Questions?

[starlightmuse]

We're sure you have plenty of questions - we'll do our best to answer them. Once we get enough questions, we'll compile everything into a simple FAQ in the Announcements section.

[TheF]

Hello,

I am going to post a multitude of questions, so I have divided them into categories (maybe even for FAQ usage?). First off let me say that I am a member of one of the groups you contacted in June, and while I was initially very put off by the way you contacted us, I like the idea of helping out with making manga easily and affordably available on the internet.

Here goes:

Pre-registering: What does pre-registering imply? Does it mean I agree to work for you? Or does it just mean I would be interested in potentially working for you? EDIT: I just saw your TOC and answered this question for myself.
What are you specifically asking for in sample web pages of work? Are you asking scanlators to give out their name and email adress with a link to scanlations, without even telling them what you will do with this information? I think this is a very touchy subject, and this made me immediately close the 'pre-register' window. I understand that you would want experienced people to work for you, but I think this is not a good way to get people to register.
How does pre-registering or registering work if I am part of a scanlation group? Are you only willing to take whole groups and individuals not currently affiliated with any group that would not be part of your 'Guild'? EDIT: I think this is touched upon in your TOC, but I am not sure with the terminology, what would happen if someone worked for you and was/continued to be part of a scanlation group not within your guild?

Editing: Are you asking your members to only edit with the software you provide in the screencap?
How can I as an editor be sure that the page is properly dust free? How do you clean and level your pages (if you do so at all. Again, I can only speculate how cleaning works here)?
Can members edit with Photoshop/their Program of choice? Because most editors have developed their own way of editing quickly and efficiently and adapting to your program will take a while probably. I am also missing the layers feature which distresses me, tbh, but maybe that's how your 'regular' editors work too, so I guess it's a learning curve. But again, no information given on that and a screencap doens't really help me with that.
Can editors make general statements like: Don't make me edit this mangaka, I hate their art and their stories. Can editors refuse certain projects? What are their liberties?

Payment: Since I am fairly certain that you would take applicants as freelance workers, my main question here is: how exactly would individuals be paid? What is the proceed percentage for each project? Are there different percentages?
I am clear on the: No payment before sale, which I understand.
How will editors get credited? Will they get credited?

Community: Will you make a community for all the people involved in this project, for example a forum? Will we just be individuals/groups each contained and without contact?
Will you offer to teach people editing? Or maybe say: If you want to work with us, but you have no experience, come here and we will show you how it works.

Those are all the questions I have so far. I know some of them are not directly related to now, but I am curious nontheless.

[zebedeee]

The information on the website is a bit lacking in detail.

What is this TOC that TheF refers to above? I'd like to see this. Is that something that was only given to the scanlation groups you'd already contacted?

I'm interested in the answers to all the questions TheF asked, including the ones that were answered by this TOC.
I too was very hestitant over this providing samples business, even though my scanlation group is doujinshi only. That made me close the pre-register window too. What are you after? Direct download links? Links to the project page? What if you have to join a community to see them? And what proves these samples are mine? What's to stop someone else from tyring to pass my work of as their own?

[Jennatar]

I believe the TOC referred to are the "Terms and Conditions/Disclaimer" link on the Guild website. Attaching a real name to illegal activities (scanlating) is going to make anyone pause. If this could be done anonymously (with possible future payment through paypal, etc), you could get more of the current scanlation community on board. Or, an alternate means of applying (such as a translation test, etc), would be a good idea to get people on board without them feeling compromised.

My questions are in regards to the projects. If we pass muster, how much control would a translator have over which projects she chooses? Thousands of possible titles are all well and good, but unless you plan to have everything scanned up in advance for translators to choose from (which I'm highly doubting!), I'm wondering how much choice we would actually have...?

Likewise, timetable and translator loyalty. When you toss a translator a project, do you want a chapter/volume done within a certain time frame? If you give a translator volume one of the series, will you wait for them to finish it, or give volume 2 to a different translator? Would this vary by project? (ie, would you require faster work on a popular project than a less popular one?)

