Cnet Discusses Fansubbing

The Cnet News website has published a three page article covering the state of English language anime fan subtitling and unlicensed anime distribution. Perhaps one of the most revealing statistics included in the article is the fact that domestic anime sales seem to be either remaining steady or declining although awareness of anime among English speaking viewers is increasing. Reportedly “top titles” continue to sell well, but “middle category” anime releases no longer receive the support from the fan community and consumers that they once had. The epidemic of anime releases “being forgotten,” may be accounted for by the prevalence of illegally distributed copies, and may be influenced by the dramatic increase in number of domestic anime releases that are now over saturating what the market can bear.

Source: Anime on DVD