Tale of the White Serpent airing on March 15, 1961. Until the late 1970s, Japanese community TV stations' broadcasts were aimed exclusive at very young children. Soon after the the release video cassette recorders in November 1975, post-Astro Boy anime began to spread throughout the United States. By March 1976, TV stations in the United States began broadcasting super robot shows such as Getter Robo, and due to the the availability of VCRs, fans could record these shows to show to their friends. Fred Patten describes his first exposure to anime at the Los Angles Science Fiction Society (LASFS) in 1976 when he met up with another fan who was an early adopter of Sony's betamax technology. By May 1977 he and a group of fans founded the first anime club in the United States, the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization (C/FO).^[5]

In November 1977, the C/FO began corresponding with other Japanese animation fans across the country and because distrubition of shows across the United States was different based on location, fans began trading tapes of shows they were missing between each other. At the time many LASFS members maintained contact with members around the world, and thus C/FO members began exchanging videos with fans locatd in Japan, typically US military personel, who wanted Star Trek amd Battlestar Galatica. Fortunately, shows from either the United States or Japan could be played in either region as both used the NSTC format for broadcast. These shows were not translated, however Japanese animations remained simple enough that the average viewer could discern the plot exclusively from the visuals. By 1979, fans and clubs of Japanese animation had begun to separate from the science fiction movement and began to call the media they watched anime.^[5]

Throughout this period it was considered socially acceptable to screen anime for an audience without consent as few companies had American offices, and of the few that did, the answer was invariably "no". Japanese companies made it apparent that they knew fans in the United States engaged in unauthorized distribution and screening, however knew that fans were not profiting. Japanese companies asked fans to help them publicize, for instance Toei Animation asked the C/FO to aid them with some marketing research at San Diego Comic-Con. Starting in 1978 Japanese companies tried to setup US branches, however with the exception of one series, Sea Prince and Fire Child licensed to RSA/Columbia Pictures Home Video, realized they were not going to succeed in the US market and the last anime company branch closed in 1982.^[5]

After anime companies pulled out of the United States in 1982, there was no longer any legal or moral forces to discourage fans from copying and distributing tapes amongst themselves. From the late 1970s till the end of the 1980s clubs began expanding to have chapters in other cities and grew to become of national and international scales. As the fandom grew, fans begun to experience ideological conflicts such as whether to keep the fandom niche or not. The visual quality of tapes began to degrade as fans made copies of copies; by the early 1980s some C/FO members reported tapes in their 15th to 20th generation that were extremely poor quality. In the mid to late 1980s, fans began to make booklets containing the translated dialogue for entire films (typically $2-3 to cover costs) and anime-focused magazines.^[5]

Despite numerous attempts, any efforts to convince US companies to license Japanese animation fail with the exception of a handful of companies that were intent on "carving up" any series rewriting them into kiddy cartoons. Sean Leonard states that entertainment executives at the time mistakenly assumed that since anime are cartoons, they must be marketed at young children; furthermore Japanese cartoons were much to violent and complex in plot for children. Leonard states that the most notorious example was the translation of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind airing in the US on April 1986 that left its creators Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata appalled; Takahata exclaimed licensing Nausicaä was a huge error and no further Studio Ghilbi produced films would be licensed internationally. These edits however were no worse than most other non-Disney animation films that were available in the US. Fans who obtained the Japanese originals of Nausicaä were inspired so as to organize an anime tour to Tokyo in 1986 to see Miyazaki's Laputa: Castle in the Sky and landmarks in anime.^[5]

Carl Macek played a key roll in creating a pivotal wave of anime fans. Macek ran a comic book and movie memorabilia speciality shop. After assiting in marketing and promotion of Heavy Metal and the recent establishment of a nearby C/FO chapter, he began reseraching Japanese animation and imported Japanese cels becoming known as a Japanese animation specialist. Harmony Gold then contacted him as they had acquired international licenses for several series, were planning on distributing in Latin America, Europe, and the US, and enlisted his help for the US market. After Macek noticed their selection of Macross and similar science fiction series, Macek obtained Harmony Gold's approval to release an anime if he could edit three series together. into what they named Macek went to science fiction conventions to promote the series and discoverd the growing cult interest among adolescent and young adults, in constrast to the assumption of an exclusively viable child-targeted market. Macek edits Macross, [[Orguss], and Southern Cross together into Robotech and lands a resounding commerical success earning him alot of notoriety in fan community. Leonard describes as it being more faithful to the original series than any other commerical success at the time as it included key elements such as the first love triangle on both Japanese and American animated television.^[5]

