4 ms·

Paying them yourself isn't enough when it comes to file lockers. Their goal is to get not only the original uploaders paying to keep their files online, but al

by tomku 14y ago

Paying them yourself isn't enough when it comes to file lockers. Their goal is to get not only the original uploaders paying to keep their files online, but also some percentage of downloaders as well. That's why sites like this have countdown timers, bandwidth limits and waiting periods. They're hoping that people will get so sick of the bullshit trying to download your files that they'll spring for a premium subscription. This is why they've had such an interesting relationship with copyright infringement. Obviously, they want to avoid getting shut down - but people uploading TV shows, games, music, movies, etc on places like DDL forums drive so much traffic and so many premium memberships that their business model almost depends on them. Some of them even pay dividends to the popular uploaders, as a thank you for driving traffic. This drives an entire underground economy, where people upload copyrighted content to file lockers, then use the payments from the file locker service to buy more content to upload. Edit: One example of this kind of underground economy is in the anime fansubbing community. You've got people who want to widely distribute 200-500mb files (generally) that are... not entirely free of copyright, to say the least. Hosting the files yourself would be a pain, as you'd get takedown notices AND have to pay for servers and bandwidth. However, you can upload your episodes to a couple file locker services and post the links on your site. You'll get a kickback from the file lockers for driving traffic, and if they get taken down, you can just reupload them, possibly even at the same site. The fansub groups say they use the money to pay for hosting and buy Blu-rays to rip and release, but I'm sure some of them pocket some as a salary too.

Retric 14y ago
Most fansub groups stop when the content owners licence the product in the US or simply request that they do so. As to making money that's theoretically possible, but only in the spending all day helping a friend move for a beer is 'making money'.
- tomku 14y ago
  I think your knowledge might be a little outdated. Now that streaming (and less frequently, retail) rights are being sold before the shows even air, there's very little mid-season dropping due to licensing - the groups that sub airing shows know that they're licensed, and they don't care. DVD/BD rip groups care even less, and they seem to use file lockers a lot more regularly than the actual fansubbers. As far as profitability, I don't think that most of them are raking in the millions, or even doing it as a full-time job. Most of the profit is on the file locker's side - otherwise they wouldn't be giving payouts in the first place. I suspect that the groups that really push the DDLs probably make enough to pay for hosting and some percentage of the DVDs/BDs they buy. Whether you view that as profit is up to you - but I think it's a little more than getting a beer for helping a friend move.
  - Retric 14y ago
    I have not looked into fan-subs in a few years so you could be right. However, I have not seen a significant increase in the amount of anime translated so are you talking about 'rights' or the 'option' to buy said rights. Because, it seems odd if companies are paying significant amounts of money for distribution rights just to sit on it. PS: Though if there is some great streaming service for anime I don't know about feel free to fill me in on that one.
    - tomku 14y ago
      Crunchyroll[1] is the big name in streaming nowadays, and they simulcast a substantial portion of each season. Funimation licenses for retail, simulcast and library streaming, and I believe they do their streaming via Hulu. Anime on Demand is a newer player, and Neon Alley is a PS3-exclusive (for now) service run by Viz that airs dubs on a schedule like a TV station. Some of the older players (Sentai Filmworks does a lot of this) will split a license with Crunchyroll, so one has retail and the other streaming. I'd say that the English-language market has generally switched to streaming, and that DVDs and BDs are almost an afterthought now. Edit: Almost forgot, a bunch of the Japanese studios just announced their own English-subbed streaming service named Daisuki[2], but it won't launch until April. Will be interesting to see what impact that has on the foreign companies. [1]: http://www.crunchyroll.com/ http://www.crunchyroll.com/ [2]: http://www.daisuki.net/en/ http://www.daisuki.net/en/

by tomku 14y ago

Retric 14y ago

Most fansub groups stop when the content owners licence the product in the US or simply request that they do so. As to making money that's theoretically possible, but only in the spending all day helping a friend move for a beer is 'making money'.

tomku 14y ago
I think your knowledge might be a little outdated. Now that streaming (and less frequently, retail) rights are being sold before the shows even air, there's very little mid-season dropping due to licensing - the groups that sub airing shows know that they're licensed, and they don't care. DVD/BD rip groups care even less, and they seem to use file lockers a lot more regularly than the actual fansubbers. As far as profitability, I don't think that most of them are raking in the millions, or even doing it as a full-time job. Most of the profit is on the file locker's side - otherwise they wouldn't be giving payouts in the first place. I suspect that the groups that really push the DDLs probably make enough to pay for hosting and some percentage of the DVDs/BDs they buy. Whether you view that as profit is up to you - but I think it's a little more than getting a beer for helping a friend move.
- Retric 14y ago
  I have not looked into fan-subs in a few years so you could be right. However, I have not seen a significant increase in the amount of anime translated so are you talking about 'rights' or the 'option' to buy said rights. Because, it seems odd if companies are paying significant amounts of money for distribution rights just to sit on it. PS: Though if there is some great streaming service for anime I don't know about feel free to fill me in on that one.
  - tomku 14y ago
    Crunchyroll[1] is the big name in streaming nowadays, and they simulcast a substantial portion of each season. Funimation licenses for retail, simulcast and library streaming, and I believe they do their streaming via Hulu. Anime on Demand is a newer player, and Neon Alley is a PS3-exclusive (for now) service run by Viz that airs dubs on a schedule like a TV station. Some of the older players (Sentai Filmworks does a lot of this) will split a license with Crunchyroll, so one has retail and the other streaming. I'd say that the English-language market has generally switched to streaming, and that DVDs and BDs are almost an afterthought now. Edit: Almost forgot, a bunch of the Japanese studios just announced their own English-subbed streaming service named Daisuki[2], but it won't launch until April. Will be interesting to see what impact that has on the foreign companies. [1]: http://www.crunchyroll.com/ http://www.crunchyroll.com/ [2]: http://www.daisuki.net/en/ http://www.daisuki.net/en/