By Master Blaster: Shuho Sato, the writer of Burakku Jyakku ni Yoroshiku, which commonly translates to “Say Hello to Black Jack,” is planning to make the award winning, 10 million copy selling manga available for free “second use.”
This means that after 15 September anyone in the world will
be free to novelize, televise, create merchandise, or in any way adapt
the original work for either commercial or non-commercial purposes
without having to pay royalties. This is the latest move in the writer’s quest to find alternatives to the “outdated” model of intellectual property rights.
Earlier this year Sato had severed ties with the original publisher of the Say Hello to Black Jack series and put the works on his own web publishing site MangaonWeb. Details are yet to be confirmed but Sato is saying that he will not relinquish his copyright, but that he will not enforce it for an indefinite time.
“The traditional model of making profit by holding onto a copyright is gradually going stale” he said. “I want to explore the possible benefits to authors beyond this system.”