Baka-Updates :: Manga

Submit News

Have a piece of news which concerns the manga community? Submit News.

Manga Poll

Manga is the Japanese equivalent of comics
with a unique style and following. Join the revolution! Read some manga today!

Coded in ConTEXT

Join #baka-updates @irc.irchighway.net

RSS Feed

News

News Article

Download Links and Licensed Series
Due to some companies asking for the removal of download links, I have decided to remove all links for licensed series. Please do not report these download links anymore. Thank you. staff Edit: You can still report these releases, but please do not include the download links.
Posted by Manick on October 3rd 9:32pm	Comments ( 74 ) [ View ] [ Add ]

Comments

... by penardiem on October 3rd, 2007, 10:02pm

Uh-oh, you'd better take them all down, then. All manga is licensed. The production of all scanlations constitute copyright infringement.
[Reply]

Re: ... by penardiem on October 3rd, 2007, 10:03pm

...I meant "constitutes copyright infringement," sorry.
[Reply]

Re: ... by Tenshinchigi on October 4th, 2007, 4:43am

You're right, they're called international copy right laws. However most Japanese company's don't care if there stuff is scanlated. It makes for great publicity, besides it's not like the people reading the scanlations were going to buy the books....
[Reply]

Re: ...could be protected under fair use by sophie on October 7th, 2007, 2:57pm

Even if they're international laws, you'd still be prosecuted under US law, and under US law scantilations would be protected under fair use. Universal v. Sony says that as long as there is no licensing scheme for a product, it can be copied. So, non-licensed manga are fair use.
[Reply]

No Subject by Madocchi on October 3rd, 2007, 10:28pm

so that means most Leechers will now have to learn IRC fufufufu
[Reply]

Re: No Subject by Marcos on October 3rd, 2007, 10:45pm

Well some of them cannot use irc due to ISP's restrictions, but this was rather unexpected them complaining after few years of silence...were they sleeping and just woke up..
[Reply]

Re: No Subject by Mr.Vacuous on October 3rd, 2007, 10:46pm

damn right!
[Reply]

No Subject by Crayola on October 3rd, 2007, 10:47pm

So should we still add the fact that we did release, just no DL links?
[Reply]

Re: No Subject by lambchopsil on October 3rd, 2007, 10:55pm

Actually, you can still add DL links, but it won't help at all...since a script automatically takes off DL links for any release associated with a licensed series
[Reply]

Re: No Subject by shini_tenshi on October 4th, 2007, 1:28am

Can I ask what the little page things are next to some titles' names? The World is Mine, and Mahou Sensei Negima! both have them.
[Reply]

Re: No Subject by Indreju on October 4th, 2007, 2:15am

That means you have those series on your reading list. It's supposed to make it easier for you to find them in the list of new releases. Some companies, huh? Well, licensed is licensed.
[Reply]

Re: No Subject by shini_tenshi on October 4th, 2007, 2:47am

Thanks. I feel utterly stupid, but I didn't see a FAQ about little things like that.
[Reply]

Re: No Subject by Maian on October 3rd, 2007, 10:55pm

Don't think that would be illegal - in the US at least. Scanlations are illegal internationally in general, but I don't think just listing such scanlations is illegal.
[Reply]

Re: No Subject by mangapeak on October 4th, 2007, 12:49am

dang some user here is a snitch.
[Reply]

Question by shini_tenshi on October 4th, 2007, 1:24am

Does this mean that when a group has release notes, like SaHa's Kodomo no Jikan (let's pretend that it's liscensed), that this will not show up?
[Reply]

Re: Question by Manick on October 4th, 2007, 2:38pm

as of right now, yes.
[Reply]

Stupidity by Grave666 on October 4th, 2007, 1:29am

Personally I think the companies are morons. Let's see this is licensed...EH! Wrong your english dub of the series is licensed, not the original japanese language which is subbed by fans for free. Or Manga which...let's face it you have lost interest in. How do I know? Several book, comic, and online stores and not a single one has Berserk as far as I do. I'm up to volume 33 most stores have only up to 18 at most it's pathatic.
[Reply]

