diff --git a/dosage b/dosage
index 3f162bc6e..e00d5dac7 100755
--- a/dosage
+++ b/dosage
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ def display_help(options):
 def display_comic_help(scraperobj):
     """Print help for a comic."""
     orig_context = out.context
-    out.context = scraperobj.getName()
+    out.context = scraperobj.name
     try:
         out.info(u"URL: " + scraperobj.url)
         out.info(u"Language: " + scraperobj.language())
@@ -178,9 +178,9 @@ def vote_comic(scraperobj):
     """Vote for given comic scraper."""
     errors = 0
     orig_context = out.context
-    out.context = scraperobj.getName()
+    out.context = scraperobj.name
     try:
-        name = scraperobj.getName()
+        name = scraperobj.name
         answer = scraperobj.vote()
         out.debug(u'Vote answer %r' % answer)
         if answer == 'counted':
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ def do_list(column_list=True, verbose=False):
         out.info(u'Comics tagged with [%s] require age confirmation with the --adult option.' % TAG_ADULT)
         out.info(u'Non-english comics are tagged with [%s].' % TAG_LANG)
         scrapers = sorted(director.getAllScrapers(listing=True),
-                          key=lambda s: s.getName())
+                          key=lambda s: s.name)
         if column_list:
             num, disabled = do_column_list(scrapers)
         else:
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ def get_tagged_scraper_name(scraperobj, limit=None, reasons=None):
         suffix = " [" + ", ".join(tags) + "]"
     else:
         suffix = ""
-    name = scraperobj.getName()
+    name = scraperobj.name
     if limit is not None:
         name = strlimit(name, limit)
     return name + suffix
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ def main():
 def profile():
     """Profile the loading of all scrapers."""
     import cProfile
-    cProfile.run("scraper.get_scraperclasses()", "dosage.prof")
+    cProfile.run("scraper.get_scrapers()", "dosage.prof")
 
 
 def viewprof():
diff --git a/dosagelib/director.py b/dosagelib/director.py
index 3d003486d..e3991007e 100644
--- a/dosagelib/director.py
+++ b/dosagelib/director.py
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
-# -*- coding: iso-8859-1 -*-
-# Copyright (C) 2014 Bastian Kleineidam
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright (C) 2004-2005 Tristan Seligmann and Jonathan Jacobs
+# Copyright (C) 2012-2014 Bastian Kleineidam
+# Copyright (C) 2015-2016 Tobias Gruetzmacher
+
+from __future__ import absolute_import, division, print_function
+
 import os
 import threading
 try:
@@ -14,6 +19,7 @@ try:
     from urllib.parse import urlparse
 except ImportError:
     from urlparse import urlparse
+
 from .output import out
 from . import events, scraper
 from .util import getDirname
@@ -55,6 +61,8 @@ def get_hostname(url):
 
 
 lock = threading.Lock()
+
+
 def get_host_lock(url):
     """Get lock object for given URL host."""
     hostname = get_hostname(url)
@@ -68,7 +76,7 @@ class ComicGetter(threading.Thread):
         """Store options."""
         super(ComicGetter, self).__init__()
         self.options = options
-        self.origname = self.getName()
+        self.origname = self.name
         self.stopped = False
         self.errors = 0
 
@@ -76,10 +84,10 @@ class ComicGetter(threading.Thread):
         """Process from queue until it is empty."""
         try:
             while not self.stopped:
-                scraperobj = jobs.get(False)
-                self.setName(scraperobj.getName())
+                scraper = jobs.get(False)
+                self.name = scraper.name
                 try:
-                    self.getStrips(scraperobj)
+                    self.getStrips(scraper)
                 finally:
                     jobs.task_done()
                     self.setName(self.origname)
@@ -93,7 +101,7 @@ class ComicGetter(threading.Thread):
         with lock:
             host_lock = get_host_lock(scraperobj.url)
         with host_lock:
-            self._getStrips(scraperobj)
+            self._getStrips(scraper)
 