The C/FO was at its height between 1985 and 1989 with over three dozen chapter throughout the US. John Renault help lead the C/FO chapter in Japan and played a key role throughout fansub history due to his ability with Japanese, anime industry contacts, and military background. Renault helped exchange raws from Japan, wrote informative articles about production, translated booklets, introduced military techniques to anime distribution, provided plot synposes that proved invable for watching Japanese only anime. Fan distribution through C/FO’s efforts, particularly C/FO Rising Sun, sought to keep anime free but keep anime controlled within the C/FO organization in order to promote Japanese animation. Bootlegging at the time was economically infesible. However a growing divide in fandom between the "haves" and "have-nots" limited access to anime as a function of who once you knew. In 1989 members began to accuse Patten of disloyalty for writing articles for general magazines rather than the perpetually behind schedule C/FO fanzine. However Patten felt that in writing for popular mangazing he was further their cause to proselystize and promote anime. With no clear succession route left behind after Patten stepped, the C/FO began to break apart, and eventually ceased to exist as a conglomerate in July 1989.^[5]

The first known fansub documented at the Rising Sun chapter of the C/FO was in 1986 of a Lupin III episode produced the the Commodore Amiga, marking the introduction of the formula for the process of fansubbing. However fansubbing was extremely expensive at this time (on the order of $4000 in 1986 and over one hundred hours). There were a few ventures into subtitling in the late 1980s; Leonard labels the fansub of the first two episodes of Ranma 1/2 in May 1989 as the earliest, widely-distributed fansub.^[5]

Fansub distributors (who delivered videos to fans) were usually separate from fansubbers, who did translations and produced masters. Since most members of the fansub community did not want to profit from their activities, fansubs were usually not "sold". Typically, a fan who wanted copies of a given program would mail blank VHS or Betamax tapes to a fansub distributor, along with a modest payment for shipping expenses. The distributor would then record copies onto the "customer's" blank cassettes, and ship them back. Alternatively, a fansub distributor might sell copied tapes outright, but at a low price which was intended to be exactly enough to cover the cost of blank cassettes and shipping.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, fansubs in electronic form were primarily distributed like VHS and Beta tapes: via mailed CD-Rs. Many fans did not have high speed Internet and were unable to download large files. Many of the early digital fansubs were made from regular tape subs.^{[citation needed]}

In the mid-2000s, most fansubs were distributed through IRC channels, file hosting services and BitTorrent. In recent years most groups have shifted from using IRC to being primarily BitTorrent. BitTorrent trackers dedicated to anime fansub releases allow fans to easily find the latest releases, and individual fansub groups often use their own websites to inform fans of new releases. Because of an almost complete de-emphasis on CD-R and DVD-R distribution, file size standards are less frequently followed.

An appropriate video and audio playback codec needs to be installed on the computer for proper playback. In addition, many of the video files use alternate multimedia container formats such as OGM and Matroska. Special decoders need to be acquired for these formats as well. One main benefit of using Ogg or Matroska multimedia containers is the ability to create a single file that has DVD-like features such as chapter support and multiple audio and/or subtitle tracks, as well as support for separate opening/ending animation files. At the same time, these multimedia containers can be easily demuxed into their individual files, the individual files can be altered (for example, fixing a misspelling in the subtitles), and then remuxed back together. Many fansub groups recommend using a codec pack, such as CCCP, to allow for relatively simple playback of these formats.

