Recently, Youka Nitta, mangaka of such famous titles as Haru wo Daite Ita (Embracing Love) and Boku no Koe, has admitted to tracing fashion ads for her cover pictures. Her latest chapters have been pulled from Be-Boy Gold and her website has been taken down completely except for a letter of apology. She has also canceled her appearance at Yaoi-Con 2008.
For more information as well as photo comparisons, please refer to this Anime News Network article, Embracing Love's Nitta Acknowledges Tracing Photo. The follow up article announcing her pulling out of Yaoi-Con is here.
Don Amoeba of the Youka Nitta livejournal community has translated Youka Nitta's apology post on her website.
Quote:
I'm terribly sorry for causing this situation due to my lack of knowledge with copyright issues.
It is foolish of me to not have realized that it's plagiarism when I use photos that I like in my illustrations. However, as everyone has pointed out, as a professional mangaka this is not the right thing to do and I regret it very much. To those who own the copyright of the picture, to those who are involved, to those who are remotely looking forward to Youka Nitta's upcoming works, and to readers who like Youka Nitta's works up till now, I want to give you my most sincere apology.
I've never felt worse in my life to have let something like this happen due to my ignorance. But now that I've fully realized the gravity of my mistake, it only make my feel more regretful about it all. All accusations I've received are caused by my own actions and I'm prepared to accept them all. Everytime I read a reader's comment or email message, I cry thinking that I've hurt and let these people down, even though they're still so supportive of me in my pathetic situation.
I shall cease all writing activities and continue to devote myself to apologizing to the picture's copyright owners, and deal with the issue in all sincerity. I shall look back at my foolish actions and learn from them. I am terribly sorry about it all.
Youka Nitta
It is foolish of me to not have realized that it's plagiarism when I use photos that I like in my illustrations. However, as everyone has pointed out, as a professional mangaka this is not the right thing to do and I regret it very much. To those who own the copyright of the picture, to those who are involved, to those who are remotely looking forward to Youka Nitta's upcoming works, and to readers who like Youka Nitta's works up till now, I want to give you my most sincere apology.
I've never felt worse in my life to have let something like this happen due to my ignorance. But now that I've fully realized the gravity of my mistake, it only make my feel more regretful about it all. All accusations I've received are caused by my own actions and I'm prepared to accept them all. Everytime I read a reader's comment or email message, I cry thinking that I've hurt and let these people down, even though they're still so supportive of me in my pathetic situation.
I shall cease all writing activities and continue to devote myself to apologizing to the picture's copyright owners, and deal with the issue in all sincerity. I shall look back at my foolish actions and learn from them. I am terribly sorry about it all.
Youka Nitta
It is unclear at this time whether her projects are on hold temporarily or indefinitely.
