Please license Sol Press's titles
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There are a few light novels I've been reading from the publishing company, Sol Press. Since they went out of business and their novels are being removed from retailers, could you please consider licensing their titles and carrying on the translations? Particularly: Redefining the META at VRMMO Academy, Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for my Retirement, Chivalry of a Failed Knight, Why Shouldn’t a Detestable Demon Lord Fall in Love?!, and The Game Master has Logged In to Another World.
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Sadly defunct licences are really very complex and unlikely due to numerous factors...
I'm not saying we won't see some like Chivalry down the line, but it's unlikely to be any time soon, if ever alas...
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Even if the licenses are acquired, the copyright on the previous translations could be bogged-down separately from getting the original licenses from Japan. So previously-translated volumes could require new translations.
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@someoldguy said in Please license Sol Press's titles:
Even if the licenses are acquired, the copyright on the previous translations could be bogged-down separately from getting the original licenses from Japan. So previously-translated volumes could require new translations.
Which would probably result in better quality translations anyway.
Green's Theorem
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@piisfun said in Please license Sol Press's titles:
@someoldguy said in Please license Sol Press's titles:
Which would probably result in better quality translations anyway.
A little harsh... When the stars aligned, fate turned and the once in a millennium event of a Sol Press release happened i found their translations pretty decent...
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@shipteaser said in Please license Sol Press's titles:
@piisfun said in Please license Sol Press's titles:
@someoldguy said in Please license Sol Press's titles:
Which would probably result in better quality translations anyway.
A little harsh... When the stars aligned, fate turned and the once in a millennium event of a Sol Press release happened i found their translations pretty decent...
I may be mixing up my publishers...
But there was one of them that apparently couldn't be bothered to do basic quality checks before publishing their ebooks.
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One Peace Books is rather bad for editorial checks.
Sol Press only issue was timescale. Took too much on and ruined licenses. -
@someoldguy The way to do it would to be buy out the shell of Sol entirely, which would include all their IP.
New licenses would have to be made for the works, but it would do a ton to detangle the legal rights on this side.
Or get Kodansha to buy it out.
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Wouldn't that include all their liabilities too then? If they haven't been paying anyone for quite a while, that could be a sizable chunk of cash right there.
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@piisfun The issue would be that people will likely have already bought the previously released volumes and may not pick them up when the new publisher releases them, meaning sales might actually be lower until we finally reach new content.
Also another current issue is the status of the licenses. Publishers may have to wait for the licenses to run out first, which could take years.
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@village-idiot said in Please license Sol Press's titles:
@piisfun The issue would be that people will likely have already bought the previously released volumes and may not pick them up when the new publisher releases them, meaning sales might actually be lower until we finally reach new content.
Also another current issue is the status of the licenses. Publishers may have to wait for the licenses to run out first, which could take years.
This isn't quite true. It would depend on the terms of the licensing contract. Many contracts have a clause that states something along the lines of: if the business doesn't release a new product under that license for a certain amount of time or the business that purchased the license goes under, the license reverts back to the original holder. From what I've read, many of the licenses are already being reclaimed by their Japanese publishers. As for the volumes, why would they have to start from the beginning? J-Novel Club could release two chapters per week, one for the already published novels and one for the newest/untranslated releases, until the retranslated version catches up to the newer ones. Kodansha Comics did it for the Negima manga retranslations.
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@jpwong said in Please license Sol Press's titles:
Wouldn't that include all their liabilities too then? If they haven't been paying anyone for quite a while, that could be a sizable chunk of cash right there.
I don't know the details of what ended up happening to sol but generally the way bankruptcies tend to work in the US is that the assets get distributed among the people to which debts are owed in an effort to repay them as best as possible or the company is sold off and the proceeds are distributed (this is if course a massive oversimplification and the rules for determine who gets what are quite complicated) and then the debts are cancelled. There is a good chance that once all the legal stuff goes through there will be an opportunity to buy much of what they need, although the price may or may not be good.
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@cooper-cummings-gk5u8qq Note that as far as we know, Sol Press has not declared bankruptcy.
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@jpwong The more pressing issue with the concept of buying them out is that the owner is uncontactable. You can't purchase something from someone that refuses to communicate with you.
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@mikeocheskey said in Please license Sol Press's titles:
J-Novel Club could release two chapters per week, one for the already published novels and one for the newest/untranslated releases, until the retranslated version catches up to the newer ones.
Doing it this way is possible but translating a LN is much harder and complicated than translating a manga. So not all translators can do this. Even in JNC, not all translators who are in charge of multiple series work on them at the same time. And those who can translate multiple series are already doing it.
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ANN just published an article which has some info on the hypothetical situation of someone trying to license former Sol Press titles;
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I was wondering why I hadn't seen any of my Sol Press series updated lately... Guess I should take my head out of the sand once in awhile haha.
But yeah, I rather enjoyed 80,000 Gold so I'd really love to see it continue. JNC already has Potion Loli so they clearly work with FUNA, so I don't see it being impossible. But I also have no doubt that there is a whole bunch of red tape to clear through first.
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@korppi said in Please license Sol Press's titles:
ANN just published an article which has some info on the hypothetical situation of someone trying to license former Sol Press titles;
Well, that was... interesting.
What are the odds of a rescue license for the popular titles? Right now, it's small but technically not impossible. Although the original Japanese publishers retain the rights for the titles, any company that wants to reissue Sol Press's translations would need to sign an agreement with Sol Press directly—and the remnants of the company are currently locked out from doing any kind of business transaction.
If a different publisher were to license a former Sol Press title, they would have to retranslate it from the start with significantly lowered sales expectations (because it was already previously available in English). There are very few titles for which this would make business sense.
That said, if the government seized the company, there is a reasonable chance that the licensing rights are technically held by the government. Which could be an interesting can of worms.
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It looks like this has happened. Saw that "Why Shouldn’t a Detestable Demon Lord Fall in Love?" Volumes 1 and 2 are available for purchase on JNC. Bought all 4 from SOL press and loved the series. Very much worth a look.
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@lighthawk96 Yep, they announced 7 total titles at AX earlier this month. The top 4 on this image will be simple republications of the Sol translations (VRMMO Academy will have new translations of only volumes past where Sol stopped), while the bottom 3 will be completely retranslated. Republications will not be readable as prepubs on the website from what it sounds like, even if you buy the premium epub.
Also for those unaware, Kodansha Comics rescued the light novel for Funa's 80k Gold.