Thanks for considering my questions!

[blkingston]

Here are some of my questions:

1. What genre are these manga titles? Are they all BL? What about other genres like josei and shoujo? Are there any seinen and shounen works?

2. What are the names of the six Japanese publishers involved in this venture? What mangaka are part of this venture? Amateurs would be more likely to take part if they knew the works of their favorite mangaka were included.

3. Could you give more details about the various tasks? Translator is obvious, but I'd like to know more details about editor/rewriter and typesetter/retoucher. Does a rewriter need to know any Japanese? When would a translation require rewriting? Will a translator have any say in the rewrites? And does a typesetter/retoucher do other tasks like remove sfx and edit images e.g. remove liquids and outlines of genitals in BL sex scenes? What program will they use to perform such tasks? How much proofing and assistance, if any, will Digital Manga staff provide?

4. Remuneration. I've heard rumors that it's in the order of 5-10% of revenue. Can anyone confirm this?

5. In the Terms & Conditions, it states:
"Registrant agrees all information provided is correct and all future work provided will be free of Copyright infringement."

I'm not sure about the 'future work' reference and what it means. Are you saying that registrants cannot use any material from a pre-existing scanlation in the work they provide to you, even if they previously scanlated it themselves? Or is this a roundabout way of saying that registrants are required to stop infringing copyright in future i.e. cease scanlating altogether?

[osumesu]

I would like to apply, but I'm a bit hesitant about the "sample web links of work" - what can I possibly put in there? I mean I know scanlations are illegal, and I haven't officially translated anything up to now so what examples of my works could I give? What do you want to see there?

[Pobrecito Hablador]

5. In the Terms & Conditions, it states:
"Registrant agrees all information provided is correct and all future work provided will be free of Copyright infringement."

I have some questions in regards to this as well.

Are you asking that people register under their RL legal names? Or would an internet user-name also be considered "correct" information? Registration is much more attractive assuming no disclosure of RL personal information is necessary until later in the process, perhaps for example at the stage where an actual "sales transaction" is made (or I see another poster has suggested not at all).

And I'm not clear on what the "all future work provided will be free of Copyright infringement" phrase means. Even taken in what seems to me to be it's narrowest sense, I would need further clarification before I felt comfortable agreeing to that statement. If DMP has hundreds of titles available to be worked on, many of them will most likely have already been scanlated. Is the registrant agreeing they won't work on titles they have worked on as a scanlator? If so, they're probably agreeing not to work on their favorite titles. And if not, it's difficult for me to see how future work on a title one has already handled in the past can be free from the influence of that past involvement. Are you only asking that the registrant be willing to go through the work again and not just provide a carbon copy of what they've already done? Even in that case though, the influence of the rest of the group is still there in the registrant's mind- presuming the scanlation is good, the registrant presumably thinks that's essentially how the title should be handled, so I can't imagine a rework would produce anything radically different.

And read more widely, I worry that DMP could potentially have expectations that I, as a registrant, had agreed to things that in fact I had not intended to agree to. While I understand it may be awkward for DMP to offer specifics in this regard, I also would hate to have someone I made a commitment to later feel I had betrayed it, or never taken it seriously in the first place. Would there be an expectation that the registrant not scanlate for teams that handle or have handled manga on the list? Not scanlate at all? Not personally handle titles on the list for anyone but DMP regardless of whether a final "sales transaction" is ever made?

[yamiangie]

Say you are interested in editing or rewriting but you don't have prior experience can you still apply?

[stlwright]

For those of us who have applied, what is the estimated time that someone will reply to our application? Will we receive an email confirmation?

[Gumbo]

For those considering editting/typesetting, will they get to use their own program (like Photoshop) or be expected to use Digital Manga's software? And will there be deadlines for getting the work done, or will it be a work at your own pace kind of thing?