Re: Stupidity by arnoldstrife on October 4th, 2007, 2:44am

Well that's incorrect. a company can "licensed" a series, what that does is that anything related to that "license" is under the rights of that company (additional terms may be stated in the contract). If the company for some odd reason wants to sell the DVD not dubbed or Manga not translated. They still have full rights to the series and can lawsuit for pirated copys even if they didn't do anything with that series as long as it's in the country that it licenses it is in. While the fansubs (actually text translation) is not illegal. The video/audio you're watching/listening to is. And you're right though most manga in-stores are behind to scanlation. But you should still buy the manga after you read it to support the mangaka. While, I'm not certain of this part, they probable get a bit of commission from you and encourages future works from them to get printed. Just get your facts straight. It's not like we're going to die if they make it a bit harder for people to get links.
[Reply]

No Subject by mellowmut on October 4th, 2007, 2:47am

did what had to be done. maybe now leechers will step their game up.
[Reply]

Respect the respectable... by torrentchan on October 4th, 2007, 2:53am

They paid for the copyright and so let us respect that and take down the links. That is that.
[Reply]

Re: Respect the respectable... by reanimated838uk on October 4th, 2007, 4:09am

Is this going to affect the links to the groups as well? Noticed some of the newer releases have a none working link to the group page.
[Reply]

On the flip side.... by chappie on October 4th, 2007, 5:18am

I may agree that the companies do have rights to their own products, but lets face it - they cannot just 'turn off the faucet' whenever they feel like stepping up. Personally, I think it is a ploy. The US economy and dollar value is as weak as it has been for decades globally and the EU and Asian markets are taking off regarding Manga and Manwha...This is to their benefit. For many years scanalators were left alone for one reason. Free global advertising. It worked. Everyone now knows manga or knows someone who does in North America. We were the toughest market to break into. Now that we are on wayside, they want to ensure that they capture every dollar they are entitled to. Just like DOS was free to the consumer at one point...then Microsoft started charging....look at them now. Ah who knows...maybe it will spark something rebellious in people...
[Reply]

Re: On the flip side.... by Kurapica on October 4th, 2007, 5:33am

Some releases (like those with a ?) don't come with any group info except the download link. So we've lost those scanlations alltogether. It's a real shame that corporate America has already gotten to mangaupdates..
[Reply]

Re: On the flip side.... by reanimated838uk on October 4th, 2007, 6:43am

No i mean the scan group "Reiu" who has other releases.
[Reply]

Re: On the flip side.... by TheClumsyPotato on October 4th, 2007, 2:25pm

Most of the time you can find those releases on #lurk, I think...
[Reply]

Re: On the flip side.... by Stalin on March 28th, 2008, 11:51am

That's not entirely true. The licensed series are the only issue here. Sites like this are actually a great barometer for publishers to determine what we read and like. A lot of users drop a series? Not a good bet to license. A lot of users reading or completing it? Potential gold mine.
[Reply]

Oh well! by Laclongquan on October 4th, 2007, 5:42am

If you gotta you gotta. All in all leechers will have to learn how access groups' releases through website/irc/torrent. No big deal! We done it before, we can do it again.
[Reply]

release alerts by Scyfon on October 4th, 2007, 5:50am

erm....we still get alerts when there's a release right? If not then I'll go peanuts ._.
[Reply]

What reanimated asked: group links by NotTekk on October 4th, 2007, 6:52am

I'm curious about what he asked.... namely will you also remove links to groups' websites/forums for those groups who release the licensed series? What if they also release unlicensed series? And only licensed in the U.S.?
[Reply]

Re: What reanimated asked: group links by NotTekk on October 4th, 2007, 6:53am

(Uh, I'm referring to those groups with DDL on their sites/forums.)
[Reply]

Re: What reanimated asked: group links by Manick on October 4th, 2007, 2:40pm

The last I heard, linking to a website is not illegal. If it was, then google would have to be sued as well.
[Reply]

unofficialy by enrisimp on October 4th, 2007, 6:55am

It's good to know that removing the download links will extend the lifetime of the site over the preasure of the companies. On the other hand some times the releases and the download links comes before the site or the IRC release if there is one because some scanlators don't have site, forum nor IRC There should be an unofficialy page for this situations because non other sites manage to get them
[Reply]

Re: unofficialy by Sunfizz98 on October 4th, 2007, 8:45am

I agree, because some of these scanlators have no way for the readers to contact them especially if the scanlators are a new group.
[Reply]

No Subject by Gum on October 4th, 2007, 9:04am

Good move
[Reply]

