Discussion Lezhin Comics scandal

Discussion in 'Manga Discussion' started by readerz, Feb 27, 2019.

  1. readerz

    readerz Madam Jin

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    I finally found a post that really goes in-depth and explains what happened! Here's the link if you're curious:

    http://porifra.tumblr.com/post/168424485685/rough-summary-on-events-leading-to-lezhin-tax

    Lezhin's creators protested about unfair practices, for example, being charged 20% "late fees" even though Lezhiz is sometimes late in paying creators.

    When some creators complained about various matters, they were blacklisted and their work was not included in promos and marketing.

    One artist said that when a medical checkup showed a 1.5cm tumor in their thyroid they’d asked for rest to get it checked out and properly treated, their PD (editor, I guess) said things along the lines of ‘thyroid tumors are mostly benign. I have one too, and it’s bigger than yours. Another rest? you took a rest the other time too.’ It turned out to be cancer and they charged her late fees when she had to take a break.

    The overseas (China, Japan) serializations were also problematic since Lezhin apparently either never paid or paid 2-3 years late.

    (Note: Apparently Lezhin has a lot BL and hentai, that must be one reason why they are so popular.)

    The nice thing about the post I linked above is that it includes what finally happened: Lezhin's CEO was forced to apologize and they had to refund the late fees. Lezhin also dropped the lawsuits for defamation.
     
  2. SoulZer0

    SoulZer0 Heaven Refining

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    Apologize? That's all? He needs to step down.
     
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  3. 0000000

    0000000 I B SMILING!

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    ...hahaha that is quite funny, at most he will just find a scapegoat to take the fall.

    So Lezhin is a sweatshop? Didn't notice.
     
  4. Amaruna Myu

    Amaruna Myu ugly squid dokja (●´∀`●)

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    2/30 is cancerous?

    sorry am I on the right track here?
     
  5. SoulZer0

    SoulZer0 Heaven Refining

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    All big corps are sweatshops.
     
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  6. 0000000

    0000000 I B SMILING!

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    True, but most at least keep their dirty laundry away from public, Lezhin has managed to hit quite low to get noticed.
     
  7. lenyek_penyek

    lenyek_penyek Badass Member

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    That's some long read.

    Thanks for the tldr
     
  8. xTachibana

    xTachibana Wincest King

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    Asian company bro, don't expect that kind of stuff lol
     
  9. readerz

    readerz Madam Jin

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    The point is, the person had cancer and they still charged late fees. That's kinda heartless. Not to mention, the last fees were illegal. Lezhin had to return all of the artist's late fees. This is actually the only source I saw that explained that, lol. At least they got their money back though it was after a lot of hassle and many years.
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2019
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  10. Nom de Plume

    Nom de Plume [Shio’s Disciple] [True Villain] [Equip: Gunblade] Novel Updates Staff

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    I can’t believe that took me 40 minutes to read (clicked a lot of the relevant links since I hadn’t heard about it at all). Thank you for sharing and I hope the company cleans up their act for the sake of everyone involved (including themselves).
     
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  11. readerz

    readerz Madam Jin

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    It seems like just a badly managed company, all in all. I'm guessing that a few years ago they were just a tiny little company with maybe 5 or fewer employees, lol. When your company goes global in a big way, you need to professionalize your staff and it seems they did not.

    They claimed that the "blacklist" wasn't an official thing. Just a few of their (senior?) staff decided to blacklist "troublesome" artists and it wasn't actually company policy to do so. LOL. Of course, it was unofficial! Who ever heard of a company putting a blacklist on their official company policy? Seriously though, apparently those noobs in management didn't even have an algorithm for choosing which webtoon was the most profitable to promote - they did it all based on personal preference. :cautious:

    They need to professionalize fast! I pity the poor artists who have to endure these silly shenanigans. They deserve better.
     
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  12. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    Isn't this old news from 2018?
    I brought attention to it before.
    I was studying their business model.
    It's not sustainable at all.
    Turns out that government handouts kept them afloat.
    They have to make money from somewhere.
    They chose the authors instead of readers or advertisers.
    Very stupid
     
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  13. readerz

    readerz Madam Jin

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    Yes, but even though it's old news there simply hasn't been one source that summarized everything. This is more of an after-the-fact way of understanding what happened.
     
