MangaHelpers' Business Plan

About a week after I wrote a post on the Odex incident in Singapore, there was a leak of MangaHelpers' (an online scanlation site) attempt to commercialise/monetise their website.* Apparently, the owners of MangaHelpers drafted a business plan which they had planned to send to Viz Media, an American publisher/distributor of manga. Apparently, an e-mail by one of MangaHelpers' key personnel was also sent to someone within Viz. MangaHelpers' founder Taylor Matthews has since come forward to explain the MangaHelpers team's stance.

However, it appears from the flood of comments that has come in that the majority of the fans are not convinced that MangaHelpers is not selling out the translators and the fan community. I think one fan articulates the concerns fans have regarding a possible collaboration between Viz and MangaHelpers to use MangaHelpers as a commercial distribution channel most aptly here:

#30 by arslan (上級員 / Jyoukuuin / Sr. Member)

Posted on Sep 24, 2009
The problem is simple. Once manga companies are involved in the scenario, the community loses control. Either scanlation groups work with the companies or they leave and find a new place. The question of fans being reimbursed for their translations and scanlations is answered rather vaguely. The companies on the other hand, can use this media to make profit. The people who choose not to get along with the model, are suspicious, or simply reluctant get weeded out. Most of the people do scanlations because they like it, and not for commercial reasons. Making things commercial puts pressure on them, limits their control of their work and they work as 'cheap labor' in essence. This, obviously, offends the fans. Then their is the feeling of being used for profit if they are paid little to no money compared to what professional translators or scanlators get paid, even though the fans do a job just as good and closer to the original material. So, I hope you can see what the problem is.


On the flip side, there are a few who think there is nothing wrong with MangaHelpers becoming the "iTunes of manga" probably because it makes the downloads legitimate and might be a step to improving fan-producers relations and might not be a sellout altogether. As one fan points out:

#15. by Finestela (RAW Providers)
[Permalink]
Posted on Sep 24, 2009
Seriously... has anyone actually READ over the whole thing?

I read it three times now, and no where did it mention anything about selling out scanlation products or whatever. This thing is merely a plan to use MH as a distribution center for commercial digital copies of various series. While it did mention the possibility of becoming a bridge between freelance groups and copyright holders, it it not the main focus of this proposal.

So seriously, read before you start running your mouth. If you have something constructive to say, then go ahead, please. Otherwise, pure ranting is just silly and unproductive.

It appears that MangaHelpers would be putting the brakes on this business plan as Taylor noted that the leak has changed the whole situation and essentially suggest that distribution is going to be the same for now. I think this reinforces how powerful the fan community is and that to be part of this community (whether to service it or just being a fan), you have to abide by the unspoken rules of this community which is something observed by various researchers such as Henry Jenkins and Amber Davisson in their research on fan culture.

Aspects of respecting the fan community and unspoken rules pervades lots of fan activities from fanfiction writing (responding to reviews) to well this example. But how does one know where the boundaries are when fans themselves within the community appear to have differing views? How does one juggle that tension then when engaging in fan activities? Hopefully, that is something I can figure out more about as I continue in my research.

*Please note that the term 'commercialise/monetise' used here is rather subjective and might not necessarily reflect the MangaHelpers owners' intent. However, this is how I understand the situation.*