     def _getStrips(self, scraperobj):
         """Get all strips from a scraper."""
@@ -117,7 +125,8 @@ class ComicGetter(threading.Thread):
                 if self.stopped:
                     break
             if self.options.all and not (self.errors or self.options.dry_run or
-                                    self.options.cont or scraperobj.indexes):
+                                         self.options.cont or
+                                         scraperobj.indexes):
                 scraperobj.setComplete(self.options.basepath)
         except Exception as msg:
             out.exception(msg)
@@ -158,7 +167,8 @@ def getComics(options):
     events.getHandler().start()
     errors = 0
     try:
-        for scraperobj in getScrapers(options.comic, options.basepath, options.adult, options.multimatch):
+        for scraperobj in getScrapers(options.comic, options.basepath,
+                                      options.adult, options.multimatch):
             jobs.put(scraperobj)
         # start threads
         num_threads = min(options.parallel, jobs.qsize())
@@ -200,16 +210,16 @@ def getScrapers(comics, basepath=None, adult=True, multiple_allowed=False, listi
         # only scrapers whose directory already exists
         if len(comics) > 1:
             out.warn(u"using '@' as comic name ignores all other specified comics.")
-        for scraperclass in scraper.get_scraperclasses():
-            dirname = getDirname(scraperclass.getName())
+        for scraperobj in scraper.get_scrapers():
+            dirname = getDirname(scraperobj.name)
             if os.path.isdir(os.path.join(basepath, dirname)):
-                if shouldRunScraper(scraperclass, adult, listing):
-                    yield scraperclass()
+                if shouldRunScraper(scraperobj, adult, listing):
+                    yield scraperobj
     elif '@@' in comics:
         # all scrapers
-        for scraperclass in scraper.get_scraperclasses():
-            if shouldRunScraper(scraperclass, adult, listing):
-                yield scraperclass()
+        for scraperobj in scraper.get_scrapers():
+            if shouldRunScraper(scraperobj, adult, listing):
+                yield scraperobj
     else:
         # get only selected comic scrapers
         # store them in a set to eliminate duplicates
@@ -227,32 +237,34 @@ def getScrapers(comics, basepath=None, adult=True, multiple_allowed=False, listi
             else:
                 name = comic
                 indexes = None
-            scraperclasses = scraper.find_scraperclasses(name, multiple_allowed=multiple_allowed)
-            for scraperclass in scraperclasses:
-                if shouldRunScraper(scraperclass, adult, listing):
-                    scraperobj = scraperclass(indexes=indexes)
+            scrapers = scraper.find_scrapers(name, multiple_allowed=multiple_allowed)
+            for scraperobj in scrapers:
+                if shouldRunScraper(scraperobj, adult, listing):
+                    # FIXME: Find a better way to work with indexes
+                    scraperobj.indexes = indexes
                     if scraperobj not in scrapers:
                         scrapers.add(scraperobj)
                         yield scraperobj
 
 
-def shouldRunScraper(scraperclass, adult=True, listing=False):
+def shouldRunScraper(scraperobj, adult=True, listing=False):
     if listing:
         return True
-    if not adult and scraperclass.adult:
-        warn_adult(scraperclass)
+    if not adult and scraperobj.adult:
+        warn_adult(scraperobj)
         return False
-    reasons = scraperclass.getDisabledReasons()
+    reasons = scraperobj.getDisabledReasons()
     if reasons:
-        warn_disabled(scraperclass, reasons)
+        warn_disabled(scraperobj, reasons)
         return False
     return True
 
 
-def warn_adult(scraperclass):
+def warn_adult(scraperobj):
     """Print warning about adult content."""
-    out.warn(u"skipping adult comic %s; use the --adult option to confirm your age" % scraperclass.getName())
+    out.warn(u"skipping adult comic %s; use the --adult option to confirm your age" % scraperobj.name)
 