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  14. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    This is what happens when you have a culture that promotes piracy and "free content"
    Someone has to pay for the content, someone will always get exploited
    It is the author in this case
     
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  15. userunfriendly

    userunfriendly A Wild Userunfriendly Appears!

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    I would not be surprised if a self published comic comes out...and the protagonist is a wage slave working at this sweatshop.:blobhero:

    Unfortunately, history tells us they will absolutely get away with this...however, unlike Spain which refused to honor European and American patents, the PRC has no incentive to recognize other countrie’s patents and IPs for the foreseeable future. Thankfully people recognize this, and while copyright is hard to enforce , American and European companies are refusing to invest in high tech companies in the PRC. This WILL hurt them in the long run. I believe this was why Spain began recognizing other countries IPs and patents.:blobhero:

    To quote Heinlein,

    TANSTAAFL!!!:blobhero::blobhero::blobhero::blobhero::blobhero::blobhero::blobhero::blobhero:

    (there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch):blobjoy:

    Edit: I found about Spain not recognizing patents during the 1800s and 1900s from Forgotten Weapons...I did NOT do research on this, so my info may be wrong or incomplete.:blobtongue:
     
    Last edited: Feb 27, 2019
  16. pyro5379

    pyro5379 Well-Known Member

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    You're basicslly right, BUT the music industry in Spain is worse. The way that the shadowy politicians and corporate leaders pieced together their music related laws, they could literally steal your work. There were even instances of record companies making artists record old public domain folk songs then copyrighting them and banning the public from singing or otherwise using them without paying up. It became such a joke, that you could have your song stolen, then be legally sued by big music for having sung the song you wrote, that they admitted to stealing from you. I'm not sure about any changes in the last few years, but recent threats of civil war by the capitalists forced to pay for their welfare state, and a soon to be conservative backlash against migrant and other EU policies should shake things up.

    International copyright laws, and even those within a specific country can be hard to navigate. Up until a few years ago in the US, someone else could patent your invention and usually keep the rights to it. Tesla basically invented every component in the earliest radios, but someone else patented the combined form becore he could and got rich off it. Edison was known for literally robbing you, having you beaten up, and burning down your property as you lay beaten outaide if you refused to sell your invention to him. Most of his camera patents were gained this way or by simply going to Europe, studying an originalb and then creating a diplicate and patenting it legally under US law. Hollywood exists because he had trouble enforcing his patents, and threatening movie makers thst were across the country in the desert that is the natural state of L.A. Changes in recent years have righted wrongs and the proven creator now has patent rights, but it is seen as "too litttle too late," having greatly stunted the innovations and technological advancements that could have pushed us far ahead of where we are now. Tesla himself died a penniless broken man while attempting to secure funding to develop a form of worldwide wireless transfer of data and energy that scientists are even now trying to develop, often looking to what remains of his work.
     
    Last edited: Feb 28, 2019
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  17. userunfriendly

    userunfriendly A Wild Userunfriendly Appears!

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    Tesla loved pigeons...romantically.:blobdizzy:

    To be honest, he was too brilliant to be a good businessman. Or too insane, same difference. I am glad that due to the internet and history channel, people know what a slime sucking jerk Edison is.

    US copyright is life of artist plus a hundred years?! The international copyright laws are a mess, frankly.

    But I’m shocked at how bad Spain is...:blob_coughblood::blobdizzy::blobfearful:
     
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  18. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    Tesla was stupid. I still find people who rely on funding to be stupid.
    And let's be honest when you are that smart, your ego is so inflated that you think you are entitled to funding.
    I still dont get how Elon Musk got to call him company Tesla.

    What about Michael Jordan got sued in a China because of his own trademark? Just because a Chinese company registerred it first
     
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  19. Rumby

    Rumby Rumbly Tumbly

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    I remember this on twitter, poor artist. I'm glad the artist got money they deserved but getting paid after two years is terrible.
     
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  20. pyro5379

    pyro5379 Well-Known Member

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    Musk joined, he did not start the company.
     
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