Baka-Tsuki Translated novels in PDF ?

[N.Yuuki]

First I say that if what I ask is relatively unwelcomed , or against Forum Rules (which I read to the best of my understanding), I apologize and ask that this thread be deleted, locked, or done with in any action needed to be done.

I write this because I am unsure of the legality of what I ask and wish to adhere to the rules of said forum.

My question is if the translated on Baka-tsuki can be found in PDF. or any other EBook like format.
I know that Fate/Zero has PDFs avaliable , but i'm looking for the index Light novels .
Are there any already avaliable ? Or should I copy and paste the volumes and make them into PDFs myself.

And here is my delema , I am unsure if by doing so am I commiting any illegal acts ?

[ainsoph9]

That depends on what one considers "illegal." On an international level, some argue a definitive "yes." Others either just ignore it or say that international law really does not apply to the issue in general.

On a national level, that really depends on where you live. I do not believe that the "Index" novels have been licensed in English yet, which the "old-school" fans consider to be the definitive line of "stop translation and distribution."

The "new-school" fans really do not care as much as long as they get their "fix." Frankly, the "new-school" fans are causing many problems for licensing companies and users in the end because they just want what they want, and they want it now and free. However, in their "defense," many of these fans are young teenage punks who do not care or know jack about the anime industry, and they do not have the cash to contribute. What kills me now is that some choose to translate even after the anime is made free on the internet via the legal streaming sites. I can kind of understand the desire to translate and produce a "superior" product, but why go to the effort at the point?

The middle ground tends to go anywhere from do what you want as long as the distributors get their money to "I will watch it until I see the DVDs/Blu-Ray released." I personally tend to take a middle to "old school" approach.

As for the ethics of it, that is a totally different question and matter, seeing ethics and laws are not exactly one and the same nor are they mutually exclusive.

So, all that is to say that one cannot exactly tell you how to feel about the issues at hand. However, one can say that whatever you do, do in good conscience while abiding by the rules and laws to the best of your ability. Also, why not just read it online for the time being?

[chrnno]

Well pretty much what ainsoph9 said but he did simplify a lot... And I would like to add that websites such as this normally take the licensed aproach but what you do is entirely up to you. If you wish to copy and make them into pdf then go ahead and distribute as you wish, as long you are not selling them for anything you are not doing anything illegal or unethical.

[ainsoph9]

chrnno is correct when he says that I simplified the issues a lot. If I had not, I would have been there typing for days. However, I am aware that the issues run much deeper and are not easily resolved. All I know is that the current trend of streaming via legal internet sites appears to be the correct direction for anime, but we have yet to see this happen for manga and the like to the same extent. I do not see why it will not happen with the new reading devices that are coming out onto the market. Yet, I do NOT want to see the death of paper books because of it, just because of aesthetics alone.

The problem is that "illegal or unethical" becomes relative for some.

[chrnno]

Days? You are very optimistic... I also like paper books very much but they are pretty expensive, at least here.

Well personally I don't think downloading a manga/anime/books/etc is unethical or illegal otherwise I would have to consider getting a friend to lend one of those to me so I could read/watch the same and I find that stupid... Profiting in distributing them would be so though and by profit I mean gaining money, image, fame, status, etc. And obviously if you like something buying it is nice as the creator also gains something out of it.

[Vaelis]

Speaking of pdf I have a question.
Which format do you prefer between this: http://www.mediafire.com/?oi86ba1xc7gclxh and this: http://www.mediafire.com/?zp801u4dbscbaid ?

[chrnno]

You are evil, evil I say for making me download it to see what you meant...

Frankly I don't feel that much difference between the two but if I was forced to choose then I guess toradora's one as that way you can see the picture relevant to the text you are reading right next to it.

[ainsoph9]

@chrnno: Well, traditionally, books were considered a luxury because of the socio-economic barriers. I still consider them to be somewhat of a luxury, but I find them to invaluable in many respects, although some are just horribly written. I once heard it expressed that books are years worth of work that the author puts their very soul into as a way to bear it before all. I am inclined to agree, especially for books that take much scholarship or the author obviously wanted to tell a good story.

