Dojinshi and amateur culture
著作権慣習
二次創作物の
制作習慣・規則
同人誌
copyright situation
characteristics of active fandom
What?
# at first, amateur original fiction
# now more commonly understood as amateur manga
physical books
online manga
What's in a (printed) dojinshi?
# manga
# meta
# author's notes
# bibliographic info
# single-panel fanart
Lessig on
dojinshi:


# good reputation of 'original' works

# bad reputation of 'derivative' works

# bad reputation of 'fans'
Who makes dojinshi?
Where are dojinshi sold?
# women (majority) and men,
  majority teens/twenties

  サークル
# individuals
# groups
Some examples
whole made up
of many different
media
# also derivative
# privileged position
# of less artistic value
# legally problematic
amateur works created in otaku/fan culture
are associated with the 'bad' elements perceived in that culture
# freedom to publish (particularly online)

# not monolithic, many divides between groups who consume different kinds of work (e.g. yaoi vs. hentai)

# participatory: a much less clear divide between artists and readers than in commercial culture, readers consume and discuss works together, direct feedback to authors

# self-regulating: fans ban works that are not 'transformative' enough or other fans who disrupt the community

# mixing of media:
    use of media different from original work
    variety of media considered part of 'fanverse'
    (manga, meta, texts, music, games, single-panel
    illustrations, icons, ...)

# parallel to commercial industry (fanon vs. canon)
(see discussion on blogs vs. traditional
journalism, Keen 2007)
purely legal distinction
(and a strange one at that)
B) Amateur works are not considered
'standard' manga. Why?
A rich ethic governs the
creation of doujinshi. It is not doujinshi if it is just a copy;
the artist must make a contribution to the art he copies, by
transforming it either subtly or significantly. A doujinshi comic can
thus take a mainstream comic and develop it differently—with a
different story line. Or the comic can keep the character in character
but change its look slightly. There is no formula for what makes the
doujinshi sufficiently “different.” But they must be different if they
are to be considered true doujinshi. Indeed, there are committees that
review doujinshi for inclusion within shows and reject any copycat
comic that is merely a copy.
Yet there is an obvious reluctance, even among Japanese lawyers, to
say that the copycat comic artists are “stealing.” This form of Walt
Disney creativity is seen as fair and right, even if lawyers in
particular find it hard to say why.

It's the same with a thousand examples that appear everywhere once
you begin to look. 
Perhaps the best account in the end was offered by a
friend from a major Japanese law firm. “We don't have enough lawyers,”
he told me one afternoon. There “just aren't enough resources to
prosecute cases like this.”

# erosion of control over creative works by big media because of new technologies (Bardzell 2007, Lessig 2004)
# ...leads to diminishment of the larger public domain of ideas because media companies extend
     # definitons of what is copyrighted
     # duration of copyrights (how long it takes for
       something to pass into the public domain)
dojinshi sold openly
# everyone knows of Comiket
# dojinshi compilations sold in regular bookstores
# ibento (e.g. Comiket)
# online
# dojinshi stores
# regular bookstores
(Europe/US: fanfic, fanart, fanvids, fan comics, ...)
nevertheless, fans are very careful
# warnings in dojinshi not to show dojinshi to those "not in the know"
# no use of potentially copyrighted images anywhere (also not online: see lack of pictures in Japanese Wikipedia)
anime
games
film
manga
original
dojinshi of
a dojinshi
this example:
first online
comiket
mandarake
this is fanwork too:
clear divide
Documentary "Manga Mad" (last forty minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlvBrPp2dhg
Why are dojinshi tolerated?
# too large to litigate
# breeding ground for new artists
# fanworks are free advertising
Article 'Japan Ink: Inside the Manga Industrial Complex'
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/15-11/ff_manga?currentPage=all
topics discussed:
# manga
# boys' love/yaoi
# characters キャラクター
# Akihabara
# Comiket
# cosplay
Main subjects?
# sex
# humor (gag)
# reinterpretation of existing story
to make it more understandable/enjoyable
# good quality
# new/contemporary language
# not mere copy but an interpretation that adds something new (acting, music etc)
no ties to 'big media' that give privilege
to a certain group of authors and exclude
or marginalize so-called 'special interest' topics
in 'Free Culture'
http://www.free-culture.cc/freecontent/
A) Present-day copyright law
and dojinshi
we/academia/media companies
value 'professional' over
'amateur' work
http://tinyurl.com/yljp6ga
Acorn: 'Discrimination in academia and the cultural production of intellectual cachet'
...and many people/products get
branded as 'amateur'
http://tinyurl.com/ybwzs7y
For example: