58 replies to this topic

[Miss Soupy]

LOL, he sort of apologized to the wrong thing, but whatever. At least he didn't try to completely deny everything. Homage is quite common, but I wouldn't label what he did was homage. If his comic career can be salvaged, hopefully he will try to make the art more his own. I would think that would be the most important part for an artist anyways.

[No WhereMan]

Nick responds to allegations.

http://robot6.comicb...sm-allegations/

Typical "downplay the severity" comments and excuses, but at least he had the stones to make a statement at all and apologize. To be honest, I didn't expect even that. I half expected him to retreat for a while and wait for the heat to die down or try ignoring the controversy.

I agree, I didn't think he would do that also. But I have a feeling Daddy might have more to do with that, then anything else. To be honest his statement seems almost like he wasn't completely sorry for it at all. Most likely he was sorry to have gotten caught.

Edited by No WhereMan, 02 March 2010 - 01:46 AM.

[ShippudenGirl]

I heard about this. I'm not a Bleach fan but that just isn't right U_U. Seriously, you'd be better off making suckish art then copying someone elses.

[Muffins?]

At least he had the balls to issue a statement about it!

[Gena kumo]

At least he had the balls to issue a statement about it!

Well, a weak and defensive statement that sounds rather childish and naive (an excuse instead of an apology).
There is a difference between being "inspired by work you admire" and using someone else's work and ideas for your own purposes.

Usually, I'd give the kid the benefit of the doubt, but the evidence against him makes the plagiarism just too obvious (did he honestly think that people wouldn't notice?)

I must admit, I like how calmly and humorously Tite Kubo is handling the news. Personally, I'd be wailing (and suing) that punk kid for having the gall to steal my work. You've got to respect Kubo for his maturity in the situation.

[James S Cassidy]

First off fellas, Nick is only what 21? They might take a little leniency for his age. I mean he is not exactly a "professional" artist yet and it was his first comic an offense.

I somewhat agree that this really isn't THAT big of a deal, but plagerism is still wrong.

I think Kubo also thinks that he has no time for this kind of crap. Sure he makes money from his manga, but I don't think he is about to let a 21 year old punk get under his skin like that. I mean, he is going to fight someone who is younger than him for what? Money is kind of superfluous. Plagiarism of their work is alright, but think about this for a second. Not only does this make Nick more famous, but Bleach as well. Sometimes even negative publicity is good publicity.

Being an artist, I don't like someone copying my work, but if the matter is solved peacefully I would just let it slide.

The funny thing is, those comics that were sold n the market. Are going to be worth a lot now.

[No WhereMan]

First off fellas, Nick is only what 21? They might take a little leniency for his age. I mean he is not exactly a "professional" artist yet and it was his first comic an offense.

I somewhat agree that this really isn't THAT big of a deal, but plagerism is still wrong.

I think Kubo also thinks that he has no time for this kind of crap. Sure he makes money from his manga, but I don't think he is about to let a 21 year old punk get under his skin like that. I mean, he is going to fight someone who is younger than him for what? Money is kind of superfluous. Plagiarism of their work is alright, but think about this for a second. Not only does this make Nick more famous, but Bleach as well. Sometimes even negative publicity is good publicity.

Being an artist, I don't like someone copying my work, but if the matter is solved peacefully I would just let it slide.

The funny thing is, those comics that were sold n the market. Are going to be worth a lot now.

In response to this comment I'll post. Plagiarism, Scanlations and copies Nick Simmons' Incarnate rips off Bleach

Namely this part of the article...

Plagiarism is a huge deal in Japan — look at the example of Flower of Eden, where the series was ended, the artist’s other books were pulled from the market, and a planned American translation canceled after the author admitted to copying images from Slam Dunk. I’d also like to call your attention to Radical’s Hollywood connections and interest in getting many of their properties optioned for films. They’ve already been sued once over having cloudy properties, so they know the danger of not having clear rights, especially when you’re trying to license works for movies, when the money suddenly becomes big enough to be important.

[Codus N]

In response to this comment I'll post. Plagiarism, Scanlations and copies Nick Simmons' Incarnate rips off Bleach

Namely this part of the article...

I just have one thing to say about your article. Especially this one:

He was referring to the perceived hypocrisy of people justifying reading manga scans online for free, I suspect, while getting upset when an American creator copied the work. Deb Aoki is more blatant: “before you get all self-righteous about how you’re standing up for Tite Kubo, ask yourself how many Bleach scanlations/fansubs you download.”

The one major difference between him & us is the profiting. Scanlators do it for free with absolutely no rewards but as for Nick, he published sio he could get profits....

[No WhereMan]

I just have one thing to say about your article. Especially this one:



The one major difference between him & us is the profiting. Scanlators do it for free with absolutely no rewards but as for Nick, he published sio he could get profits....

I don't get the point that you're trying to make. The author of the article was commenting on another person statement. He wasn't encouraging this line of thought, he presenting another argument that he's found about the issue.

[James S Cassidy]

In response to this comment I'll post. Plagiarism, Scanlations and copies Nick Simmons' Incarnate rips off Bleach

Namely this part of the article...

I said the artist...not the publisher. The publishers are the ones who are suing because they lose the money and they should since they allowed this to happen. Mostly because it is the publishers who lose the most from this.

Also this is an American comic that copied a Japanese manga. Which legal issues get even more hazy, sometimes even costly for both companies because there are probably several companies involved. Even more channels and even more problems are stacked between that.

I never studied law, but the way it works it's not as easy as to say "Oh they plagerized, they must do this." If the law system was that reliable then the people on death row would actually die sooner, and court dates wouldn't take so long.