-def warn_disabled(scraperclass, reasons):
+
+def warn_disabled(scraperobj, reasons):
     """Print warning about disabled comic modules."""
-    out.warn(u"Skipping comic %s: %s" % (scraperclass.getName(), ' '.join(reasons.values())))
+    out.warn(u"Skipping comic %s: %s" % (scraperobj.name, ' '.join(reasons.values())))
diff --git a/dosagelib/output.py b/dosagelib/output.py
index 451ff08ca..2de380716 100644
--- a/dosagelib/output.py
+++ b/dosagelib/output.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ lock = threading.Lock()
 
 def get_threadname():
     """Return name of current thread."""
-    return threading.current_thread().getName()
+    return threading.current_thread().name
 
 
 class Output(object):
diff --git a/dosagelib/plugins/comicfury.py b/dosagelib/plugins/comicfury.py
index deb257536..a4caef9f4 100644
--- a/dosagelib/plugins/comicfury.py
+++ b/dosagelib/plugins/comicfury.py
@@ -29,9 +29,9 @@ class _ComicFury(_ParserScraper):
         num = parts[-1]
         return "%s_%s%s" % (cls.__name__[2:], num, ext)
 
-    @classmethod
-    def getName(cls):
-        return 'ComicFury/' + cls.__name__[2:]
+    @property
+    def name(self):
+        return 'ComicFury/' + super(_ComicFury, self).name[2:]
 
     def getIndexStripUrl(self, index):
         return self.url + 'comics/%s' % index
diff --git a/dosagelib/plugins/creators.py b/dosagelib/plugins/creators.py
index da0a48ce1..d2cd54934 100644
--- a/dosagelib/plugins/creators.py
+++ b/dosagelib/plugins/creators.py
@@ -14,9 +14,9 @@ class _Creators(_ParserScraper):
     prevSearch = '//a[@id="nav_prev"]'
     latestSearch = '//div[contains(@class,"caption")]/a'
 
-    @classmethod
-    def getName(cls):
-        return 'Creators/' + cls.__name__
+    @property
+    def name(self):
+        return 'Creators/' + super(_Creators, self).name
 
     def starter(self):
         start = self.url + self.path
diff --git a/dosagelib/plugins/gocomics.py b/dosagelib/plugins/gocomics.py
index 36694652c..91bf7fef2 100644
--- a/dosagelib/plugins/gocomics.py
+++ b/dosagelib/plugins/gocomics.py
@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@ class _GoComics(_ParserScraper):
     nextSearch = '//ul[@class="feature-nav"]//a[@class="next"]'
     help = 'Index format: yyyy/mm/dd'
 
-    @classmethod
-    def getName(cls):
-        return 'GoComics/' + cls.__name__[2:]
+    @property
+    def name(self):
+        return 'GoComics/' + super(_GoComics, self).name[2:]
 
     def starter(self):
         url1 = self.url + self.path
diff --git a/dosagelib/plugins/nuklearpower.py b/dosagelib/plugins/nuklearpower.py
index b6d59aec5..d251d7be3 100644
--- a/dosagelib/plugins/nuklearpower.py
+++ b/dosagelib/plugins/nuklearpower.py
@@ -14,9 +14,9 @@ class _NuklearPower(_ParserScraper):
     def starter(self):
         return self.url + self.path + '/'
 
-    @classmethod
-    def getName(cls):
-        return 'NuklearPower/' + cls.__name__[2:]
+    @property
+    def name(self):
+        return 'NuklearPower/' + super(_NuklearPower, self).name[2:]
 
 
 class NP8BitTheater(_NuklearPower):
diff --git a/dosagelib/plugins/wlpcomics.py b/dosagelib/plugins/wlpcomics.py
index c854b22f5..72b6c690b 100644
--- a/dosagelib/plugins/wlpcomics.py
+++ b/dosagelib/plugins/wlpcomics.py
@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@ class _WLPComics(_ParserScraper):
     starter = bounceStarter
     help = 'Index format: nnn'
 
-    @classmethod
-    def getName(cls):
-        return 'WLP/' + cls.__name__
+    @property
+    def name(self):
+        return 'WLP/' + super(_WLPComics, self).name
 
