Fansub Group: Trending Japan Videos

Hi All, I'm starting a new fansub group that focuses on subbing trending youtube videos from Japan once a week I'm looking for Japanese -> English translators who's willing to help me out. I currently have a homepage for the group at www.yasub.com, and you can find more information over there.

In terms of legality, this is totally legal unlike other anime fansub groups. We do not subtitle TV shows/movies. Also, we do not reencode the video with subtitles and do not re-upload it to a new channel. Rather, we create soft-subs, and overlay the subtitles to the original youtube videos to respect the owners work.

Our ultimate goal really is to bring latest trending videos in japan to others who don't understand japanese (or are still in the process of learning it) and to others who are fascinated with the culture in Japan.

If you guys have any questions, let me know!

You're still violating copyright by creating a derivative work and (re)publishing it without permission.

Hi Mike. Thanks for the reply! The video will not be republished. The original youtube video would simply be embedded (anyone can embed youtube videos in facebook/twitter, etc..), while subtitle is synchronized along with it. As for the copyright, i think you're making a fair point. But I think the rules are outdated and geared towards the 80s era wherein people hardcode captions/subtitles into a new medium (VHS,cd) and then redistribute them afterwards - thus making the original owners suffer sales. With youtube embeds coupled with subtitles, not only are you helping people understand the video, you're also helping the original owners reach a wider audience. But i guess you're right that this issue should be kept in mind, and that if owners decided they don't want us to help them , then we'll stop subtitling or remove the content (but i think this should be rare, i cant imagine anyone not wanting their videos to made more widely shared).

How about just asking permission to begin with? People shouldn't have to opt-out of your unauthorized monkeying with their property. While you may see it as doing them a favor, that's not your decision to make.

I see your point. It's definitely better to ask permission to begin with.