Ripoff audiobook?

hiroto

Of course this is not legit, is it?

~~Ascendance of a Bookworm Audiobook Part 2 Volume 1 - Technically Volume 4 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKwGu8kkdp0~~
Taken down by youtube.

New one here.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTxlTaF-QkO-cgeK8Vt8BuuZRIdjJy75O

what a rip off.

Shouldn't J-Novel report it to youtube?

EDIT:
Patreon page of this dude.

https://www.patreon.com/langknow

Hello everyone,

I'm a huge fan of light novels, that are translated from different languages into english. I also love listening to audiobooks.

Unfortunately, as you may know, some of these lights novels, will never be produce as a professional audiobook in English.

The next best thing is to create audiobook version of these light novels from text to speech software.

With your donation this helps me keep motivated in editing and compiling audiobooks of popular light novel series.

jcochran

@hiroto Looks like they included all of P1V1 through P2V1. And via a text to speech bot, not a human.

Edit: Looked at their id a bit closer. They've gone well past just AoaB. Can see quite a few others, some of the web novels, some light novels, some owned by JNC, some owned by other translators.
Stuff that looks like JNC is Bookworm, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom. Also see Shield Hero,, but seems to be the web novel version.

Serah

Wow! That is a text to speech software speaking there? I could not tell when I checked the link and listened in for a few seconds. Which software is that?

Is it really the same stuff as published by JNC, or a fan translation which is used there?

Rahul Balaggan

@serah it is the J-Novel Club ones, the fan translations never got as far as the stuff that is put up.

Serah

@rahul-balaggan I could not tell, since I have not read nor compare the YouTube stuff. The question is important in my opinion to determine if there is a copyright issue.

I mean, if it would be a fan translation - would JNC still own rights of an original fanwork? That would not be the case, right?

Rahul Balaggan

@serah that would be a completely separate topic of discussion, but it has been stated that there is language on Syosetu that says the works on that site are the property of the writer and should not be distributed without the authors permission.

So even if it were the fan translations (which they aren’t, they are J-Novel Club editions) it would still breach copyright.

Serah

@rahul-balaggan I am confused. Seeing so many sites with fan translations of light novels and manga lead me to the assumption that fanworks are protected on their own means. But yeah, this would be worth a separate topic.

As for the current case cleared, it should be easy dealt with by JNC then, since they rightfully own the ownership. Besides: an audiobook read by a text to speech software sounds unnatural weird to me. It somewhat gives me shivers.

SomeOldGuy

@serah Fan translations are not "protected" by law, unless they're authorized by the copyright owner. So, if someone creates an audio version of a fan translation, they're both infringing on the original work.

If the fan translators wanted to assert copyright on their translation, they could complain... but that would draw attention to their original infringement, and any compensation they would get would subject to seizure by the original copyright holder.

Serah

@someoldguy my bad - when I referred to fanworks/fan translation I naturally mean non-profit stuff. Anything which is created for a commercial use by using a different work is definitely wrong. I think I once read that the copyright laws (depending on the country you are living in) allows to some certain degree to recognise fanwork as new original work - unless it was originally forbidden and explicitly stated that variation of the original work are not allowed.

SomeOldGuy

@serah Using US law as a reference point, it doesn't matter if someone profits from the translation; it's still a violation. Small passages fall under what is called "fair use", but such things would usually be limited to a paragraph or so.

In the case in question here, the people doing it have set up a donation page to finance things.

hiroto

@rahul-balaggan said in Ripoff audiobook?:

@serah it is the J-Novel Club ones, the fan translations never got as far as the stuff that is put up.

Are you going to take any action on it?

Rahul Balaggan

@hiroto sorry Hiroto I only work as a mod for the Forums and Discord, however I know that this same guy was brought to Sam’s attention when he first put Grimgar up, not sure what will happen in the future but the higher ups are aware.

Serah

@someoldguy I am not really understanding that. Having that logic applied nowadays the major content at YouTube should be considered illegal from my point of view. Not to mention all the other sites which offer fan translations etc. pp.

Anyroads, I see the case with that channel is crystal clear. And from the way you explained it JNC should probably approach patreon too, since using the platform to finance illegal activities should be against the terms of use as well.

SomeOldGuy

@serah Many people think a lot of Youtube content is illegal, and they take Alphabet (Youtube's owner) to task on a regular basis for promoting piracy. Youtube has a lot of policies in place to "fix" the problem, but it is mainly to cover their corporate ASSEtS.

Jon Mitchell

A audio (reading, machine generation, dramatic recreation, whatever) is what is called a derivative work (as is a translation)

Derivatives are still violations of the original copyright

A copyright holder can go after those violators as well

hiroto

@jon-mitchell said in Ripoff audiobook?:

A audio (reading, machine generation, dramatic recreation, whatever) is what is called a derivative work (as is a translation)

Derivatives are still violations of the original copyright

A copyright holder can go after those violators as well

Also he must have hacked the DRM protection of ebooks to extract the text.

The recording include the LN only side stories and everything.

Serah

@hiroto said in Ripoff audiobook?:

@jon-mitchell said in Ripoff audiobook?:

A audio (reading, machine generation, dramatic recreation, whatever) is what is called a derivative work (as is a translation)

Derivatives are still violations of the original copyright

A copyright holder can go after those violators as well

Also he must have hacked the DRM protection of ebooks to extract the text.

The recording include the LN only side stories and everything.

What DRM? You get the ebooks DRM free here, do you not? If it was text, you can easily lookup which member it actually is.

jcochran

@hiroto Are you aware that an epub is merely a renamed zip file? Just change ".epub" to ".zip" and use your favorite archive program to unzip it. Can't call that level of non effort "hacking".

hiroto

@jcochran said in Ripoff audiobook?:

@hiroto Are you aware that an epub is merely a renamed zip file? Just change ".epub" to ".zip" and use your favorite archive program to unzip it. Can't call that level of non effort "hacking".

I buy all ebook via Kindle so they are DRM protected.

There are many different possibility how he got his text. It would be a heart broken if somebody who brought DRM free epub directly from J-novels is sending him copy.
Other possibility he just run DRM removing tool on DRM protected ebook.

I would be really surprised if he actually spend money to buy those contents.

Rahul Balaggan

@hiroto

Sorry for the off topic question I am about to ask but...

If I may ask, and of course you don’t have to answer, why do you buy from kindle instead of the premium editions from J-Novel Club?