Intellectual property lawyer Jordan Hatcher situates fansubs on the boundary between the desirable dojinshi fan culture and the "massive online file trading so vilified by the recording and motion picture industries". Legal scholar Lawerence Lessig states that the re-working of culture—remix—is necessary to cultural growth and points to doujinshi in Japan as an example of how permitting more remix can contribute to a vibrant cultural industry. However Hatcher states that fansubs do not match this type of remix because their aim is remain faithful to the original. Furthermore Hatcher states that fansubs compete with the original cultural product since they have the potential to replace the market need for official translations and thus resemble the debate over peer-to-peer file trading.^[2]

Hatcher states that copyright law does not condone fansubs. The Berne Convention, international copyright treaty, states that its signatories—including Japan—grant authors exlusive right to translation. Hatcher states that fansubs could "potentially" be legal within Japan given the nature of Japan's domestic copyright laws, however since the target audience of fansubs are the non-Japanese market. However Hatcher states that copyright law in the United States—the frame of reference for most online discussions of fansub legality—construes translations as derivative,^[2] and fansubs infrige on the author's right to prepare derivative works^{[citation needed]} and to reproduction by copying original source material.^[2]

However, fansubbers have traditionally held themselves to a common code of ethics and do not commonly see themselves as pirates.^[6]

Many fansubs contain subtitle text that reads "This is a free fansub: not for sale, rent, or auction" that pops up during eyecatches.^[2]

Marketing concerns for distribution companies create a gray operating zone for fansubbers. While on the one hand it is true that products like Fist of the North Star are released and licensed in America, only part of the series is available. A fan willing to buy the whole series would find it impossible. However, the lack of support of these products is often a factor in the decision to not continue releasing a series. The costs of licensing more of the series might not be possible without a successful release of the initial offering.

Supporters of fansubbing point^[7] to an alleged positive impact it has had on the anime industry through its function as publicity. There have been several shows that were at first overlooked for US distribution, only to be picked up later when fansubs helped create a buzz about the franchise.^{[citation needed]}

The role fansubs have played in popularizing anime titles received official recognition by at least two major distributors. In the promotional video announcing the American license of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Kadokawa Pictures USA and Bandai Entertainment specifically thanked fansub watchers and asked them to purchase the official release.^[8]

A company can successfully dub over 100 episodes in as little as a two-year period, a length of time that has confused some fan groups due to the speed that fansubs can provide the same material (considering that the fanbase desires the unaltered Japanese show, simply with their native language subtitles). But companies are starting to address this issue, for example, Funimation is working to release their uncut, unedited episodes of One Piece in multiple formats,^[9] releasing earlier season sections alongside boxsets more recent episodes in attempt to meet fan demand. VIZ's boxset format releases for Naruto and Prince of Tennis also attempt to deliver larger chunks of a series to fans in a quick and efficient manner.

Due to 4Kids' heavy editing of their properties and refusal to release untouched versions on DVD, some fansubbing groups continue to subtitle and release popular shows owned by the company such as Tokyo Mew Mew, One Piece, and Yu-Gi-Oh!. 4Kids attempted an uncut bilingual release of Shaman King and Yu-Gi-Oh in the mid-2000s, releasing a handful of volumes of each title in the format, but in an interview with ANN Alfred Kahn stated that "The market for them just isn't as large as the one for the cut version," pointing out that their sales might not have met 4Kids' needs or expectations to continue them.^[10]

Past market reactions have shown that time might be better spent petitioning 4Kids for a bilingual release, and supporting the uncut release of former 4Kids licenses like One Piece, to show them there is a market for such titles.^{[citation needed]} An older example is Sailor Moon, which was initially licensed by DiC. After fan demand showed there was a market for the title,^{[citation needed]} uncut, unedited versions of the show, and Pioneer successfully release the Sailor Moon Movies in a subtitled VHS format in 1999, followed by dubbed versions and bilingual DVDs. This was quickly followed by the release of Sailor Moon S and Sailor Moon Supers, which both received complete unedited releases on VHS and DVD from Geneon. In 2003, the commercial subtitles of the first two seasons appeared, released by ADV Films under license by DIC, completing the uncut release that many fans never believed would be possible.

In 2003, a fansubbing group known as Anime Junkies was involved in a conflict with the licensor and co-producer of the Ninja Scroll TV, Urban Vision's even provided the pitch to Madhouse to create the series. Urban Vision sent a letter asking for Anime Junkies to stop hosting the licensed material, but Anime Junkies did not comply with the request and responded negatively to Urban Vision. Christopher Macdonald, an editor at Anime News Network, highlighted the ethics code of the fansubbing community and asked that fans not support Anime Junkies as a result of their actions.^[11]

Although executives of domestic anime distributors have been vocal about their objection to fansubs, most do not want to gain an image as being hostile to their fans. Of special note, many people in the anime industry started as VHS fansubbers themselves, although fansubbing as they knew it then has become profoundly different from fansubbing as it is known today. This is due to the shift from traditional fansubbing using VHS tape to modern digisubs that are circulated on the internet.

