Legally, does is matter if they are making money: No
Morally, does it matter if they are making money: Yes (at least to some people)
Were they making money: Yes, how much is an argument I don't think we need to get into.
That said, I have little hope of any sort of response from the publication houses short of "Stop now, don't even think of doing this again, and give us more money than you made running the site."
The wistful hope that they would take this opportunity to learn something about their consumer base (and offer things at a reasonable rate) has been killed by observations of how the US book publication companies have reacted to e-books.
This may not be applicable due to cultural differences, but it is the closest thing I know, so I'm going to assume they are similar. If I have missed something please correct my ignorance.
Electronic versions of books and comics (and manga) will never be offered at a substantially different/lower price. This is because the value of a book is not in the medium it is printed on, but the words/pictures that make it up. The paper is often seen as disposable, or close too it (if this were not the case consumers would be demanding higher quality books, and outside of a very small market this doesn't happen). To offer an electronic version of a story, at a significantly lower price, would decrease the perceived value of the printed works. Because, after all, it's the same content.
Amazon is taking a loss on the ebook best sellers right now in the hopes that it will attract more people to the kindle platform. And that they will make up said losses over time with each person they attract.
All that combined with the very real fixed costs associated with printing and distributing physical books means that any company currently in the business (depending on profits from physical sales) is not going to sell electronic versions of their books for much less (and kiss those profits goodbye).
I don't have time to get into the tarpit that is international licensing, where a new deal has to be ironed out for each country individually (the EU being the only exception I know of).
So I don't see a traditional online store working for manga/books/comics. I do see an itunes-like model working, where per-country restrictions can be easily managed, and enough drm is used to hinder casual copying. But I don't think that pricing is going to change any time soon. At least not until the creators start to cut the publishers out of the loop.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy
Morally, does it matter if they are making money: Yes (at least to some people)
Were they making money: Yes, how much is an argument I don't think we need to get into.
That said, I have little hope of any sort of response from the publication houses short of "Stop now, don't even think of doing this again, and give us more money than you made running the site."
The wistful hope that they would take this opportunity to learn something about their consumer base (and offer things at a reasonable rate) has been killed by observations of how the US book publication companies have reacted to e-books.
This may not be applicable due to cultural differences, but it is the closest thing I know, so I'm going to assume they are similar. If I have missed something please correct my ignorance.
Electronic versions of books and comics (and manga) will never be offered at a substantially different/lower price. This is because the value of a book is not in the medium it is printed on, but the words/pictures that make it up. The paper is often seen as disposable, or close too it (if this were not the case consumers would be demanding higher quality books, and outside of a very small market this doesn't happen). To offer an electronic version of a story, at a significantly lower price, would decrease the perceived value of the printed works. Because, after all, it's the same content.
Amazon is taking a loss on the ebook best sellers right now in the hopes that it will attract more people to the kindle platform. And that they will make up said losses over time with each person they attract.
All that combined with the very real fixed costs associated with printing and distributing physical books means that any company currently in the business (depending on profits from physical sales) is not going to sell electronic versions of their books for much less (and kiss those profits goodbye).
I don't have time to get into the tarpit that is international licensing, where a new deal has to be ironed out for each country individually (the EU being the only exception I know of).
So I don't see a traditional online store working for manga/books/comics. I do see an itunes-like model working, where per-country restrictions can be easily managed, and enough drm is used to hinder casual copying. But I don't think that pricing is going to change any time soon. At least not until the creators start to cut the publishers out of the loop.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy