<p>I&#8217;ve always admired Japanese studios for allowing animes to be translated and distributed in foreign countries by teams of fans (Fansubbers)as long as they have &#8220;not been licensed for domestic release in their country of distribution&#8221;.</p>

<p>This time, the news are not so good. With pressure from the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC), the Japanese Government is <a href="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-09-25/japan-plans-to-toughen-copyright-law-on-downloads">tightening laws</a> on the sharing of copyrighted media. As long as it is for private use, it will keep legal to download files. However uploading copyrighted media will be prosecuted. And just like other entities, <span class="caps">JASRAC</span> has also contacted Google to increase they&#8217;re anti-piracy measures on youtube.</p>

<p>The number of cases of fansubs that do not stop when its licensed is growing and a Japanese studio <a href="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-09-28/gonzo-halts-romeo-juliet-fansub-with-funimation's-help">has   been brought into a fight</a>. Same is also happening in the manga scene where <a href="http://www.anime-ni.co.uk/?p=670">MangaNovel and Toshiba</a> are setting up a way of fighting scanlators (teams that translate manga).</p>

<p>Being a great fan of anime, and watching all of it through fansubs, both english and <a href="http://anime-p2pt.com/e107_plugins/FansubDB/fansubs.php">portuguese</a>, I&#8217;m afraid of the path this thing is going. I think that fansubs should follow the basic rule that gives them the permission to release their work, but in a global world like this, I am affected by an American fansub that stopped when here in Portugal it isn&#8217;t licensed yet and no one translates it. That&#8217;s why I think is very important to support our fansubs!</p>

<p>Btw, <a href="http://www.anipop.org/">Anipop</a> is happening between 28th and 30th this month in Lisbon. Don&#8217;t miss it!</p>