During the early days of the Internet, it was difficult for fansubbing groups to get the attention of their target audience.^{[citation needed]} Even during the early to mid-1990s, groups still had to charge a nominal fee (usually $5 to $10 at most) for a VHS and shipping charges to get the anime to its destination. Many people in the general public were not willing to trust relatively unknown internet businesses, especially during the primitive days of internet security. Most of the American and UK anime distribution companies were formed during the early 1990s, and had little competition from such amateur groups. Some companies even formed out of fansubbing circles.^{[citation needed]} However, as the internet grew in availability and speed, fansub groups were able to host and distribute fansubs online easily. The advent of BitTorrent as opposed to IRC has been pointed to as a key ingredient in the current fansubbing scene.^[12] It has been argued that this prompted fans to ignore official releases altogether, and some websites started charging for easier downloading rates. The development of new software and its newfound availability made it very simple to copy, subtitle, distribute, and play back fansubs, cutting into what DVDs offer, and their sales.

Many anime shows make their debut outside of Japan's shores in electronic format, and it is rare that a popular anime will go without fansubs.^[12] Recently, this has also applied to the tokusatsu fandom due to the fact fansubs are actually being done for Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, Ultraman, and various Daikaiju movies in which most fans didn't appreciate the dubbing. In addition, J-Horror and J-Drama, as well as other Asian shows have been fansubbed as many people are becoming more and more curious about Asian cinema and breaking away from the Kung Fu, Samurai, and Giant Monsters films that so many people were familiar with prior to fansubbing.^{[citation needed]}

Advancements in fansubbing quality mean that fansubs are now of such quality and free accessibility that the incentive to upgrade (or in some cases downgrade, as from an HD fansub to an SD DVD) to a legitimate copy once a title is domestically licensed may be severely diminished.^{[citation needed]} An article published by the Yale Economic Review found that "almost all survey participants admitted that possession of a movie download will lower willingness to pay for legal products."^[13] Economic instabilities in both the US and Japan have made it hard to gauge the precise consequences of digisubs on the commercial industry, as well,^[14] though several Japanese and North American anime studios and distribution companies have pointed to fansubbing as drawing a large amount of profit away from them.^{[citation needed]}

In April 2008, two Gonzo titles^[which?] began free, subtitled releases simultaneously with their Japanese TV-airing counterparts on streaming websites YouTube, Crunchyroll, and BOST.^[15] In addition to the streaming video, viewers could pay any price they wished (greater than zero) to download a higher-quality version of the shows. As of October 2009, a large number of new anime are being distributed using this same model through Crunchyroll. The general reaction from the fansub community has been to not subtitle these shows, though in some cases the streaming video is released days after the Japanese airing and in very low quality, leading fansubs to still be done of such shows. Several "fansub groups" have taken to ripping the subtitles from these Crunchyroll releases, editing them slightly, syncing them to HDTV video sources, and then releasing them for free. That said, the apparent increase in support from Japanese animation studios for this new distribution model would suggest that it is working quite well, and the number of fansubbing groups has decreased as many people do not feel a need for fansubs when they can stream these shows legally and for free.^{[citation needed]}

There is a belief among some^[who?] fans that an "unspoken agreement" exists between the fansubbers and Japanese copyright holders that fansubs help promote a product.^{[citation needed]} Steve Kleckner of Tokyopop noted:

Frankly, I find it kind of flattering, not threatening[...] To be honest, I believe that if the music industry had used downloading and file sharing properly, it would have increased their business, not eaten into it. And, hey, if you get 2,000 fans saying they want a book you've never heard of, well, you gotta go out and get it."^[16]

This belief was challenged when in December 2004 Media Factory (MFI), a Japanese copyright holder, directly requested that their works be removed from download sites, and since then numerous other companies such as Nippon TV have followed suit in the wake of the appearance of fansubs on YouTube.

