QUESTION
Can I download anime fansubs if I own the DVD?
Asked on Sep 19th, 2011 on Intellectual Property - New York
More details to this question:
Fan subs are when fans will take a foreign show or movie, create English subtitles for it, and release it for free. To my understanding, this is a violation of copyright laws.
Many times, an anime will take a very long time to (or never will) be released in the US with English subtitles. So what I would like to do is buy original Japanese release on DVD from Japan, and then download the fan subs to actually watch.
Would this be legal on my part? I don''t think I''d be breaking any copyright laws as (to my understanding) Fair Use would allow me to change the format of the anime I legally purchased and make copies of it for my personal use.
1 ANSWER
Reviews not shown
1 Award
The Copyright Act gives the owner of the copyright the exclusive right to copy the copyright work. It also, very importantly, gives that owner the exclusive right to create,copy and sell derivative works. The subtitled version of the movie is a derivative work. The copies you are making (by copying to your hard drive) are not authorized by the copyright owner. I understand that this seems like an immaterial matter, but the key here is the distributor of the fan sub is distributing illegal copies, and you are copying an illegal copy to your hard drive.
Answered on Sep 19th, 2011 at 4:38 PM