Download Links and Licensed Series by david on October 4th, 2007, 9:25am

Does this mean that when a group has release notes, like SaHa's Kodomo no Jikan (let's pretend that it's liscensed), that this will not show up?
[Reply]

Re: Download Links and Licensed Series by shini_tenshi on October 4th, 2007, 12:10pm

That's damn sorry, trying to steal my question like you're the one who wrote it. Either answer or ignore it, but don't be trying to claim it.
[Reply]

Discrimination! by Evi\|pigeon on October 4th, 2007, 9:51am

It seems to me that this community is now discriminating against the scanlators that are anonymous or ones that only have a group name to identify them. Without a group, site or channel, the only proof that they really contributed to the community are the scanlated manga that they released. Now without the download links only the title of the manga can be associated with them, which really doesnt say much. Its like saying 'I created an interstellar fusion powered space vehicle but since i cant show it to you, you will just have to take my word for it.'
[Reply]

Re: Discrimination! by Maian on October 4th, 2007, 11:41am

Plenty of "anonymous" groups don't even have download links, so I don't see your point. Many of those groups don't want to attract attention from big sites like these (e.g. null) and intentionally force potential leechers to learn how to use google and irc. And in any case, this is not discrimination; it's survival.
[Reply]

No Subject by mellowmut on October 4th, 2007, 11:53am

if all those small lil groups are still stressing over ppl getting their stuff. they should just join some forums. any forums. like mangahelpers or any other of the billion forums out there and post their download links there. or you can get free hosting off someone and just keep a simple crappy webpage with their download links. that is all. it's not hard. any nub can do it. but yeah dl links aren't coming back so just make do with what you have. mangaupdates has always provided you with a free service so just accept the fact that there are no more download links and man up tricks. or woman up >_> leechers are spoiled as it is compared to how it was say 5 years ago and more so than how it was 10 years ago with dalnet and the like. step ur game up. and stop being lazy. this by no means are the thoughts of mangaupdates but the simple ramblings of a sole individual
[Reply]

No Subject by sano555 on October 4th, 2007, 12:24pm

i know that beggars can't be choosers and i appreciate all the effort you've put into this site and i understand why you've come to this decision but here are 5 cents... i suggest you relocate your servers to a country where _linking_ to illegal material isn't illegal (why do you think the pirate bay and other torrent sites are still up?) in order to stop this hypocrisy. you should either do this or remove ALL download links no matter whether a series is licensed or not... but who wanted this restriction in the first place? i suggest people import their manga from japan when they want to support the mangaka instead of giving money to those who are harmful to this community by buying the american versions. also, join the pirate parties in your respective countries if you want to stop being labeled as "criminals".
[Reply]

Re: No Subject by az060693 on October 4th, 2007, 1:10pm

actually, as long as the particular manga is not licensed in the country it's scanlated in, it falls into a grey area of the law, not quite legal, not quite illegal. so far there's no actual punishment for it.
[Reply]

Re: No Subject by sano555 on October 4th, 2007, 1:59pm

incorrect. it's a violation of copyright either way unless the scanlators have explicitly been given permission to upload the manga by the copyright holder him/herself. the licensors own the distribution rights in a certain country but not the copyright itself, the thing is that you're more likely to get sued by them since they represent the copyright owner if it's been licensed [in your country]. either way, sharing is caring and if they continue these harassments there's always encrypted/anonymous p2p programs and tor proxies to resort to. they shouldn't harm what they can't kill.
[Reply]

Re: No Subject by Shinumi on October 4th, 2007, 2:44pm

Actually the authors mostly don't mind that the manga is scanlated for 2 reasons, one already stated: publicity, the second is because if someone gets really hang on a series they will probably want more things related to the series, such as the anime if there is, the OVA's artbooks and the manga itself, having it in your PC files isn't as good as having the actual manga in your hands.... of course you won't buy something you aren't 100% hang up on
[Reply]

Re: No Subject by Manick on October 4th, 2007, 2:42pm

Look, I have a job, life, etc. The fact of the matter is that I'm in the US, and I sure as hell don't want to lose my career or something else fighting this battle. Justice isn't even on my side in this case... I must concede.
[Reply]

Re: No Subject by sano555 on October 4th, 2007, 3:09pm

yup i understand that, i'm just speaking my mind. even if the servers moved you could probably get in trouble over past offenses if you piss them off even further. the only solution would be to have someone else take over. they're pretty stupid for going after an "indexing" site that doesn't provide any illegal material itself, but of course, they do it because they can.
[Reply]

