Whoah.
And very much worthy of threadcromancy. Yech! I can't believe these people! Don't they see that if they implement a law like this the entire industry is gonna go underground? Or rather, directly to the web? There's more than a few web comics out there that do commendably well on donations, modest ad support... comics such as Sluggy Freelance, Gunnerkrigg Court, MSPA, Questionable Content, Dominic Deegan, Megatokyo... these all have the distinction of being the bread and butter of their respective 'manga-ka'. Sure, most of those exist in print form as well, but that kinda happened after their success.
So... If Kodansha and the other publishers REALLY want to go that route... I'm pretty sure all of Japan's manga-ka will only be too happy to setup webpages where they can publish their stuff and sling their merchandise. Besides, a lot of Japanese people are starting to read their manga on their smartphones anyhow. Heh-heh-heh. Also, I'm pretty sure they won't have any trouble at all with reputable scanslation groups providing English translations for for their American, UK, and AUS sites.
And very much worthy of threadcromancy. Yech! I can't believe these people! Don't they see that if they implement a law like this the entire industry is gonna go underground? Or rather, directly to the web? There's more than a few web comics out there that do commendably well on donations, modest ad support... comics such as Sluggy Freelance, Gunnerkrigg Court, MSPA, Questionable Content, Dominic Deegan, Megatokyo... these all have the distinction of being the bread and butter of their respective 'manga-ka'. Sure, most of those exist in print form as well, but that kinda happened after their success.
So... If Kodansha and the other publishers REALLY want to go that route... I'm pretty sure all of Japan's manga-ka will only be too happy to setup webpages where they can publish their stuff and sling their merchandise. Besides, a lot of Japanese people are starting to read their manga on their smartphones anyhow. Heh-heh-heh. Also, I'm pretty sure they won't have any trouble at all with reputable scanslation groups providing English translations for for their American, UK, and AUS sites.