     @classmethod
     def namer(cls, image_url, page_url):
diff --git a/dosagelib/scraper.py b/dosagelib/scraper.py
index d408d1383..6dd7e3af6 100644
--- a/dosagelib/scraper.py
+++ b/dosagelib/scraper.py
@@ -90,13 +90,19 @@ class Scraper(object):
     # HTTP session for configuration & cookies
     session = requests_session()
 
-    def __init__(self, indexes=None):
+    @property
+    def indexes(self):
+        return self._indexes
+
+    @indexes.setter
+    def indexes(self, val):
+        if val:
+            self._indexes = tuple(sorted(val))
+
+    def __init__(self):
         """Initialize internal variables."""
         self.urls = set()
-        if indexes:
-            self.indexes = tuple(sorted(indexes))
-        else:
-            self.indexes = tuple()
+        self._indexes = tuple()
         self.skippedUrls = set()
         self.hitFirstStripUrl = False
 
@@ -105,7 +111,7 @@ class Scraper(object):
         if not isinstance(other, Scraper):
             return 1
         # first, order by name
-        d = cmp(self.getName(), other.getName())
+        d = cmp(self.name, other.name)
         if d != 0:
             return d
         # then by indexes
@@ -113,7 +119,7 @@ class Scraper(object):
 
     def __hash__(self):
         """Get hash value from name and index list."""
-        return hash((self.getName(), self.indexes))
+        return hash((self.name, self.indexes))
 
     def shouldSkipUrl(self, url, data):
         """Determine if search for images in given URL should be skipped."""
@@ -141,7 +147,7 @@ class Scraper(object):
                                   optional=self.textOptional)
         else:
             text = None
-        return ComicStrip(self.getName(), url, imageUrls, self.namer,
+        return ComicStrip(self.name, url, imageUrls, self.namer,
                           self.session, text=text)
 
     def getStrips(self, maxstrips=None):
@@ -217,24 +223,21 @@ class Scraper(object):
             else:
                 prevUrl = self.prevUrlModifier(prevUrl)
                 out.debug(u"Found previous URL %s" % prevUrl)
-                getHandler().comicPageLink(self.getName(), url, prevUrl)
+                getHandler().comicPageLink(self.name, url, prevUrl)
         return prevUrl
 
     def getIndexStripUrl(self, index):
         """Get comic strip URL from index."""
         return self.stripUrl % index
 
-    @classmethod
-    def getName(cls):
+    @property
+    def name(self):
         """Get scraper name."""
-        if hasattr(cls, 'name'):
-            return cls.name
-        return cls.__name__
+        return self.__class__.__name__
 
-    @classmethod
-    def starter(cls):
+    def starter(self):
         """Get starter URL from where to scrape comic strips."""
-        return cls.url
+        return self.url
 
     @classmethod
     def namer(cls, imageUrl, pageUrl):
@@ -261,18 +264,17 @@ class Scraper(object):
         """Get starter URL from where to scrape comic strips."""
         return self.starter()
 
-    @classmethod
-    def vote(cls):
+    def vote(self):
         """Cast a public vote for this comic."""
         url = configuration.VoteUrl + 'count/'
         uid = get_system_uid()
-        data = {"name": cls.getName().replace('/', '_'), "uid": uid}
-        page = urlopen(url, cls.session, data=data)
+        data = {"name": self.name.replace('/', '_'), "uid": uid}
+        page = urlopen(url, self.session, data=data)
         return page.text
 
     def getCompleteFile(self, basepath):
         """Get filename indicating all comics are downloaded."""
-        dirname = getDirname(self.getName())
+        dirname = getDirname(self.name)
         return os.path.join(basepath, dirname, "complete.txt")
 
     def isComplete(self, basepath):
@@ -517,63 +519,66 @@ class _ParserScraper(Scraper):
         return res
 
