17 But I Can'T Afford The Originals, Doesn'T That Count?
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This article is from the Anime Music FAQ, by Ru Igarashi with numerous contributions by others.
17 But I Can'T Afford The Originals, Doesn'T That Count?
Now we are getting into moral issues. The law says that getting copies without permission or license is illegal (sometimes even criminal), so regardless of moral issues, your financial standing doesn't matter. That is, as far as the law is concerned, getting or making a copy without permission or license is not much different than grabbing the orignal CD off the shelf and walking out of the store without paying for it (except that doing so is always criminal, I think, a matter of degree), so you shouldn't do it.
There is also the issue of supporting the market. Until now, we have had little choice but to import our favourite anime STs (with limited exceptions). As such, we may be a small part of the anime CD market, but there's nothing saying we aren't an unoticeable part. Bootlegs reduce our visibility, and would present a bigger obstacle than bootlegs of videos because music is a more universally accessible medium (no need to translate). But anime, and anime CDs, are a niche market. As such, we should worry about the effects on attempts to market non-Japanese releases of our favourite STs. Remember, these folks not only have to pay a license in addition to the usual overhead, but they have to convince the Japanese companies that it's worth giving the licence in the first place. Someone out there is keeping track of how much anime CD exporting there is, and bootlegs detract from that.
I mention the above because ADV and TRSI have started a joint venture to bring at least 100 anime CDs to North America in 2002, and we should think about supporting that.
Now if you allow me this digression, really, getting anime CDs isn't a right, it's a luxury. As such, we shouldn't really expect prices to oblige us to that extent (after all, that's what capitalism is about). That is, if you are concerned about moral issues, it's like any item we can survive without, if we can't afford it we should do without until we can afford it. We have to live with that on stuff we consider more essential than anime CDs, so it should apply with anime CDs, too.
Then it's just a question of what you are morally and legally willing to live with. If these considerations aren't a concern, your financial standing is the main consideration. If they are a concern, then your financial standing doesn't count. It's up to you. Just be aware that rec.arts.anime.music has a few vocal objectors to bootlegs.
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