Summary
- Manga Library Z shutting down is a significant loss for fans of manga, especially given the scarcity of out-of-print titles.
- Ken Akamatsu's initiative aimed to combat piracy by offering rare manga for free with creator permission, splitting ad revenue.
- Manga Library Z encountered issues with payment services, leading to discussions about possible crowdfunding or becoming a non-profit.
In a time when access to content is ubiquitous, it can be really easy to take for granted just how much more anime and manga there is now compared to twenty years ago. With the rise of streaming services and subscriptions, gaining "legitimate" access to media is much easier, but there's a concerning level of media loss taking place in the current age, not to mention the ever-eroding concept of ownership that is tied to the movement away from physical media.
On November 26, Ken Akamatsu's Manga Library Z will be shutting down, putting an end to the site which provided access to rare out-of-print manga for free. The fall of the platform, while unrelated to the aforementioned concerns, is still a huge loss for fans of manga, especially in a year when we have experienced several losses of major outlets or producers like Funimation and Gainax.
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The History of Manga Library Z
Partly An Attempt to Curb Piracy
Mangaka and politician Ken Akamatsu (Love Hina, Negima!, UQ Holder!) announced in November 2010 that he and a few other mangaka plan to launch a service called "J-Comi", that would post manga that were no longer in print for free. The initiative was in part an attempt to deal with the increased incidence of manga being scanned and uploaded without authorization. The site uploaded rare out-of-print manga with the creators' permission and with ads. The revenue made from the advertising would then be split among the creators in question. Akamatsu launched a beta version of the website with all 14 volumes of his massively successful Love Hina manga available.
Prior to the beta launch, Akamatsu also expressed interest in featuring dōjinshi (self-published) based on existing works on the website, looking for a way to do so legally with authorization from the original creators. Due to the lack of fair use laws in Japan, any parodies or depictions of existing works that are created without permission from the author are simply seen as copyright violations, but even so, the world of self-published derivatives of existing works at events like Comiket is well documented and unimpeded by copyright laws due to the understanding that even if they are unauthorized derivatives of existing manga, the distribution of dōjinshi is understood to be akin to promotion.
Akamatsu thought it would be apt to split revenue made by dōjinshi on the website between the original creators and the dōjin creators where applicable; however, because dōjinshi are themselves illegal, creators have minimal tools in their arsenal for recourse should their work be spread far and wide without permission; unless the original creators themselves have granted permission for the creation of derivatives of their works. Publishers Shueisha and Kodansha began collaborating with the site in 2010, an international version launched in 2011, and in 2015, management of the service fell under Yahoo! Japan subsidiary GyaO!'s J Comic Terrace subsidiary, formed together with Akamatsu.
This led to the site being renamed to Manga Library Z, which then also provided a premium service for its users. The reason why Manga Library Z is shutting down is due to issues with credit card companies and termination of its payment services. Discussions regarding its future are still ongoing among staff despite the decision to terminate service, such as possibly running a crowdfunding campaign or transitioning to a non-profit organization.
Source: ANN