According to ITMedia [J], Internet Watch [J] and others, 7 major Japanese publishers (Kadokawa Shoten, Kodansha, Kobunsha, Shueisha, Shogakukan, Shinchosha and Bungei Syunjyu) and 122 known authors of novels and manga reportedly sent a question letter to over 100 companies who are selling so-called “Jisui”(自炊) service.
“Jisui” originally means “self cooking” in Japanese, but in this case “to jisui” means to cut off and scan your paper books into digital formats, to read on digital devices, especially for mobile tablets.
“Self” scanning your own purchased books/manga are legal. However, there have been many small agents appearing who do that work for you. Customers send books to the agents, then the agents slice out pages, scan and digitize, send back digitized file. Publisher side claims that even with your purchasing books, asking scan to other with paying fee violates copyright-law.
Many of such agents give general caveats like “You should send only books you got permission to scan from copyright holder” to avoid the issue, so these publishers and authors try to make it clear that they did not permit, and would not.
They seemed to notify media that they sent the question letter, but did not open the letter itself. ITMedia found a copy of the question letter from a certain agent who received it.
More than half of the protesting authors are cartoonists, including pretty big names. From legendary Fujiko-Fujio(A), Leiji Matsumoto, Go Nagai to Hirohiko Araki, Naoki Urasawa, Masashi Kishimoto, Yoko Kamio, etc.
