Comment on Crunchyroll accidentally confirmed it uses ChatGPT for subtitles
Unboxious@ani.social 3 weeks agogiven that there are still plenty of passionate fans who would have done it for free
I’d imagine this is a non-starter from a corporate standpoint. I know if I were in charge I’d be terrified of the idea of just trusting community-submitted subtitles to not have random slurs or something inserted. That said I still think it would be super cool if they’d let people source and use their own subtitle files; I now it’s possible because I have a tampermonkey script that lets me do just that.
megopie@beehaw.org 3 weeks ago
That’s the core of the issue, crunchy roll has sat its self as a corporate middleman, buying the rights to distribute shows and then charging consumers a subscription for access.
But they can’t be bothered to do the only actual damn work their position would realistically demand, beyond renting server space; providing translations for the foreign media they’re distributing.
That’s without even discussing the fact that not a single penny users give them will end up in the hands of any of the exploited artists who actually made the shows, since the industry doesn’t work on residuals or any other kind of profit sharing, the licensing fees crunchy roll pays essentially going straight to financiers.
Unboxious@ani.social 3 weeks ago
That’s quite the assertion. How exactly do you suggest they’re buying the rights to distribute the shows then?
megopie@beehaw.org 3 weeks ago
They’re buying them from production committees and other such organizations. Most anime is made on essentially “commission” basis, where a studio is payed a fixed upfront amount by a group of financiers and other interests, who then distribute the show, sell the merch, and license it internationally. Essentially studios and those who work there are payed no residuals or other profit sharing scheme like is common in the American film and television industry.
There is actually a bit of a cartel in that regard, with the third parties that purchase shows from studios having collaborated to suppress the cost of seasons for nearly 2 decades, leading to stagnant wages and rampant overworking of artists as the quality and quantity of work expected increases while the budget stays the same. Increasingly artists at the companies have had to fall back on gig work beyond their standard hours to make ends meet, getting payed by frame in their off hours to make a little extra money, effectively working 16 hour days through this additional work. There is some movement to change this as of late, but, this is still essentially the norm.
Unboxious@ani.social 3 weeks ago
Yes, but do you think they’d buy the shows from those production committees and other organizations if people weren’t interested in paying subscriptions to watch them? That’s like saying Bandai doesn’t get money when I buy gunpla from a store like usagunplastore just because usagunplastore already bought the gunpla from Bandai months ago and Bandai isn’t getting more money from that particular purchase.
Animators being horribly underpaid is a different topic entirely.
borari@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
So pirate the shit and use whatever subtitles you want.