There will be a slight change to this website effective from today, and I’m sure some people won’t like it. However, it is something I need to do. To put it in a nutshell, there’s good news and there’s bad news. The good news is, there will still be uploads. The bad news is there won’t be quite as many downloads.
Something has happened. I can’t really talk about it. Something that is beyond my control and that made me think about a lot of things in the last couple of days. There’s some legal stuff that I have to take into consideration. Let’s just say some people are very powerful and you better not mess with them.
This may sound hypocritical, but there’s two different kinds of file sharing. One that generates sales, one that diminishes sales. One can be classified as promoting stuff, the other one, let’s face it, is stealing. If upload a Shonen Club performance or an excerpt of a show or of a DVD to Youtube so that I can show it to others and write about it and discuss it, that’s promotion because it generates sales. If upload a full DVD rip so that people don’t even have to buy it anymore, that’s stealing.
You may remember how not too long ago there were a few occasions when I got really upset because I found people copying things I had written on my blog to their own blogs. The reason I got upset is because in any kind of creative profession you want to receive some credit for what you’re creating. I call myself a writer. One of these days I’m gonna write another book. And you know what, I want to get paid for it. If people share single pages of the book or quote passages of it that’s fine. That’s promotion. But if everybody just copies the whole book so that others won’t buy it anymore, that’s not fine because it leaves out a lot of people deserve credit. And for many people credit means money. All people involved in creating this piece of fantasy that is Johnny’s do it for a living. They need to get paid. I don’t want to steal from them, we’re in the same business.
You know, this started out as a fanblog, and I just wanted to write about what I like. I never expected somebody to read it. But when people did I was flattered. And I liked it, and I’ve met many wonderful people in the last two years (and many idiots too). And ever since I’ve been providing tons of downloads, and my visitor numbers skyrocketed. I’m saying visitors, not readers. I’m sure many people just come to my site, grab stuff and leave. And ask stupid questions because they can’t figure out how to watch videos. I don’t have time for that. I want to write about Johnny’s and I want to pimp them because I love them. If people like what they read here and come back that’s fine. If they don’t like it and don’t come back, well, it’s their loss and they don’t know what they’re missing. I have currently 86 unanswered comments and emails and no time to reply to them because I waste hour after hour editing videos and uploading stuff. I want more time to communicate with real fans and waste less time catering for people who don’t care about anything and just grab stuff and leave. Don’t get this the wrong way, this is not about people grabbing stuff and not leaving a comment to say thank you. I’m sure there’s hundreds of people out there who enjoy my blog and when they find a download they take it and never say thank you. That’s fine, and they’ll always be welcomed here just as much as other people who leave comments every day. But I’m also sure there’s many people out there who hate my guts, who think I’m a freak and who can’t or don’t want to appreciate me and my writing, but who still like to grab the downloads because it’s so cheap and convenient. Well, let me tell you, I love this blog like my own child, and if you don’t like it at all and you’re here only, only, for the free stuff then I think we don’t have too much in common. And you don’t even need me either. I’ve never provided any of my own CD or DVD rips. Everything I’m uploading I’ve downloaded somewhere else before, and you can do it too.
So to sum this up, I’ll continue to upload some stuff, but not everything. And I’m not condemning all file sharing now. If I get asked if I know where to download something and I know it then I’ll be happy to share my knowledge. Also, I’m not saying that people who share files are worse human beings than those who don’t. Everyone has the right to do what’s right for them. I have to do what’s right for me.
If all this doesn’t make sense to you, sorry. Rest assured it does to me.
Sorry if I spoiled your Sunday. I’ll be back later with my thoughts on Battery, Show wa Heisei and today’s Shonen Club.
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