 
-def find_scraperclasses(comic, multiple_allowed=False):
-    """Get a list comic scraper classes. Can return more than one entries if
-    multiple_allowed is True, else it raises a ValueError if multiple
-    modules match. The match is a case insensitive substring search."""
+def find_scrapers(comic, multiple_allowed=False):
+    """Get a list comic scraper objects.
+
+    Can return more than one entry if multiple_allowed is True, else it raises
+    a ValueError if multiple modules match. The match is a case insensitive
+    substring search.
+    """
     if not comic:
         raise ValueError("empty comic name")
     candidates = []
     cname = comic.lower()
-    for scraperclass in get_scraperclasses():
-        lname = scraperclass.getName().lower()
+    for scrapers in get_scrapers():
+        lname = scrapers.name.lower()
         if lname == cname:
             # perfect match
             if not multiple_allowed:
-                return [scraperclass]
+                return [scrapers]
             else:
-                candidates.append(scraperclass)
+                candidates.append(scrapers)
         elif cname in lname:
-            candidates.append(scraperclass)
+            candidates.append(scrapers)
     if len(candidates) > 1 and not multiple_allowed:
-        comics = ", ".join(x.getName() for x in candidates)
+        comics = ", ".join(x.name for x in candidates)
         raise ValueError('multiple comics found: %s' % comics)
     elif not candidates:
         raise ValueError('comic %r not found' % comic)
     return candidates
 
 
-_scraperclasses = None
+_scrapers = None
 
 
-def get_scraperclasses():
+def get_scrapers():
     """Find all comic scraper classes in the plugins directory.
     The result is cached.
     @return: list of Scraper classes
     @rtype: list of Scraper
     """
-    global _scraperclasses
-    if _scraperclasses is None:
+    global _scrapers
+    if _scrapers is None:
         out.debug(u"Loading comic modules...")
         modules = loader.get_modules('plugins')
         plugins = loader.get_plugins(modules, Scraper)
-        _scraperclasses = sorted(plugins, key=lambda p: p.getName())
+        _scrapers = sorted([x() for x in plugins], key=lambda p: p.name)
         check_scrapers()
-        out.debug(u"... %d modules loaded." % len(_scraperclasses))
-    return _scraperclasses
+        out.debug(u"... %d modules loaded." % len(_scrapers))
+    return _scrapers
 
 
 def check_scrapers():
-    """Check for duplicate scraper class names."""
+    """Check for duplicate scraper names."""
     d = {}
-    for scraperclass in _scraperclasses:
-        name = scraperclass.getName().lower()
+    for scraper in _scrapers:
+        name = scraper.name.lower()
         if name in d:
-            name1 = scraperclass.getName()
-            name2 = d[name].getName()
+            name1 = scraper.name
+            name2 = d[name].name
             raise ValueError('duplicate scrapers %s and %s found' %
                              (name1, name2))
-        d[name] = scraperclass
+        d[name] = scraper
 
 
 def make_scraper(classname, scraperType=_BasicScraper, **attributes):
diff --git a/tests/test_comicnames.py b/tests/test_comicnames.py
index 0d9199591..29909b911 100644
--- a/tests/test_comicnames.py
+++ b/tests/test_comicnames.py
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ from dosagelib import scraper
 class TestComicNames(object):
 
     def test_names(self):
-        for scraperclass in scraper.get_scraperclasses():
-            name = scraperclass.getName()
+        for scraperobj in scraper.get_scrapers():
+            name = scraperobj.name
             assert name.count('/') <= 1
             if '/' in name:
                 comicname = name.split('/')[1]
diff --git a/tests/test_comics.py b/tests/test_comics.py
index 28fafcdd6..65047c76c 100644
--- a/tests/test_comics.py
+++ b/tests/test_comics.py
@@ -33,18 +33,17 @@ def get_lock(host):
     return _locks[host]
 
 
-def _get_saved_images(outdir, scraper):
+def _get_saved_images(outdir, scraperobj):
     """Get saved images."""
-    dirs = tuple(scraper.getName().split('/'))
+    dirs = tuple(scraperobj.name.split('/'))
     files = os.listdir(os.path.join(outdir, *dirs))
     files = [x for x in files if not x.endswith(".txt")]
     return files
 