No Subject by heywhatsthat on October 4th, 2007, 6:34pm

FACEDESK It never ends...
[Reply]

Re: No Subject by greydrak on October 4th, 2007, 6:57pm

be glad they didn't shut down this site entirely. there are other places to get your fix of licensed mangas, not like this will stop people from scanlating or downloading them anyways.
[Reply]

Re: No Subject by Israfel on October 4th, 2007, 7:53pm

lol, true that. leechers always find a way =D, like...a disease >_> just step up your games and find alternatives ^^ or go to the sites that handles the release, they usually have it. irc is still the best, but takes a while to completely master
[Reply]

Re: No Subject by Madocchi on October 4th, 2007, 8:32pm

IRC takes 30 minutes to master
[Reply]

Re: No Subject by Israfel on October 4th, 2007, 8:59pm

lol, depends on how far you want to go ;D. i only just learned the chanserv and botserv commands, about half a year after starting irc
[Reply]

Re: No Subject by Takiko on October 25th, 2007, 12:04am

> be glad they didn't shut down this site entirely. Actually if we were to be okay with that, that means we just get to cower waiting for the day the companies do or attempt to do that. Thepiratebay was offline for hours and all their servers and such got confiscated by the police, and it was really suspected that the government caved into Hollywood pressuring them with all the pirated movies on their, but the site got backup at least, and the government and police were getting wrung out for caving. But Manick and maybe the hosters of mangaupdates aren't that way. I know this guy online that when he made spoofs (sexually explicit and involving drug use) of the Mastercard advertising method of "priceless", and used "pryceless" instead, and he got a cease order but he consulted a lawyer and he wasn't going to comply from what I read from him then.
[Reply]

Too Bad by UberZombie on October 4th, 2007, 8:02pm

Thats too bad you can't post download links anymore. Made things really easy. Oh well, gotta do what you gotta do.
[Reply]

Sad by mrsatan on October 5th, 2007, 12:58am

As a member of the pirate party I find this quite sad indeed. It is really going to affect the site negatively because noobs won't be able to use it as well. Also it could effect some scanlators as well. I just hate giving into "The Man". I say fuck em, but oh well..
[Reply]

Re: Sad by Cerulean on October 5th, 2007, 2:38am

makes sense......some scanlators literally just scan each volume and upload them here....each person reading a scanlated volume of manga is a loss in profit for companies like tokyopop/ viz....that's hypocritical of me though, since i also am one of those people......the only thing i can think off that'd effect this site is of the evolution of those "noobs".......i don't see how this is going to change much....most of the licensed series i'm ready already required some kind of account or post count to download from a forum.....else it'd be on lurk (like cat chan scan)......
[Reply]

Re: Sad by mrsatan on October 5th, 2007, 2:49am

Yeah, I wouldn't have a problem with buying manga if it wasn't so damn expensive. I also wouldn't have a problem paying the price if they did a really nice job. Half the time they edit the hell out of it or do a shitty job.
[Reply]

Re: Sad by Sunfizz98 on October 5th, 2007, 12:42pm

You got a point in the profit loss, but are you also considering those people who love the series but prefer not to dish out 10 bucks per book? There are also those kind of people who would rather borrow the book or read it within the bookstore.
[Reply]

Re: Sad by demon_god03 on October 5th, 2007, 4:27pm

And there are also series where the english versions are absolute travasties. I loved the Yureka manhwa so I went out and bought every volume released by Tokyopop and have regretted it ever since. Not because I didn't like the story but because of the god awful adaptation they did of it. I still buy Tokyopop releases of other mangas that arn't absolutely horrid and I have 2 wallshelves and 4 drawers full of manga show for it but I absolutely refuse to pay for a product that is by far inferior to a free fan scanlation.
[Reply]

ahahahaha by luisalirio84 on October 5th, 2007, 1:03pm

aahahahahahahahahah this is hilarious >_<;; let's see what the uber retards do without their spoon feeding... they bashed me when i tried to help em learn irc ahahaha now you don't have much choice.. when you make it there just say something to let us know you're one of those tards and we'll clap for you ... later lazies ^^
[Reply]

