Hey guys just a random thought, why are scanlation illegal yet libraries are legal?

Hey guys just a random thought, why are scanlation illegal yet libraries are legal?

Copyright law. Libraries lend out legal copies of books. Scanlators create their own digital copies of works and upload them on the internet. That said it's up for interpretation whether scanlation is always illegal.

As I recall, it is allowed to have and read a scan (or a reprint of a section) of a book as long as an equal number of physical books are known to not be in use at the same time, though I believe you are also supposed to ask or inform the copyright holder about it.

There's also the fact that a lot of publishers voluntarily send books to libraries. They've got an active part in the relationship, whereas scanlators generally work without their approval or knowledge.

http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/doc_details.jsp?doc_id=109192

Here's a 500 page study on how copyright law applies to libraries in 149 countries, from the World Intellectual Property Organization. Judging by the executive summary, the main reason libraries are permitted to copy and lend works while scanlators are not is because almost every country has specific exceptions to copyright limitations for libraries written into their copyright statutes.

Libraries significantly predate the current terms and styles of copyright. It would be very unpopular to try to dig at public and charitable works for private gain even amongst the bourgeois, how would anyone launder their name if you weren't able to build libraries and performance halls to be remembered by the ranks of the unwashed instead of the memory of your private army descending upon fort Frick to massacre the disenfranchised steelworkers?

I believe book authors (the living ones, at least) get royalties when their books are checked out at libraries.

I believe book authors (the living ones, at least) get royalties when their books are checked out at libraries.

At least in the US, the authors receive royalties when libraries purchase their books, but no additional royalties for books being checked out. I think ebooks work in a similar way, with libraries purchasing the right to lend a certain number of copies at any given time. The publisher (and the authors) get paid for the initial purchase, but don't make any additional money when the books are lent.

last edited at Mar 8, 2018 5:30PM

In Canada at least, most publishers have a "one copy, one user" model for ebooks, so libraries usually have to buy multiple copies of popular ones (this TPL AMA goes into a bit more detail).

Another part is that libraries don't alter the content of the books they lend out. Scanlation involves altering the work to some degree (both in text and visuals).

An author has to trust a publisher and come to a contractual agreement when licensing translation of their work. A bunch of random people on the internet up and doing it without any consent from or contact with the author is pretty damn sketchy.

last edited at May 13, 2018 5:39PM

Yeah, Article 8 of the Berne Convention specifically mentions translation as a form of derivative work that copyright holders have the exclusive right to authorize, so that applies in any of the 175 countries that have ratified it.