NEO awards open for public voting

Oo am I the non-existent person? :D

As a point of fact I believe the reason they don't pursue them is because they don't have merchandise rights for the shows in the UK and the people who do (if their identities are even known) are overseas and have no idea how to stop a shop on an island on another continent from profiteering off their hard work and effort. It's sometimes specifically announced with acquisitions that a US company obtained the merchandise rights for something or other. When I speak to Japanese creatives about this kind of issue it's usually mentioned that they want to stop it but have no idea how to do so; it doesn't help that the process for filing claims isn't simple and isn't usually specified in any language but English.

I'm sure if TT ripped off something Manga had the merchandise rights for they'd be all over them within seconds, baying for blood; however, if you report something as illegal without being a formal representative of the rights holder, in our unfair culture it's generally impossible to take it higher.

I also believe that bootleg merchandise brings in zero profits for any of the legit companies, as it doesn't push people in any way towards legal channels to watch the show even if they liked it. In my opinion it's an embarrassment if, as fans, we condone disreputable behaviour from our only magazines (I will once again state that I have no particular bias against Neo - heck, I filed a complaint against MyM myself once because of their coverage of digital scans which take business away from legitimate manga traders). It's only a shame that the other thread has magazine war elements in it too which dilute the important facts about which fans may not be fully informed.

R
 
Rui said:
I filed a complaint against MyM myself once because of their coverage of digital scans which take business away from legitimate manga traders.
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Concerning this, are you referring to scans of pages from manga books?
 
Rui said:
Oo am I the non-existent person? :D
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You are a fruit of my imagination!

Rui said:
In my opinion it's an embarrassment if, as fans, we condone disreputable behaviour from our only magazines (I will once again state that I have no particular bias against Neo - heck, I filed a complaint against MyM myself once because of their coverage of digital scans which take business away from legitimate manga traders).
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I agree with the digital scans point, as they themselves are promoting an illegal practice. I'm not sure about the merchandise point when they are not the ones selling it.

I still think that coming online to bash a magazine for carrying ads for another company that sell counterfeits is far fetched.
Extrapolating this whole thing out of proportion, if the magazine is to blame for turning a blind eye, wouldn't we be to the ones to blame for not turning a blind eye on our friends and family that downloaded something over torrent? Wouldn't that be the same thing?

I think the whole thing is way more complicated than what you've been saying and that if this really concerns you, report TT. Maybe if enough people pester the authorities they will check?
 
Ian Wolf said:
Rui said:
I filed a complaint against MyM myself once because of their coverage of digital scans which take business away from legitimate manga traders.
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Concerning this, are you referring to scans of pages from manga books?
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Nope, just this:

http://www.animeuknews.net/forums/viewt ... 2&start=44

(I have a long, bitter memory ^^; )

So I have no particular regard for either publication's history of exploiting the industry, as things currently stand.

wouldn't we be to the ones to blame for not turning a blind eye on our friends and family that downloaded something over torrent? Wouldn't that be the same thing?
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Yes. That is my personal belief.

I have already explained why I cannot report TT under our country's current legal system (I am not, sadly, the copyright holder for dozens of successful anime properties - shame). All I can do is speak up to stop the valid accusations being swept under the proverbial rug. Even without owning the merchandising rights ourselves though, fans can - and should, in my opinion - educate other fans and let them make informed decisions about how to spend their money.

I also fundamentally disagree with passing the buck. It's not the magazine's fault as they aren't the seller. It's not the shop's fault as they aren't the distributor. It's not the distributor's fault as they aren't the manufacturer. It's not the manufacturer's fault as they earn 3 yuan a year and aren't interested in trying to understand the legalese of foreign copyright and trade agreements. At some point in the chain, someone has to take responsibility for their actions, and if that can be someone here in the UK in a position of power (i.e. the shop themselves or the magazine) it would make a big difference in stamping out this exploitation of both buyers and creators.

If the traders and the people profiting from those traders (the magazines) refuse to make a stand for the sake of profiteering, then I think they deserve every bit of criticism they receive.

R
 
Rui said:
I also fundamentally disagree with passing the buck. It's not the magazine's fault as they aren't the seller. It's not the shop's fault as they aren't the distributor. It's not the distributor's fault as they aren't the manufacturer....
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Here is where I hugely disagree.

I don't think any magazine should be responsible for business practices of the companies that buy ads from them. The magazine may never visit the shops to check, so as long as the law don't do anything to the shops, why should they even bother?

The shop on the other hand receives the goods, they have physical access to assess the legitimacy of what they are selling.


PS. My offer to agree on disagree is still up. Well, I said what I had to say. I'm off this thread, but happy to discuss further on chat, if you'd like.

