[ssjevot]

Hello, I'm not sure if this is the place for this topic, but I was wondering if anyone knows anything about the Japanese 4th edition books?  I'm bilingual and I own the Shadowrun manga from Japan, which I've debated translating (is that legal?), and I was looking at some sourcebooks on Japanese Amazon and I came across these:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A3%E3%83%89%E3%82%A6%E3%83%A9%E3%83%B3-4tn-%E3%83%AA%E3%83%97%E3%83%AC%E3%82%A4-%E6%97%85%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B%E5%A4%A9%E4%BD%BF%E3%81%9F%E3%81%A1-Role-Roll-Books/dp/4775308769/ref=pd_sim_b_1

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A3%E3%83%89%E3%82%A6%E3%83%A9%E3%83%B3-4th-%E3%83%AA%E3%83%97%E3%83%AC%E3%82%A4-%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%83%88%E3%81%AE%E5%A4%A9%E4%BD%BF%E3%81%9F%E3%81%A1-%E6%94%B9%E8%A8%82%E7%89%88-Role-Roll-Books/dp/4775308777/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A3%E3%83%89%E3%82%A6%E3%83%A9%E3%83%B3-%EF%BC%94%EF%BD%94%EF%BD%88-%E3%83%AA%E3%83%97%E3%83%AC%E3%82%A4-%E3%83%93%E3%82%AE%E3%83%8A%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BA%E3%83%BB%E3%83%90%E3%83%83%E3%83%89%E3%83%A9%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF-Role-Roll-Books/dp/4775306146/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1293055559&sr=1-2

The titles translate as Shadowrun - Travel Angels, Shadowrun - Street Angels, and Shadowrun Beginner's Bad Luck (in English actually) respectively.  They also say they're revised editions (on the first two), so I wonder if that means there are older releases?  The third one has a description which sounds like the description of a novel (talks about a magician who has bad luck), so I don't think it's a sourcebook, but it lists itself as 4th Edition anyway.  I was wondering who exactly runs Japanese Shadowrun and are these considered canon or how exactly does that work?

Thanks.

[ssjevot]

I think I found their site actually.  http://suzakugames.cocolog-nifty.com/

I'd still like to know if this stuff would be considered canon and if I can legally translate it though.  Because I've been wanting to translate the manga for a while, but I don't know if that's legal or how that works (I also don't want to scan all the pages, that seems like a lot of work, and also I'm not sure if it's legal).

[Bull]

Heya.  I actually have no clue what these are, but... 

Generally speaking, foreign language products are not considered canon, because they're not developed in conjunction with CGL.  And often, foreign language stuff is...  Questionable.  Mainly because the companies put their own spin on things.

With FASA, the only foeign language product that became Canon was the original Germany Sourcebook, which was mostly a translation of a book put out by the German publisher (Which I think was the original German FanPro company).  However, it was also edited a bit, partly to trim it down into a "normal" sized FASA sourcebook, and partly because some of the gear was apparently a bit over the top.

When FanPro Germany  acquired the license from WizKids after FASA closed, there was a lot more communication between FP Germany and FP US.  As such, the material released then (by FP Germany) was generally considered canon.  Nothing outside of that was though.

Since then though, we're back to non-canon.

However at least summaries of these products would be very interesting.   And of course, if you can read the books and like what you see, you're always free to incorporate them into your home game

Bull

[Catadmin]

I'm bilingual and I own the Shadowrun manga from Japan, which I've debated translating (is that legal?),...

There's nothing illegal about translating a work. Especially if it's for your own pleasure.

Distributing said work after translation, however, is absolutely illegal, but the number of people who get arrested or sued is low. Most manga companies don't go after these people because it's too much hassle. Many people fansub manga and anime, publishing it for free to other fans while advocating people to purchase legitimate copies once they become available.

Translating, distributing, and requiring payment for the work is not only illegal but likely to get you in very hot water with authorities once you've earned enough cash (or enough of a name) to be made an example of.

Please Note, as a writer myself, I'm not advocating this pirating behavior. I'm just telling you how it usually works.

If you don't want to get into trouble, send a letter to the Japanese publisher to either get permission for a legit translation & distribution or to purchase the necessary licensing rights. If you're planning to distribute for free, you might get their buy in and all it cost you was a stamp and a little time.

[ssjevot]

I'd gladly distribute it for free, but as for getting permission, don't they also run into trouble with CGL or Topps or whoever has Shadowrun properties in the US?  I remember that a DS game I imported (Jump Superstars, and later Jump Ultimate Stars) couldn't be released in the US do to characters having different license holders.  I don't really want to bother with translating if I have to track down multiple people just to release something for free.  I mean it's a lot of work, what with the scanning and all.  I'd prefer to just translate to text and dump it off on to someone who takes care of the rest of it, but the last thing I want is to end up in trouble over anything.

[Catadmin]

It depends on the license that the publishing company has. It could very well be that they have purchased the rights to give the rights to someone else (sort of like an apartment renter being able to sublet his apartment for a period of time). It could also be that they only have Japanese language rights for a manga and those rights aren't transferable in any other way.

There are so many variations on licensing rights, it's hard to say what they are or are not able to do. The only way to know, though, is to ask.

The quickest route to finding this information out is to ask Topps what rights the company has. Given the propensity of Asian markets for pirating stuff (did you hear about the umpteen Harry Potter books in China that weren't written by J.K.?), it's entirely possible the Japanese firm doesn't even have a license and the magna is essentially fan fiction.

[The_Gun_Nut]

There's a Shadowrun manga?  Cool!

What's the story about (besides shadowrunners).