[4Tran]

Originally Posted by Tak

I got one approximately 3 years ago when I was still operating a small-time online shop with my overseas partner importing Macross-related goods (along with other stuff). It was sent to my E-mail as a warning. Three years aren't terribly long ago, that was around the time of Mac Zero.

I see. I wonder if anything has changed since then. I have the feeling that it may have been deemed a necessary for protecting their intellectual property. That doesn't keep it from sucking though.

Originally Posted by Tak

DYRL made it to the states, but dubbed as 'Clash of the Bionoids'. Its horrible quality regardless, the fact that it already made it meant it could be remastered as a DVD release in the US, uncut. I am sure the fact that it wasn't might have something to do with HG. Moreover, the original version also saw release in Europe.

The negotiations I'm talking about were for the recently remastered version of Do You Remember Love. The older versions' licenses have long since lapsed (they never even made it to DVD, if I recall correctly).

Originally Posted by Tak

Besides, who is asking for the high price? Certainly not Big West/Bandai & associated parties. Macross PLUS and MACROSS II all made it to the states without much trouble until HG smacked down the sledgehammer. Obviously, if it wasn't for HG's meddling, Macross 7 or ZERO might have made it to the states a long, LONG time ago.

You're talking about events that took place right around the time of the FASA vs. Playmates lawsuit. It's the events that happen afterwards that put the clamp down on further Macross licenses.

Originally Posted by Tak

Robotech's original Japanese licenser never gave HG more rights than merely broadcasting the show, but Robotech became a different animal clearly due to negligence and legal loopholes.

That doesn't seem to be the case. From the Macross Legalities thread:

Later on in the series production, Tatsunoko found that what they agreed to would not cover the production costs, so they decided to renegotiate. Big West gave Tatsunoko the international distribution and merchandising rights in order to compensate them further.

Tatsunoko later sold those rights into a joint ownership with American company, Harmony Gold.

This worked out well for most involved for a very long time, until around 2001 when Yamato, a toy company that had nabbed the Macross Plus toy license in Japan, was given Big West's permission to sell those toys in the Unioted States where Macross Plus had garnered a lot of attention after it was released by Manga.

Harmony Gold's new management decided to put an end to this threat to their soon to be revived Robotech franchise. They sent Toycom, Yamato's American distributer, a cease and desist letter and claimed they owned rights to all things Macross.

Originally Posted by Tak

Whatever they want to do with ROBOTECH is their problem, just STOP F*CKING AROUND with Macross!

That's part of the problem. If a company doesn't aggressively defend its intellectual property, it may well lose the ability to profit from it. You can largely blame the outdated copyright & trademark system for that.