I think that the whole sharing issue is definitely one of those land mines that no one really knows how to handle well. It is odd how we are encouraged to share from an early age; yet, when we do, it is considered illegal and a crime. Perhaps, it comes down to the scale of the act? I do not know, but the subject matter is definitely interesting to say the least.

@Vaelis: Both formats have their pros and cons. Frankly, I am not picky, but if I had more vision problems, I would argue for the one with the larger text, despite the obvious pro of quicker reading the other format.

[chrnno]

True that but you see I find it extremely disrespectfull that a thing that is produced with the cost of 1(random number) is sold by 10 times the price. Where all that money goes? Apparently the only authors that get rich are the ones that have movies made out of their books so it does not go to them, who then gets all that money?

And yes definitely interesting, made worse by the differing interests by the groups involved and the ignorance of most to what they are actually participating in. I am inclined to share because I don't see how that impacts the sales of anything. Most of the things I have found on the internet and downloaded are things I would have never access to or if I did I wouldn't have considered buying but I did buy a few things that most likely I wouldn't have bought otherwise and I the works I liked I told others and they at least ended buying. So I can't see how I could possibly be considered as having injured anyone.

[ainsoph9]

Think of the music industry as the common denominator here. Artists hardly see any returns in record sales; it all goes to the labels so that the artists need to get their money from concerts. Artists who say otherwise either have a special arrangement with their label or are just ignorant.

Unfortunately, many out there just download it without even the intention of buying it, especially when the item considered is produced and readily available to them in their own country and at their local store. I can understand somewhat downloading it when it is practically out of reach, but it just seems to me downright unethical when it is easily available through legal channels and sometimes even for free. Something is wrong with the picture of "stealing" free things.

[chrnno]

Yep that's one of the reasons that when I like an artist I go to his show then, at least here, most of the profits go to the artist.

Define readily available, I can certainly find a few things here but anything from main stream is all but impossible. And by main stream I truly mean it, just remember that for things to arrive here they have to pass through other places first. Normally USA but sometimes Europe so here I have even less that you guys have. Add to the fact that even the ones I can find here are too expensive for me to buy, to give a good idea I can spend in books/games/mangas/etc per month is about a 100 reais which is around 60 dollars so barely enough for anything...

Surely someone who has enough money to buy only getting it for free is not exactly nice, I wouldn't go so far as to call it unethical much less illegal. But for someone who it's not possible? I don't see any problems. However I am not like those people who download from the internet for free because they think they have a "right" to acess all that content for free. I simply think that doing so brings no problems to anyone and provides a way for people to read/watch/play things they wouldn't have otherwise. It also provides a way for relatively unknow works to get popular. To give an example in music I know several bands that got popular because their songs spread on the web and then managed to work their way up to if not being rich at least living comfortably with the money they got.

[ainsoph9]

Define readily available, I can certainly find a few things here but anything from main stream is all but impossible. And by main stream I truly mean it, just remember that for things to arrive here they have to pass through other places first. Normally USA but sometimes Europe so here I have even less that you guys have. Add to the fact that even the ones I can find here are too expensive for me to buy, to give a good idea I can spend in books/games/mangas/etc per month is about a 100 reais which is around 60 dollars so barely enough for anything...

Ouch!

Surely someone who has enough money to buy only getting it for free is not exactly nice, I wouldn't go so far as to call it unethical much less illegal. But for someone who it's not possible? I don't see any problems. However I am not like those people who download from the internet for free because they think they have a "right" to acess all that content for free. I simply think that doing so brings no problems to anyone and provides a way for people to read/watch/play things they wouldn't have otherwise. It also provides a way for relatively unknow works to get popular. To give an example in music I know several bands that got popular because their songs spread on the web and then managed to work their way up to if not being rich at least living comfortably with the money they got.

The price tag is there for a reason, right? I mean no accusation or condemnation either by what I say.

[chrnno]

So that a group of greedy capitalists can get rich over the work others did while those others barely receive anything out of it?

[ainsoph9]

I never said that it was entirely just or balanced, but it is probably best to assume that they are just as poor as you at least. Not all of these publishers and the like are huge conglomerates.

[chrnno]

Yeah but as they always say the majority always pay for the minority.