Harder, Better, Faster, Cheaper

The Yaoi Review has an article up on DMP's new effort in the digital market. Here's a little snippet:

DMP is working on a new ‘secret’ project for publishing more manga faster and cheaper than it is now. It would be via a digital format and they are looking to hire scanlators to help with this. Essentially, scanlators would be doing what they do now except there is the possibility of getting paid based on the sales of said manga titles they worked on. They also get to have their name on everything they translate and retain certain rights to the work they do. What rights I do not know. There is also the possibility of becoming a paid translator ‘if qualified’ and you’d be ahead of the pack when it comes to any other candidates that applied for the position.

Nine times out of ten faster and cheaper translates to cheap and/or free labor. DMP is hoping to snatch up scanlators with promises of "pay someday, maybe". This is a common tactic used throughout the business world and it's sad to see DMP being so open about it. I want to believe in this because having an American comic/manga company finally embrace digital media is great. Not paying people who work for you isn't so great.

However, Jennifer, Yaoi Review's blogger, finds the situation a bit ironic:

If I recall correctly, when a scanlator scanlates a title, the author and artist already did their work… where is their pay? Don’t they have a right to be “paid for that service regardless of the manga’s success” as in, even if it isn’t successful enough to be published in the U.S. or other countries, they should still get paid?

I think Jennifer probably doesn't remember the good ol' days when BL was not being sold in the US and scanlating groups such as Nakama were havens for us fans who were unable to get their hands on the real deal. Scanlators served and still serve a purpose to our community. Even though BL has finally found a way to our shores there's still a time delay. How long did we have to wait for Under Grand Hotel to make its way over here despite being a fan favorite? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for supporting the creator, but where would the fans for the work be if not for the scanlators? I wouldn't have discovered Suzuki Tanaka if not for Obsession. I know it's the same for many other fans.

DMP knows this and it's probably the reason why they want to integrate these individuals into their company. I applaud them for their efforts but find it deplorable if they intend on not paying the very people who created the fans who give them their profits.