top of page

What exactly does authorship mean? Are copyrights involved? If so, how?

 

Finally, what does authorship mean for a Japanese Comic artist?

Publishers have their own concerns that are not always about helping a mangaka form their own creative identity.

 

Corporate interests often interfere with a mangaka's free expression.

2) Publisher/Editor Issues
Dragon Ball Manga by Toriyama Akira Vol 1 Art DeviantArt

To be recognized, mangaka develop different skills, unique to themselves, in order to keep a reader’s interest. Even the animated adaptations of manga can be used to get viewers more interested in an original work.

 

However, since the creation manga and adaptations are both collaborative processes, mangaka may or may not be pleased with final products under their name.

One Piece Manga by Eiichiro Oda from DeviantArt
3) Mangaka Issues

Manga is a key part of Japanese pop culture with an international market in every continent besides Antarctica! Manga can be considered to have even more extreme and mature content than American comics because they make as much use of their right to free expression as possible. However, a mangaka’s freedom is not without conflict. The purpose of this website is to explore the issues mangaka experience with their publishers and editors to deconstruct what exactly manga authorship means.

bottom of page