PS2. Here you go. If you think Neo needs to wise up, let them know:
mail@neomag.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/neomagazineuk
https://twitter.com/NEO_Magazine
 
I don't think any magazine should be responsible for business practices of the companies that buy ads from them. The magazine may never visit the shops to check, so as long as the law don't do anything to the shops, why should they even bother?
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But they are responsible for promoting them to their readership, and that's the point. It's kind of like when my local area's newspaper used to advertise fully fledged brothels (under the guise of "message parlours") in the back pages, and they (and everyone else) bloody well knew what it was they were advertising. Eventually (I'm talking years here) there was enough of an outcry made about it to finally get my boroughs official newspaper to stop their promotion of these horrid places. There was a certain depressing irony to reading a story about a local brothel being raided and shut down by police, only to flick through a few pages and see advertisements for similar places. Likewise it's depressingly ironic read of NEO's love for the anime industry, only to see them promoting counterfeiters a few pages later.

Thanks for email addresses though.
 
vashdaman said:
I don't think any magazine should be responsible for business practices of the companies that buy ads from them. The magazine may never visit the shops to check, so as long as the law don't do anything to the shops, why should they even bother?
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But they are responsible for promoting them to their readership, and that's the point. It's kind of like when my local area's newspaper used to advertise fully fledged brothels (under the guise of "message parlours") in the back pages, and they (and everyone else) bloody well knew what it was they were advertising. Eventually (I'm talking years here) there was enough of an outcry made about it to finally get my boroughs official newspaper to stop their promotion of these horrid places. There was a certain depressing irony to reading a story about a local brothel being raided and shut down by police, only to flick through a few pages and see advertisements for similar places. Likewise it's depressingly ironic read of NEO's love for the anime industry, only to see them promoting counterfeiters a few pages later.

Thanks for email addresses though.
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Like I said , one person complaining is one thing. A hundred it's something else. it would be really surprising to me if they stop running TT ads on the basis of one or two readers complaining.

If it were me, I'd do the same. even though I live in london I haven't made my way down to TT to see what you are all about, so why would a magazine based in Bournemouth do so?

With that said, once you emailed them feel free to post a thread inviting everyone to do so and post their replies there.
 
vashdaman said:
It's kind of like when my local area's newspaper used to advertise fully fledged brothels (under the guise of "message parlours") in the back pages, and they (and everyone else) bloody well knew what it was they were advertising. Eventually (I'm talking years here) there was enough of an outcry made about it to finally get my boroughs official newspaper to stop their promotion
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Damn right, that's false advertising. How are people supposed to find brothels if they don't advertise as such? And what if someone really only wanted a massage?
 
Haven't been very active on here so it has taken me a while to find this thread.

Rui said:
A typically bizarre selection of nonsense. I voted anyway. Do they populate these surveys based on reader suggestions or is it entirely random? :s

R
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It's down to a discussion amongst the mag staff and then finally the editor's choice. Or at least that is the gist of what we were told in previous years when we questioned the ideosyncratic list of options and the strange inclusion and exclusion of certain things.

vashdaman said:
Why should we let it die? It's an informative thread for anyone interested in UK anime industry. I'd wager that a good chunk of what Muu_Puklip describes is true. I don't think Muu has a particular agenda, as he/she was plenty critical of MYM when they were initially running ads for fake products too. In fact I think that thread should have been in this section of the forum, it's not about conventions, events, or even really websites. It's a revealing look at some of the less than upstanding undertakings of the UK's most prominent anime magazine. So why hide it?
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Thanks. I still am critical of MYM. Both NEO and MYM are pretty much a waste of paper and ink. If MYM has gone back to taking ads from TTz then we can all see how low Mr Alozdi's moral standards are.

I put the thread in that section because of my association with the NEO Forum. Which would kinda fit in the website category.

chaos said:
because as far as I'm concerned it's just a disgruntled ex-employee bashing at their former boss.
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That's an insult. I have never been an employee of Uncooked Media. In any shape or form. My time as a mod and then admin on the NEO forum was strictly as a volunteer to serve the wider community. My conscience is clear and my hands are clean.
 
Muu_Puklip said:
Thanks. I still am critical of MYM. Both NEO and MYM are pretty much a waste of paper and ink. If MYM has gone back to taking ads from TTz then we can all see how low Mr Alozdi's moral standards are.
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Mr Alozdi is no longer the editor of MyM, having left the job since the take over by MCM.
 
Rui said:
Muu_Puklip said:
But MYM is carrying ads for TokyoToys now?
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Yep, full page TT ads.

R
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Ugh. That's MYM and NEO confirmed as a waste of ink and paper then.

I have to echo some of the other posts. Magazines shouldn't be doing this kind of thing to their readers and to the community as a whole. It's shabby behaviour. Tabloid level morals.
 
I'd be great if official publishers threatened to cut off support to magazines who do stuff like that...but they won't because the UK anime industry needs all of the publicity it can get >>
 
I feel the need to point out that the adverts for ToykoToys (which I dissaprove of obliviously) only returned AFTER Alozdi left so I think it is unfair to blame him for their return. The advertising in MyM appears to be organised by MCM. I've tried contacting the people responsible for it and I'm hoping to get a response soon.
 
I think it's my responsiblity to point out that if peopel are in desperate need of an Japanese Culture mag that won't sour the cream with shady dealings that Otaku USA now releases Digital Versions of thier issues.

Sure you loose the UK sides of things but that's a small price to pay with the pod-casting justice league they have working on the mag.
 
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