On December 7, 2004, a Tokyo law firm representing Media Factory sent letters and e-mails to the anime BitTorrent directory AnimeSuki and fansub groups Lunar Anime and Wannabe Fansubs requesting that they halt the fansubbing and hosting of all current and future fansubbing productions.^[6] AnimeSuki and Lunar Anime complied, and shortly after, other fansub groups such as Solar and Shining Fansubs followed suit. Despite the request, Wannabe Fansubs and a handful of other fansubbing groups continued to produce fansubs of MFI anime series.^[17] To date, this has been one of the few legal actions taken by a Japanese anime company against fansubbing.

After MFI's request was made public, only Genshiken, whose fansubs had been completed before the notifications, and Kimi ga Nozomu Eien were licensed in the US. MFI's other major projects, including Pugyuru and Akane Maniax, were not picked up by American distributors. The lack of buzz that surrounded these titles has been linked by fansub supporters^{[citation needed]} to MFI's suppression of fan distribution. They argue that by cutting off this means of "free advertisement," MFI has alienated fans who would normally buy their products after they were licensed and kept the shows from being as widely exposed as they might otherwise be.^{[citation needed]} The end result, say fansub supporters,^{[citation needed]} is a reduced interest from American anime companies and a loss of revenue for the studio. However, in August 2006, School Rumble was finally licensed by Funimation thanks to popularity of the series garnered from its manga release by Del Rey. It took the series over 2 years to be licensed, which was normal for anime licenses around 2002.^{[citation needed]} Since MFI's legal action against fansubbers, their number of licenses secured is below the industry average. ^{[citation needed]}

MFI's actions are sometimes used as an example in the fansub debate as a reason why other Japanese companies should not pursue similar injunctions. However, their titles are still being licensed. The anime series based on Emma and Aria were both licensed in 2008, and Area 88, Gankutsuou, Kurau Phantom Memory, Noein, Shura no Toki, and UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie were all licensed after the legal action in 2004.

Recently, a few titles such as Street Fighter Generations were prelicensed, meaning that they were released simultaneously in Japan and North America, in an effort to negate the need for fansubs. However, some fansubbing of such titles still occurs, as some people prefer fansubs over commercial releases.

Fansub opposers claim^{[citation needed]} that Japanese licensors have reportedly grown discontent with fansubbers because the ease of access with which their works are obtained has begun to affect foreign licensees' willingness to license a series, as evidenced by the Western market's sharp drop in new acquisitions in 2005. They also suggest^{[citation needed]} that anime fans in Japan have reportedly begun to turn to English fansubs which often appear days after a show's release, affecting sales in their home market. Indeed, Japanese companies have banded together to form JASRAC, a copyright holders' rights company, which has frequently taken YouTube to task for providing content which domestic Japanese viewers often use, which includes fansubs, as seen on their official site.^[18] A growing anti-fansub stance has been taken by US distributors, as seen in Geneon and ADV's comments at the State of the Industry Panel at Anime Boston,^[19] as well as recent comments by Matt Greenfield of ADV Films at Anime Central:

"Answering a fan question on how ADV perceives the threat and challenge presented by fansubbers, Matt answered that while fan subtitling is hurting the industry both in the US and in Japan, 'the industry has to learn and adapt to new technology, and has to find ways to work around it.'"^[20]

In Singapore, anime distributor Odex has been actively tracking down and sending legal threats against internet users in Singapore since 2007. These users have allegedly downloaded fansubbed anime via the BitTorrent protocol. Court orders on ISPs to reveal subscribers' personal information have been ruled in Odex's favour, leading to several downloaders receiving letters of legal threat from Odex and subsequently pursuing out-of-court settlements for at least S$3,000 (US$2,000) per person, the youngest person being only 9 years old.^[21][22] These actions were considered controversial by the local anime community and have attracted criticisms towards the company, as they are seen by fans as heavy-handed.^[23]

• Fan labor
• Culture note
• Fandub
• Fan translation
• Scanlation

Look up fansub in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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• Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1353/mec.2010.0002, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1353/mec.2010.0002 instead.
• Leonard, Sean. "Celebrating Two Decades of Unlawful Progress: Fan Distribution, Proselytization Commons, and the Explosive Growth of Japanese Animation". UCLA Entertainment Law Review, Spring 2005.