Thread: Stolen translations! Don't support them.

Recently a new "scanlator" has appeared for Fruits Basket. Xinan/Xnn has released chapter 133 and 134. At the beginning we thought nothing of it, just a quick worker with good quality translations. (thinking nothing of the fact that no translator is mentioned on the credits page.)

Then we compared it to Shadow's translations.
http://shadow.randomfandom.com/fb/summary/index.htm
This person has been stealing Shadow's translations and using them on their scanlations. Shadow says on every translation page, twice before putting the translation up:
THIS TRANSLATION IS NOT TO BE USED FOR SCANLATIONS!!!

Appart from this, this person has also admitted that the translations are not their own and that Shadow doesn't let them use the translations.
i used other translation also -.-(2 pages only) because i'm a beginner~ at japanese
http://xinan2.blogspot.com/
and if can,did u have any link for the translation i can use (that shadow dreams dont allow me to use their scans)
http://z13.invisionfree.com/Nemuides...p?showtopic=24

Judging by this person's quite poor grammar and where they come from, english is not their first language and are just copying and pasting Shadow's work onto the scans. (Possibly without even understanding some of it.)
Being a translator myself (and having something like this happen to me before) I find it terrible that this person is getting away with stealing another's work without even crediting Shadow for it.

This person has added these stolen translations to this site and others. Please don't support these stolen translations and remove these two chapters? (133 and 134) They will be released this week anyway so people won't be put at an advantage. The others sites we've contacted have agreed to remove the chapters as they don't support the stolen translations, so please join us. Supporting stolen translations not only lets the person get away with it but also sadly doesn't look good for the site when others have removed the chapters. We've always released our chapters here first and would hate to see such a dedicated site get a bad rep.

Thank you,
Seph ( Fruits Basket translator/scanlator)

Here here!

i support the removal of those chapters..

I support it too. Those may be released faster, but I don't like the fact that the scanlations I read are stolen.

well, althought i dono much abt all these stuff, personally i feel that we should remove all those chapeters... as a normal human being, who wont support this idea??? its stolen stuff we r talking here... all man kind will surely support his idea, we all surely hav heart for the victim, unless those who wont support us r heartless & r scum of the earth who take thing at face value lar, then i nothing 2 say abt them.

Umm... I don’t have all the details so forgive me for sounding a bit gauche or misinformed but... aren't ALL scanlations stolen?
“No honor among thieves" and all that, remember?
Yeah, the guy stole some others guy's translations. Just don't give him money or anything like that.
The way I see it, when I download a manga chapter, I'm not really looking to see who translated it or cleaned up the scans. That's in the "background" of the original work. The way it’s supposed to be really, as scanlators obviously don’t go into the hobby for the glory it brings them. I know you'll get mad at me for feeling this way since you're a scanlator yourself, because 99% of the people who read these scans don’t have a clue who did any of the work in bringing them those jpegs they have on their hard drive. I’m just being honest.
Yeah, it’s unfortunate that the original translator isn’t being credited- it really is and I’m not saying it’s not. I wouldn’t want that to happen to me.
But at the same time, are the scans not the same for the most part, only one being release faster? Who cares? Team up with the guy already because he is obviously “a quick worker with good quality translations.” And, if he admits that “the translations are not his own and that Shadow doesn't let him use the translations” then it’s not like we’re going to give him a freaking medal or anything for his fantastic solo-work, right? It’s just a guy and his hobby- with TWO CHAPTERS- leave him alone. He’ll get bored eventually.

It’s not like he can OVERSHADOW this Shadow guy (no pun intended) since that’s obviously the “source of his power.” If worst comes to worst don’t release the translations before the scans.

I don't think you really understand how scanlations work. Scanlators deserve to be credited - even if no one reads the credits, their name will still be there. Scanlating alone isn't stealing - the authour of the manga is still credited for what they did, etc. Taking someone's translations without crediting them for their work is completely wrong - no one likes to do lots of hard work and not be acknowledged. It's not just "sad", it's downright mean. I know lots of hard-working people who have been asking around for months to find translators for their projects and who haven't been able to find any. They don't steal translations. If this guy wants to help and release faster, he/she should join a group and help - not take all the credit for themselves.

*Huggles Eon*
Thank you for replying. Its great to see the mods supporting us. ^^

Its true that many people don't even notice the credits page, I sometimes skip them in my hurry to read the manga, but even as a fan, I agree that its extremely mean to take someone translations without their permission. Down with the stolen translations!

Originally Posted by Digital_Eon

Scanlating alone isn't stealing - the authour of the manga is still credited for what they did, etc.

If you take a collection of copyrighted material and distribute it to people who do not have the original material (without the authorization of the author or publisher), then you are doing what is called "pirating," which, even though no one loses anything, is still considered a form of stealing, regardless of any slight alterations made to the material. I'm not saying I agree with this, and I'm not telling anyone here to, but that's just the definition. Not to mention that many mangaka do not appreciate their work being distributed this way. If you don't believe me: comipress.com/102

Now, again, I don't know all the details of this particular case but, if what you're saying is true samurai girl, it appears that this Xinan guy is just taking scans from the manga he has found online, translations he has found from this Shadow guy, and then is directly cutting and pasting one onto the other because he no know english good to understand what he is cutting and pasting. Now, I am not trying to justify his actions, but there's really nothing that can be done, and no one really has a moral obligation to do anything in this particular case, as no harm is done. Oh, sure. The guy's translations he stole say they "are not to be used for scanlations." That's strange, it almost sounds like what the publishers of the Fruits Basket manga disclaim about unauthorized distribution of their work, except that flew out the window a while back.

Look, the fact of the matter is, and I say this because I want to help, there's no effective way to stop this guy (and likely many others) except cutting the guy at his source. By that I mean keeping the translations private until after the scanlations are released. I am, of course, assuming the translations are meant to be used later on to be put on the group's "official" scanlations or something.
If, on the other hand, these translations are public, then what's it really matter? The guy is obviously not taking credit for the translating job itself, since he lists no such job in his credits.
If the problem is just that he has not credited the original translator then have you tried ASKING the guy to just add a little "translator- shadow" at the bottom of his (and it is his) work? He seems like a good guy if his comically foreign demeaner is any indication. He might make polite and do it. I'd be flattered if someone asked to use my work for their project.

Xinan is just some guy with a laughable grasp of english who has some time on his hands. He has only made TWO CHAPTERS in this manner. Wow. Let me tell you from experience, I don't give a flying flip about a guy with two chapters of a manga I want to read, as he has little power over that manga. Now, if the guy was taking part in questionable practices to scanlate 200+ chapters of a manga I want to read, then maybe there might be a problem, but for now I think the mature thing to do is learn from our mistakes and prevent them from happening again, right?