 
-def test_comicmodule(tmpdir, scraperclass):
+def test_comicmodule(tmpdir, scraperobj):
     '''Test a scraper. It must be able to traverse backward for at least 5
     strips from the start, and find strip images on at least 4 pages.'''
-    scraperobj = scraperclass()
     # Limit number of connections to one host.
     host = get_host(scraperobj.url)
     try:
@@ -121,11 +120,11 @@ def _check_stripurl(strip, scraperobj):
     assert mo is not None, err
 
 
-def get_test_scraperclasses():
+def get_test_scrapers():
     """Return scrapers that should be tested."""
     if "TESTALL" in os.environ:
         # test all comics (this will take some time)
-        scraperclasses = scraper.get_scraperclasses()
+        scrapers = scraper.get_scrapers()
     else:
         if 'TESTCOMICS' in os.environ:
             scraper_pattern = re.compile(os.environ['TESTCOMICS'])
@@ -139,13 +138,13 @@ def get_test_scraperclasses():
             ]
             scraper_pattern = re.compile('|'.join(testscrapernames))
 
-        scraperclasses = [
-            scraperclass for scraperclass in scraper.get_scraperclasses()
-            if scraper_pattern.match(scraperclass.getName())
+        scrapers = [
+            scraperobj for scraperobj in scraper.get_scrapers()
+            if scraper_pattern.match(scraperobj.name)
         ]
-    return scraperclasses
+    return scrapers
 
 
 def pytest_generate_tests(metafunc):
-    if 'scraperclass' in metafunc.fixturenames:
-        metafunc.parametrize('scraperclass', get_test_scraperclasses())
+    if 'scraperobj' in metafunc.fixturenames:
+        metafunc.parametrize('scraperobj', get_test_scrapers())
diff --git a/tests/test_scraper.py b/tests/test_scraper.py
index 6242cba43..8ac335544 100644
--- a/tests/test_scraper.py
+++ b/tests/test_scraper.py
@@ -9,20 +9,19 @@ from dosagelib import scraper
 class TestScraper(object):
     """Test scraper module functions."""
 
-    def test_get_scraperclasses(self):
-        for scraperclass in scraper.get_scraperclasses():
-            scraperobj = scraperclass()
-            scraperobj = scraperclass(indexes=["bla"])
-            assert scraperobj.url, "missing url in %s" % scraperobj.getName()
+    def test_get_scrapers(self):
+        for scraperobj in scraper.get_scrapers():
+            scraperobj.indexes = ["bla"]
+            assert scraperobj.url, "missing url in %s" % scraperobj.name
 
-    def test_find_scraperclasses_single(self):
-        result = scraper.find_scraperclasses("xkcd")
+    def test_find_scrapers_single(self):
+        result = scraper.find_scrapers("xkcd")
         assert len(result) == 1
 
-    def test_find_scraperclasses_multi(self):
-        result = scraper.find_scraperclasses("a", multiple_allowed=True)
+    def test_find_scrapers_multi(self):
+        result = scraper.find_scrapers("a", multiple_allowed=True)
         assert len(result) > 1
 
-    def test_find_scraperclasses_error(self):
+    def test_find_scrapers_error(self):
         with pytest.raises(ValueError):
-            scraper.find_scraperclasses("")
+            scraper.find_scrapers("")
diff --git a/tests/test_vote.py b/tests/test_vote.py
index 1600c4196..8b8f8da37 100644
--- a/tests/test_vote.py
+++ b/tests/test_vote.py
@@ -12,5 +12,5 @@ class ATestScraper(scraper._BasicScraper):
 class TestVote(object):
 
     def test_vote(self):
-        answer = ATestScraper.vote()
+        answer = ATestScraper().vote()
         assert answer in ('counted', 'no'), 'invalid answer %r' % answer