Fansub

A fansub (short for fan-subtitled) is a copy of a foreign movie or television show which has been subtitled by fans in their native language. It is most commonly used to refer to fan-translated anime videos that are shared amongst other fans.

Copyright Problems
One of the issues of fansubbing is the infringment of copyright issues concerned with the anime being fansub. While many fansubbing groups stop distributing a show once it is licensed in North America, some continue long afterwards. Shows licensed by 4Kids, for example, are considered by some to be "not truly licensed," due to the company's refusal to release unedited versions of their properties. Fansubbers have been the lone source of subtitled versions of several 4Kids shows, including Tokyo Mew Mew, One Piece, and Yu-Gi-Oh!.

An older example is Sailor Moon, which was initially licensed by DiC. No uncut or subtitled version was ever released by DiC, prompting some fansubbers to distribute their own. It wasn't until 2003 that commercial subtitles of the first two seasons appeared; no commercial release of the fifth season has ever been made. However, all of Sailor Moon has recently lapsed into being unlicensed, making fansubs the only available source of the show for fans.

There are other examples, such as Samurai Champloo or Ghost in the Shell, which were fansubbed after they were licensed by respectable domestic companies (Geneon and Bandai respectively) who later produced accurate subtitled DVDs of the shows.

YouTube
Efforts to combat fansubs are found on YouTube, who have been pressured by many companies to regulate the site. YouTube is against the use of licensed material being added to the site; fansubs fall into this category. However, it should be noted that AMVs, episode clips and other such media are also against their rules, and that YouTube has also targeted many anime other than One Piece.

Speed Sub
Speed subs are fansub releases that are released quickly after the episode is originally aired. Due to the speed at which these are released, they typically have not had as much editing done to the script, and they often times have less detailed effects. However, the episodes can be released even the day the raw file is available, making these preferable to some people, although others don't care for speed subs because of the lack of quality typically seen in them. For One Piece, ADC-Elites is a speed sub.

Hard Sub
Hard subs are the most common form of fansub available. With a hard sub, the subtitles are encoded into the video file itself, resulting in one file in which the subtitles cannot be removed or altered in any way. Fansub groups typically use this format, as it means that they can be assured that their work (mostly the translation and effects, but the timing as well) is not being stolen. For One Piece,Nakama-fansubs, Kaizoku-Fansubs, Gerusama, and ADC-Elites(as well as many less notable groups) are hard subs.

Soft Sub
Soft subs are a more rare form of fansub. Unlike a hard sub, soft subs are a subtitle file that is separate from the video itself. Video players can load the subtitle file if it and the video file are in the same location, although some require this sub file to be loaded separately. With a soft sub, the user can modify how the subtitles appear on the video, as well as being able to modify the script itself. However, many fansub groups don't like soft subs, as it means that people can simply take their scripts, effects, and times, and do whatever they want with them. For One Piece, the only group that does soft subs currently is the still new Vegapunk Fansubs.