People asked "Why wasn't Kubo saying anything to it since it was his work?" I said that probably he doesn't want to deal with it and figure it's not that big of a deal to get over. Remember these are professionals, not amateurs.

So in any, they will probably settle this out of court, because court fees and other money issues are not worth it.

You also have to look at the severity of the crime. It's bad what he did, but how bad is it? What punishment is deserved and what seems over killed? You wouldn't put a jay-walker in with a mass murder would you?

Edited by James S Cassidy, 02 March 2010 - 12:36 PM.

[dl316bh]

The one major difference between him & us is the profiting. Scanlators do it for free with absolutely no rewards but as for Nick, he published sio he could get profits....

Depends on what you see as a major difference. Scanlators aren't innocent folk not doing anything wrong. They're taking copyrighted material and putting it on the internet so people can read it without paying.

The big difference is that Nick is making money off of it while scanlators are costing someone money; in both cases it's still thievery and still wrong, which I believe is the point being made there.

I must admit, I like how calmly and humorously Tite Kubo is handling the news.

It's cool to see he's not outraged over it; I think part of his calm reaction to it is the fact that it's not going to really affect him or his livelihood in any way.

Well, a weak and defensive statement that sounds rather childish and naive (an excuse instead of an apology).

This is true, however, he's the son of a rich rock star. I honestly expected him to hide and have daddy try and bail him out. So I'm mildly impressed he stood up and said anything at all.

[Nate River]

I just have one thing to say about your article. Especially this one:



The one major difference between him & us is the profiting. Scanlators do it for free with absolutely no rewards but as for Nick, he published sio he could get profits....

A meaningless difference both morally and legally. You're still pirating someone else's hard work. And for purposes of copyright law, such a difference is meaningless. Part of possessing a copyright is the ability to decide who gets to enjoy it. Hell, you'd have the right to have no one have access to it. It's your right as a copyright holder. You're not entitled to free manga just because you don't profit from it.

Fanfics, Fanarts, Doujin's, Music vid's. Same deal. Your not entitled to make derivative works either.

[Codus N]

A new update from Answerman on ANN:

That said, I eagerly look forward to Nick Simmons' next project: "Ninja's Scroll."

Seriously, this better not be what I think he is thinking of......

[dl316bh]

Seriously, this better not be what I think he is thinking of......

Pretty sure that was a joke.

[chouzu_tao]

A meaningless difference both morally and legally. You're still pirating someone else's hard work. And for purposes of copyright law, such a difference is meaningless. Part of possessing a copyright is the ability to decide who gets to enjoy it. Hell, you'd have the right to have no one have access to it. It's your right as a copyright holder. You're not entitled to free manga just because you don't profit from it.

Fanfics, Fanarts, Doujin's, Music vid's. Same deal. Your not entitled to make derivative works either.

This is all true. I was especially surprised when I re-entered the anime/manga world and found people were selling doujins, etc.

As someone else said before, it is interesting to note that for the most part, it seems like major manga/ anime corporations let places like onemanga.com exist. If you don't think they know about those sites, you're daft. They have search engines, and probably have fans of manga/anime, just guessing by the career choice. It's almost like they use it as tools for promotion or like a lab for judging what would be most popular on native shores, I've even read some instances of translators being hired directly through one of the scanlator sites.

Yes, there is not much difference other than Nick Simmons getting paid, and being more famous... and his publishing company not noticing it.

Edited by chouzu_tao, 06 March 2010 - 03:01 PM.

[dl316bh]

As someone else said before, it is interesting to note that for the most part, it seems like major manga/ anime corporations let places like onemanga.com exist. If you don't think they know about those sites, you're daft. They have search engines, and probably have fans of manga/anime, just guessing by the career choice. It's almost like they use it as tools for promotion or like a lab for judging what would be most popular on native shores, I've even read some instances of translators being hired directly through one of the scanlator sites.

I think it's probably a lot more lax over here because what we get over here is basically reprints, or a secondary market. It's not where the real money is being made. American comic companies don't seem to mind it much when such is done for other countries off this landmass either; distribution outside of North America being as erratic as it is. I suspect in Japan they're probably a bit touchier about it, sort of like our native comics here in America.

In the case of manga though, it's kind of odd that it's let go, considering some distribution companies stationed here have been crippled or gone out of business recently. I wonder if there are rights issues due to the material originating from another company that keeps them from cracking down over here? I'm not entirely sure how the international sort of thing works.

Edited by dl316bh, 06 March 2010 - 03:15 PM.

[chouzu_tao]

In the case of manga though, it's kind of odd that it's let go, considering some distribution companies stationed here have been crippled or gone out of business recently. I wonder if there are rights issues due to the material originating from another company that keeps them from cracking down over here? I'm not entirely sure how the international sort of thing works.

Well, there kind of is a loop hole in the U.S. It's legal to translate stuff, and own it, up 'til two weeks prior to the licensed distribution (if it is from another country). -- which bodes badly for Naruto scans, since... isn't the U.S. one essentially caught up?

Edited by chouzu_tao, 06 March 2010 - 03:29 PM.

[Derock]

Well, there kind of is a loop hole in the U.S. It's legal to translate stuff, and own it, up 'til two weeks prior to the licensed distribution (if it is from another country). -- which bodes badly for Naruto scans, since... isn't the U.S. one essentially caught up?

Well, right now, the manga should be on the Five Kages arc since they had pulled another speed-up releases last year.

[True]

Bleach in color!!! Jesus Christ what I'd pay to get all the volumes colored like that.

Oh and yeah that plagiarizing bastard. :True: