Chibi IA: Recently there's been a lot of hulla ballu about COPPA and its impending implications for YouTube; and of especial interest to those of us who upload MMD videos to YouTube is how this will effect us. But, let me be very clear from the get go:

DON'T PANIC!

What caused this article to be written

What are the issues here?

• Made for kids
• Made for teens and adults
• Made for adults

However, based on what subsequently happened as reported in his journal article, apparently others felt otherwise and took action against some of those works with the end result that those works were subsequently removed by the DA administrators.

Since, I have experienced several instances of having my work removed or censored in a similar manner, I was sympathetic and left a note under his journal, basically extending my sympathies. However, his response, which captured well his sense of frustration and anger at what had occurred, has had me thinking about the whole issue of reporting art on DA for being offensive more deeply.

This was partially because I was not wholly against the action that was taken due to the nature of the art; specifically the sexual depictions of imagery of childlike characters. Given the nature of these types of images, it would have only been a matter of time before someone was offended and took action. In fact, puriiriin only posts censored versions of some of this type of art on DA. The more explicit versions are hosted elsewhere. So at least on some level, he must have been aware of the potentially controversial nature of some of his work.

Before going further, let me be very categorically clear that despite my generally “libertarian” approach to most works of art and imagery, I am resolutely against any form of child pornography. It is highly offensive, harmful and illegal. Further, even in the Age of LGBTQ or whatever alphabet I forgot, paedophilia in my books, is absolutely and totally criminal behaviour.

But Hentai Loli art is not illegal in either Japan or (some parts of) the United States.

A further discussion with puriiriin in private revealed that his underlying premises is that Loli Art is a part of the Japanese culture (or more correctly subculture). His contention is that Loli art has to be understood from a Japanese perspective and should not be judged from a Western point of view. Further, he is adamant that Loli art, as practiced by like minded Japanese artists should at all times be done without criminal intent or harm to others.

I have accepted these arguments at face values as I do not know puriiriin personally and nothing he has said or done makes me question the sincerity of his arguments. However, what I was curious about was what the Japanese themselves really thought of Loli art, especially the hentai variety of the same. Instinctively, I felt that the mainstream Japanese culture might not have a viewpoint that much different from ours.

To this end I dug into the subject further and also wrote to ejima8 for his observations on how the Japanese themselves regarded anime in general. He has often in the past given me deeper insights into Japan, its history and culture that would be hard for me to get being a “Westerner” so his contributions to my thinking in this article has proven to be extremely valuable.

What exactly is Loli Art?

The term “Loli” comes from the title of a novel first published in 1955 by an author named: Vladimar Nabokov. The book was first published in Paris but was not published in the US until 1967. There has been at least two movies made based on the book, one notably in 1962 by Stanley Kubrick which shared the same title as the novel: “Lolita”.

The name Lolita is the nickname given to the female lead character Dolores in the novel. Lolita is a 12 year old girl who became the step daughter of the main male character in the novel, a middle age adult male professor that goes by the pseudonym Humbert Humbert. He becomes obsessed with Dolores and subsequently becomes her step father and the two end up having a sexual relationship.

Let me pause here and allow you to fully comprehend what I just related.

Do note that the novel was accepted as a mainstream work to much acclaim and is categorized as a legitimate work of erotic literature. There is plenty of information on the work including academic analysis of the work which can be easily found on the Internet. You can also easily buy the book online and it might even be in your Public Library.

Personally, I have read it a long time ago but honestly I cannot remember much about it other than it was not exactly easy to read.

Japanese manga and anime artist around this time created a style of illustration depicting child like characters which evolved into a form that we now call “Lolicon Art”. Loli characters are about “innocence” and “cuteness”; at least in mainstream depictions of them. They are an intrinsic part of the Japanese “moe” culture. Examples of loli style characters can be found all over the Internet and they frequently feature in mainstream anime productions. Many magical girl characters as well middle school girl in “slice of life” franchises are of the type. And of course, we must not forget the distinctive Goth lolis which derived from the designs of Victorian era dolls.

Typically, loli characters are young child like females drawn in a style to emphasize their cuteness, purity and innocence. These are also some of their features alluded to by puriiriin in our brief discussion when he outlined his take on the Japanese viewpoint on lolis.

However, lolis can be teens and adults, too. This is a genre that adult female cosplayers sometimes indulge into but with an interesting twist. Being a loli character for these women is not about being dolly; rather it is a form of female empowerment. To be feminine, pretty and beautiful without any sexual connotation. A celebration of female identity in a pure innocent form.

The Anime and Manga Industry in Japan

One of the most lucrative if not the most lucrative Japanese export is the production of anime and manga products in all types of media and franchises. It is a billion dollar industry and has penetrated a truly global market. By some estimates, anime products has reached 87% of the world’s population.

Japan itself is a country in transition in our modern era. Its population is shrinking and aging at the same time. The domestic market for anime and manga due to the demographic shifts within Japan is shrinking.

So for example, printed manga circulation is declining but digital distribution is increasing. Japan has the biggest e-book market in the world. Also anime is expensive to produce and due to the shrinking market, harder to secure financing for as investors grow increasingly cautious. It costs around 800 million yen for a Japanese animation studio to produce 60 seconds of animation.

One of the consequences of these increasing costs is that a lot of animation is now outsourced to studios in other Asian countries such as South Korea, China and Vietnam. This in turn has impacted the wages of Japanese animators, which is actually surprisingly low to begin with, and this has led to fewer young Japanese desiring to enter the profession. Plus even when they do, given Japan’s hierarchical social and business structures, it makes it hard for young animators to reach positions of authority or influence. Then also their are the long hours associated with the profession. So increasingly, there is a dwindling pool of Japanese talent in this field.

The Japanese Government and the Industry itself have tried to address these issues but with only moderate success. The anime industry is still growing, but the growth areas are increasingly outside of Japan and one of the newest developments is that foreign investments are now beginning to become an important factor in the industry.

Against this background is the growth of the Japanese Hentai anime business.

The dark side of Loli Art

Let me state that the use of the word “art” used in this part of the discussion is really stretching the meaning of that word. Furthermore, Japan is reported as being the world’s number one producer of Child pornography.

But be cautious of my last statement as with regards to that claim, I do not know exactly how the word “pornography” is defined in the context of that original claim nor do I know whether or not hentai illustrated works are factored into the totality. Nevertheless, Japanese hentai art production is prolific and must be profitable for so much of it to be produced.

Hentai anime productions are not hard to find. You do not even have to go into the Dark Web to find numerous examples. They come in both manga as well as anime form. Much of this seems to have been produced by independent small studios or individuals. These productions cover the entire spectrum of sexual tastes and can be of a highly disturbing nature.

Therefore, it should not be any big surprise to anyone that loli characters also feature in these productions. The problem, however, is that in most of these productions there is not even an attempt to disguise the fact that the depicted characters are pre-teen children.

But, they are not illegal to possess or view in either Japan and most parts of the USA. Nor is it illegal to produce this type of work. So how do they get away with it?

There have been several attempts by Japanese legal societies and social welfare organizations to stop this type of work but they have run into two major hurdles.

The first is the argument that no real children are harmed, a point of contention that has been and is still being disputed, as the characters are merely cartoon characters.

Unfortunately, the truth is that there has been no definitive study done to categorically state that this type of work enables or encourages paedophilic behaviours. By the same token, there are no definitive studies that proves the opposite case either; that these productions cause no harm.

Then there is opposition in Japan from mainstream studios against any legislation that could impact their artistic freedoms or probably more correctly, their bottomline. Legislation written to prohibit or inhibit hentai works will cause the large studios to become wary of what they themselves are doing or have done.

In case you are wondering why this even becomes an issue, just reference panty shots and fan service episodes. These invariably portray teenage girls in sexually compromising situations. Not to mention that some profitable mainstream Japanese anime series are in themselves borderline hentai productions.

The Anime Industry is a very large and an important component of the modern Japanese economy. It has a very powerful influence on the Japanese political system and in the final analysis, it is all about money.

So, 60 seconds of fan service animation may cost 800 million yen to produce but go figure out how much revenue can be derived in return for that investment and you can begin to comprehend the challenges faced by organizations trying to address the issue as their efforts can be easily stymied by the Anime Industry as well as the legal and political system.

So what is the mainstream opinion regarding anime girls in Japan anyway?

Once again, I have ejima8 to thank in answering this question as I would not have found answers so easily through my own research. In the West, we can only get a glimpse of what Japanese society is really like and often times what information that we do get can be biased due to the nature of the media through which we gain these insights.

According to him, many Japanese in mainstream society find depictions of girls in anime form “distasteful”. Akita Neru, for example was created as a consequence of the negative opinion of Miku Hatsune early in Miku’s career. There was a lot of negative publicity regarding Miku Hatsune on Japanese mainstream media outlets back in those days. Miku now has a much more mainstream and acceptable presence since then and that in itself is an extraordinary social achievement.

Still, at its core, Japanese society is conservative by nature. So what ejima8 reports, upon more careful thought, is not surprising. Outside of places of like Akihabara, if you study photos of Japanese street scenes, there is not an overwhelming presence of anime materials. In fact, it seems to be rather rare, especially in less cosmopolitan areas.

Do not forget also that the term “‘Otaku” in Japan is not a complimentary title unlike its connotation in the West. Neither is the term “Lolicon” a complimentary title either in Japan or the West. Some values seem to be universal across cultures.

The Path of the Social Justice Warrior

Specific to this particular discussion, with regards to the role of SWJs, I am honestly of mixed feelings

In my own personal experience, some of my works have been targeted and removed due to the activities of some persons with highly developed sense of moral values. But, having thought things over, I felt their actions with reference to some of my work was correct, and grudgingly, I am actually thankful. Seriously, I made some serious errors in judgement. By the same token, their actions have definitely have had a “chilling effect” to the extent that it has essentially killed much of my enthusiasm for creating any more new materials for MMD.

Unfortunately, not only were these works removed which should have ended the subject, but the fact that I produced these works at all was used to tarnish my reputation on the Internet and branding me as some sort of sexual deviant (I am not) and even as a political conservative of the Republican persuasion (I am a Libertarian and registered Independent).

But what about what was done to puriiriin 's work?

What I have produced for my gallery here on DA are a handful of articles such as this one; MMD How-To tutorials and a few stages of dubious quality. The images in my picture galleries made using MMD were done for amusement and I make no real artistic claims for any of them. puriiriin and others like him have real artistic talents and take their work seriously. In his case especially, the underlying rationale comes from a culture that in some ways are alien to ours, and as I have explained in this article, in some ways not so different from ours in terms of their core values.

So, should SJWs have flagged his works and cause them to have been removed?

That is not as easy a question to answer as it may first appear. There is definitely a strong case against the practice but an equally valid case for what was done in light of the nature of the works; and I emphasize “the nature of the works” in my statement.

As a Libertarian, my view is that in the interest of Freedom of Expression, these works should not have been removed. The reasoning is very simple. We live in a democratic, free-thinking society. We have under our Constitution certain inalienable rights; specific to this discussion, the Right to Free Speech.

The Right to Free Speech has deep consequences and responsibilities. It is my contention that with reference to these works, once they are posted and they are not illegal or harmful, it is up to the person viewing the work to make a decision as to whether they find the work morally objectionable or not as the case maybe. By causing these works to be removed, this removes the rights and freedoms of others to make their personal choices on the material presented.

The issue here then becomes a matter where simply that the actions of the SJWs in taking these actions have put it upon themselves to make decisions for us without our consent. Further, they have infringed on our freedom to make choices of what we want to or not want to see and make an objective decision for ourselves

Honestly, I do not feel that the SJWs involved even thought it through with as much effort as I have done as presented here. Like I stated above, I find some of these images highly inappropriate, but that is only my personal opinion. I have a right to tell you that I have issues with them but I do not have the right to prevent you for coming to the same conclusion or a different one if you should choose to think otherwise. Furthermore, I have no right to cause those works to be removed so that you could not view them to make your own judgements.

The thing about Freedom, is not that it is only about your own rights but also about the rights of others. The problem with SJWs and Political Correctness is that in the final analysis, they inhibit Freedom of Thought and channel thought and behaviour towards very narrow definitions. Definitions that were created by a minority of unknown persons whose motives at best is suspect.

But in defense of the actions of the SJWs in this case only, and note that since I do not know who they are and have not communicated with them, I can only surmise that if their intentions to have these works removed is in the interest of protecting real children, I cannot in good conscience fault them. In fact, if this was the underlying motivation, it is an honorable one and I will grudgingly acknowledge the morality of their actions. Sometimes it may be necessary to take a moral stand even if such an action does impede on the freedom of others.

However, History has demonstrated time and again that: The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. As for a conclusion, I do not have one. You will have to come to a conclusion of your own based on your own reflections on this subject.

Thankfully, at least for the moment, we all still have that privilege.

End Note: Once again, I am grateful to both puriiriin and ejima8 for sharing their insights as without their contributions I would not have been able to write this article. Personally, I have great respect for both these individuals.

I’ve been reading some MMD journals here on DA where people were arguing about making money using MMD. The underlying argument is that you shouldn’t primarily due to copyright related issues.

However, much as I am sympathetic to most of the arguments raised, some of these argument might actually be wrong from a legal perspective. The fact is that money is being made from MMD, it is just that the money probably isn’t going into your pockets!

Now, before going further, let me make it very clear that nothing in this article should be regarded as me telling you what you can do. All I am doing here is to raise some counter arguments and give you some issues to further reflect upon. Also, it is a very broad area and legally very complex so I cannot cover everything nor will I go in-depth on any particular point raised. Additionally, I am not a law professional so none of what I write here should be treated as legal advice either.

Also, in the interest of full disclosure: I personally have financially benefited from my MMD related activities.

WHO IS CURRENTLY MAKING MONEY FROM MMD?

Well for a start, this website as well as YouTube. For those of you who do not have CORE membership on DA, advertisements are displayed on your profile and gallery pages. If you are involved in MMD related works, it is those works that are driving views to your pages and of course, the advertisements displayed can be viewed. The same applies to YouTube even if you have opted not to monetize your channel.

Well is this legal?

Rather than get into that, let us examine the case of Miku Hatsune. Miku Hatsune belongs to Crypton Future Media, Inc. She is licensed for use under a Creative Commons BY-NC license.

The important part of this license for our discussion is the “NC”, Non-Commercial part of the license.

There are legal issues with the definition of “NC”. This stems from the fact that the Creative Commons organization never fully defined what “NC” actually covers; leaving instead for Courts to fully define the scope of the terminology. This has so far not happened leading to a degree of legal confusion as to what is explicitly prohibited other than the “obvious”. For certain, any use of Miku Hatsune that breaches applicable copyrights protection is prohibited. But there are still some grey areas.

In Miku Hatsune’s case, the most blatant contradiction is that YouTube specifically prohibits the CC-BY-NC variant of the license. Instead, it only allows CC-BY. Why? Simply because YouTube makes money by selling advertisement space.

YouTube is a business. It functions to make a profit; it also has enormous costs to cover. So anything posted to and hosted by YouTube has to be compliant with its policies, including Miku Hatsune. So what has Crypton done about this? De facto, nothing other than noting that, and reinforcing YouTube’s restriction of not using a CC-BY-NC license on that platform. After all, it is strategically advantageous for Crypton to have Miku visible on YouTube.

So, YouTube is making money off Miku Hatsune without a formal agreement with Crypton (to the best of my knowledge) simply by allowing advertisements to be displayed alongside videos that feature Miku Hatsune.

Since this essentially is true, the argument for not monetizing your YouTube Channel is rather weak. For a start, almost all MMD models and MMEs include a not for commercial use clause. When used on YouTube, this in effect cancels out the non-commercial use restriction. Or rather, you are in breach of those MMD resources' non-commercial use restrictions. But MMD creators do want to see their work used; so de facto, everyone is doing the same thing as Crypton, just looking the other way and accepting the existing state of affairs.

The current situation is that YouTube and its advertisers are commercially benefitting from MMD related works, the question I pose is: “Why not you?" Logically, it would be stupid for you not to monetize your MMD related YouTube Channel if this becomes an option.

Especially, if you consider the following arguments which I will be discussing below.

FAIR USE PERMITS COMMERCIAL USE

Yep it does. Under certain circumstances, Fair Use does permit commercial use. For the sake of this discussion we will look at some of these specific circumstances but with a cautionary note: I will not be discussing related copyright considerations as that would make this article too long.

Fair Use allows for the use of copyright materials for commercial use under some very specific circumstances. Specifically, or more commonly applicable to MMD: Educational Use and Parody exclusions may be applicable.

So, for example, if I made a video tutorial about MMD and it featured the use of Miku Hatsune, then posted this video to YouTube, hypothetically, legally I can monetize that video on YouTube using the argument that is being used as Educational material as permitted under Fair Use guidelines.

More interestingly, arguably I could make a video with a song sung by Britney Spears and performed by Akita Neru and monetize that video using the argument that this was being done under Fair Use guidelines as a Parody. Not that I would want to take up a legal case against the music industry with this line of argument, but legally, I believe this could win.

So what I am saying is that the Social Justice MMD crowd might actually be on very weak legal grounds when they are trying to cyberbully some kid for monetizing their MMD video if either of these Fair Use arguments are applicable.

OTHER LEGAL WAYS OF MAKING MONEY FROM MMD

Another issue that kids use to clobber other kids on DA over making money from MMD is related to taking commissions for editing models. This is not as simple as it may first appear. To understand what I am trying to get at, please consider the following scenario:

If I buy a print from DA, I can take it to a store and have a frame made for it. The print is copyright protected material, the frame is not. The store makes money for creating the frame and the fact that the print is copyright protected material is irrelevant.

Now let’s take this line of logic over to editing a MMD model for a commission.

One kid asks another kid to edit a model for them using copyright protected parts and offers to pay 500 points for the work. This is logically no different from me asking a frame making store to frame a print for me for $100.00.

Let us muddle the waters even more. Let us say a kid advertises on his DA profile page that he accepts commissions for editing models to order. Legally, so long as he or she does not specifically mention that they will be using specific parts, such as that they will be using Tda bases, they probably could do so.

The point here, is that they are offering a specific service: the labor required to assemble the parts. They are being compensated for the use of their skill and labor only. The parts which are being used, which are copyright protected, are irrelevant as they are not being sold.

Also, and this is important, no money is being transferred, only points. Wherein it is true that points have value, they are not a currency in the conventional sense. Like I stated above, I myself have benefited financially from MMD by having my CORE membership paid by a very kind sponsor for two years specifically because of my MMD related work.

Many MMDers also ask for point donations on their DA profile pages. Arguably, these constitute a form of commercial use. After all, there is a financial benefit from not having to fork out of your own pocket, real money for points, isn’t there?

SO I CAN PROFIT FROM OFFERING SERVICES FOR MAKING MMD PICTURES AND VIDEOS?

Well, no. This would most likely be in direct violation of applicable Copyright Laws and we will leave it at that.

SO WHAT THE POINT OF USING NOT FOR COMMERCIAL USE TERMINOLOGY ANYWAY?

Bear in mind that MMD resources for the most part are still copyright protected materials and are fully protected from unauthorized commercial use.

Specifically, and in a broad sense, you cannot directly sell MMD materials not of your own making or distribute them without a license or other form of authorization. You cannot directly use them to make money in any other way either except perhaps where noted in the examples outlined above.

But like I said, the terms: “Non-commercial use only” and similar terminology have nuances under the Law. For specific exclusions, you really need to ask the advice of a legal professional. All I am saying in this article is that there are some gray areas and in some instances, non-commercial restrictions may be inapplicable or there may be ways to work around them.

BEFORE YOU START RUBBING YOUR GREEDY HANDS…

This is important: nothing in this article is saying that you should or can. All that this article is saying is that the Law may not be as clear as some people might think it is as indicated in some of the journals related to these matters that I have read on DA.

The best practice is still to behave in a manner that conforms to the norms expected within the MMDC. If you choose to do otherwise and benefit financially (or for points), this article merely offers some food for thought; not to be interpreted as permissions to do as you like.

As always, the points made here are opinions and mine as usual are worth exactly 2 cents (which I will happily accept via direct deposit into my PayPal account). Thank you.

ERRATA

1. I DO NOT ACCEPT COMMISSIONS FOR MMD RELATED WORK.
   
2. You can legally accept commissions for original MMD related works such as creating original models and motions from scratch.