Keep the site alive! by chappie on October 5th, 2007, 4:52pm

Manick - I applaud you for at least doing what you need to do to keep the site alive. At this point, having a repository is better than nothing for now. So if possible - keeping this as a forum for news as to when stuff comes out is good for me and others I think. Comes down to it - if you want it bad enough - you will find a way to get it once you know its out there!
[Reply]

urgh... by kiddo on October 6th, 2007, 3:03pm

guess it's back to irc for me then... =(
[Reply]

Alternatives by FleeButt on October 6th, 2007, 3:07pm

So can you offer any alternative website suggestions to the groups doing licensed material who have no site of their own where they can post their ddl links more safely that will still be noticed by sites like Manga Updates and will post news about their new releases when they come out? Or is that unsafe to mention here?
[Reply]

Re: Alternatives by p00k on October 6th, 2007, 9:41pm

yeah, list the dl link on your group page. people will see the listing, go to the group page, and dl it from there. it's not rocket science, guys
[Reply]

Re: Alternatives by p00k on October 6th, 2007, 9:43pm

(or forums/irc/etc)
[Reply]

Re: Alternatives by myopius on October 6th, 2007, 9:48pm

If you need a place to host your download links since MU can't post them directly, one solution would be to register a blog at blogspot.com . Many groups have done that. Then, make sure a link to that blog gets added to your scanlation group's information page (in the MU database) under "web site".
[Reply]

Re: Alternatives by FleeButt on October 6th, 2007, 10:11pm

Thanks for the idea. I'll consider it.
[Reply]

We'll be fine by ChaperonNoir on October 7th, 2007, 7:02am

Right now, i can see that if you want to download the latest release of "The World is mine", you have a link that goes to the KEFI's scanlation page. I mean, that's okay. It's a small additional step for me. But indeed, those rapidshare anonymous groups are going to have to link to a forum thread or something. I hope they'll manage. I believe we can still work this out.
[Reply]

Re: We'll be fine by luisalirio84 on October 7th, 2007, 3:41pm

god jesus christ! what is wrong with you ppl >.> you know how often i use the ddl links? NEVER! why ? because i have a brain >.>'' omg the world is ending! we have to go check the group's info x.x omgee armageddon >.>'' wake up retards groups like humanist/byaaah aren't even hosted outside of irc x.x;; what ya gonna do? x.x what ya gonna do? lol best commit suicide already weeaboos
[Reply]

Re: We'll be fine by Phias on October 7th, 2007, 4:04pm

luisalirio is right I mean irc haas so much more to offer so why stick to rapid(ugh) and other services like that when you can go to lurk to get it all mostly.
[Reply]

Re: We'll be fine by Israfel on October 7th, 2007, 4:52pm

although lurk doesn't really have everything...some series they're rather backed up on. idk why >_> they're gonna catch up to irc someday too ><
[Reply]

No Subject by King Mob on October 7th, 2007, 10:18pm

Finally Manick. You did that right thing man.
[Reply]

No Subject by PandaRanda on October 8th, 2007, 1:42am

Heh heh, everyone is so worked up about the removal of some download links. I don't really understand what's so difficult about using some of those extra brain cells up there and finding an alternative to downloading your desired 'licensed' manga scans. Everyone should already know that getting licensed manga scans means diving into shady business. If you really want the manga, then I suggest you work harder to find it or go support the mangaka and those license companies. Be glad that you can still get it for free after it's licensed. A true leecher burns brightest in adversity! Prevail! And stop complaining, it's ridiculous.
[Reply]

Re: No Subject by Takiko on October 25th, 2007, 10:07pm

> Everyone should already know that getting licensed manga scans means diving into shady business. If you really want the manga, then I suggest you work harder to find it or go support the mangaka and those license companies. Or maybe more people or a person will join Tazmo's narutofan site for $5.99 a month and maybe the cost of their soul... ;) I'm not endorsing it but it's not like people are totally naive that a site like that is totally ethical with stoptazmo.com around and yet buy membership from there anyhow. :x
[Reply]

No Subject by lily_kitty15 on October 11th, 2007, 1:03am

so on which IRC # channel well the mangas be?
[Reply]

Re: No Subject by PandaRanda on October 12th, 2007, 3:01am

It depends on the manga itself, sometimes the scanlators have IRC channels, usually if they deal with licensed mangas they will either use forums or IRC to distribute their releases. So check that first, but another alternative is checking on Lurk as it is a convenient IRC channel that has lots of the English scanlated manga as well as some raws. You might find what you're looking for there.
[Reply]

Manga Search

MANGA Fu