Fuwanovel... the worst thing for the industry?

[Anna]

Yes, I heard translated content is still copyrighted by the one who made the original content (which is understandable). So, she will probably still get a lot of C&Ds once the site is up, but at least she isn't giving away the entire game anymore - which is even worse than providing the translation patch ^^;.

[DaFool]

Fan translations (and other fanworks) operate in a very strange moral area. Original games - like those that we make - operate in clear legal territory. As long as the work is original, or uses other works that we have a license to, these games are clearly legal. We pretty much all know what's acceptable, and what's not.

Fanworks are very different. According to the law, all fanwork is illegal. Distributing a patch is no more legal than distributing a patched game.

So it's no wonder you get issues like this on a semi-regular basis. Once everyone is making up their own rules - and society accepts or ignores this - you're going to have people making up different rules. It's weird that people who accept fansubs don't accept patched games. (There's a distinction to be made - fansubs are usually of broadcast shows - but it's a thin one.) So drama is inevitable.

By contrast, _our_ drama is totally different.

I think the eventual solution will be for congress to somehow deal with fan works, probably by expanding fair use to cover more of what people consider fair use. But that will take a generational change - I don't expect it to happen until people who grew up with the Internet start becoming part of government. (That's still a few years off.)

Yeah I know I should be all anti PIPA/SOPA whatever, but I just feel more bulletproof all of a sudden, since I know I've never made fan-games, and even rarely use off the shelf assets.

Also, take a random original game here -- even with bad art and production and all -- and it is still unique, it will have no comparison. Compare that with opening up getchu.com and browsing two random games... it's increasingly hard to distinguish what's unique in the JVN scene. Maybe that's why people look to what's hot and popular in Japan, those that set themselves apart from the pack -- while those very games that are hot and popular will have the highest licensing fees.

[applegirl]

Hmm...that was a pretty contrite post and I'm glad that at least the community seems more united. But did anyone catch her referencing a possible OLEVN fuwanovel sister site in the possible future?