2003-11-04, 11:07 | Link #1 | |
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Macross Legalities
Well, seeing as the old threads got wiped, I managed to save most of the Macross Legalities thread from the old forums.
This thread is dedicated to trying to clear the legal haze around the Macross franchise, Robotech, and everything related. I copied and pasted this directly from the old forums into a text file when it was announced that the forums would possibly be starting over from scratch, so the first post is all those posts in one big post. If you're a fan of Macross or Robotech, you'll probably be willing to wade through it to find out why Macross 7 never made it Stateside, why Macross 7 Trash was cancelled, and why Macross Zero might not make it to the United States unless the Japanese owners are willing to get in a drawn out court fight with the company that edited the original series into Robotech. Or if you just want to know the differences between Robotech and the original Japanese shows from which it was cobbled together. Enjoy! Quote:
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2003-11-04, 11:09 | Link #2 | |
Just Married, Oct. 28th!
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Macross Legalities continued...
Yet more from the original thread:
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2004-01-03, 05:34 | Link #3 | |
Raving Mechafreak
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Heresy! Blasphemy! Oh shame, oh degradation!
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Brace yourself. Ready? I think that the best solution to this would be for some translation company who knows their ass from their elbow about quality to accquire the animation licenses, and let the music hang. Get some english speaking group - not a top 20 Name, someone whose sound is similar and is small enough to be hireable as the voices for the characters all the time - and make aall new music for it. Why? Because it would still be the same story, with music accessible to the age group the toys are actually targeted at, and would therefore be an actual contender on national TV, where the big bucks are. Yes, I like the original audio - Mylene's voice can never possibly sound as good with any dub VA... but I'd rather see a rack full of Macross toys in Wal Mart riding the resurgence of transforming robot vehicles. A whole new generation of kids could see what the real thing looks like, not this Nikolodeon wobbly lines crap, or South Park cutouts... TF:Armada toys were... okay... and Energon looks like it'll be better, but the shows are total writeoffs. When it's already made millions, those music licenses might not look so bad as a special feature for the DVD set, eh? Now, anyone got a few hundred thou for venture capital? |
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2004-01-03, 10:06 | Link #4 |
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Get some english speaking group - not a top 20 Name, someone whose sound is similar and is small enough to be hireable as the voices for the characters all the time - and make aall new music for it.
And the fans would be demanding the studio's heads on a platter. Funimation did this with DBZ, and irritated many DBZ fans. TOKYOPOP is raking Initial D over the coals with this (not that the original music was any good to boot) and people hate them for it. I would say that if it can't be done as it was originally (or at least as original as possible), then it shouldn't be done at all. Swapping out the original music for redone stuff will just piss the fans off. |
2004-01-03, 19:01 | Link #5 | |
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2004-02-23, 02:23 | Link #6 | |||
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As found at http://www.robotech.com News of Macross 'DYRL?' merchandise from Harmony Gold:
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Now, as you may know the rights to DYRL? and other Macross derivatives are not so clear, though all Tokyo Court rulings point to Tatsunoko/Harmony Gold owning merchandising and distribution rights to the tv series, but nothing else. It is possible that Harmony Gold and Big West have made some sort of deal. It is also possible that Harmony Gold acquired the license through questionable means, or is simply riding their previous statement that they own all things Macross outside of Japan, and are using this to push Big West into a legal situation, in the hopes of resolving the matter once and for all. This could be very good, or very bad news for us Macross fans. Harmony Gold has been blocking all attempts to license Macross merchandise and derivatives since about 2000. Many Macross fans are not happy with Harmony Gold's treatment of the franchise, though the ability to buy legit copies of many Macross sequels, including the new prequel OVA 'Macross Zero', in addition to the Japanese toys produced by Bandai and Yamato, could win many over...if Harmony Gold pursued such an idea. Still, until the legal wrangling, many fans will probably harbour sour feelings toward Harmony Gold until it's proven beyond any doubt that Big West did give Tatsunoko/Harmony Gold rights to Macross sequels back in the original contract for the production of the tv series. At this point it's still impossible to tell what the situation is, I guess we'll have to wait until July for any sort of answer. |
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2004-02-23, 23:44 | Link #7 | |
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Wow this is quite the informative thread... I never really understood the whole legal proceedings clearly until I read all this...
Too bad about the North American toy rights... I definetly want to get the VF fighter that Roy Fokker and Shin use in Macross Zero... Quote:
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2004-02-24, 02:36 | Link #8 | |
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The Macross Zero toys are on the way. Keep an eye on those sites. |
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2004-03-13, 10:49 | Link #9 |
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In addition to the pre-order for the 'DYRL?' based Super Posable toys, the online store at www.robotech.com has something else surprising.
http://www.robotech.com/store/viewproduct.php?id=151 Macross Plus Movie Edition is now up for sale. This is the old Manga release, but for several years now Harmony Gold has argued that Manga's release of Macross Plus and the Movie Edition were infringements on their (Harmony Gold's) copyright on "all things Macross". This may mean nothing at all, except that HG has decided to capitalize on something that has been around too long for them to cry foul about, but already it has caused a stir among the Macross fan community, especially with the announcement of the DYRL? super posables not all that long ago. This makes July seem all that much further away for anyone eager for answers. |
2004-03-13, 14:26 | Link #10 |
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As for the other shows, I don't think it is so complicated as that. I asked around, places like animeigo and such, Mac 7 is expensive and not popular enought ot warrant it in the states. Its supposed to be really expensive, think about it, you have to get the music seperately from the show for some reason so...yeah. Then there's Zero, which there was a rumor around that Pioneer I believe liscensed it andjust hadn't announced it. Which would make sense, I mean, why tell everyon you have a show that isn't finished yet? As was said earlier, the simplest explanation is often the correct one.
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2004-03-13, 15:17 | Link #11 |
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Yes, that is indeed the case with Macross 7, gohmifune, and that is also stated somewhere in this thread as well. However, Harmony Gold has stated that Macross II and Macross Plus infringed upon their copyright, and that if they had not been understaffed at the time (a point of contention in this mess, as they were actively licensing Robotech products when that occured) they would have stopped their releases, and I believe they have also stated that they will block any attempt to bring Macross Zero, or any other future sequels or prequels, over into "their territory" unless it is done through them.
Many of these statements were made at panels during Anime conventions HG staff attended. They have also blocked companies such as Yamato from domestically selling Macross (non-tv series) merchandise within what HG considers to be it's territory. The rumour that Pioneer/Geneon has licensed Macross Zero is also pointed out in this thread, and I hope it is true. However, I would not reccomend taking it as fact until Geneon themselves make an official statement one way or the other. Harmony Gold and Big West's positions on Macross are no secret. What the Tokyo Circuit Courts have ruled are also publicly available. The only pieces of the puzzle that are not available are the exact wordings of the contracts between Big West and Tatsunoko, however as stated there is definitely disagreement between the companies as to who owns what. |
2004-07-05, 02:33 | Link #12 |
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At AnimeExpo Harmony Gold announced that they had just found out that they've had merchandising rights to the Macross movie 'Do You Remember Love?' since 1984 through their joint rights tied with Tatsunoko.
This is the reasoning behind Harmony Gold's announcement of DYRL? based superposable toys, their DYRL? 20th Anniversary website, etcetera. Apparently they were clear that this is seperate from distribution rights. They say they don't have those, but they are interested in acquiring those rights the moment whoever currently owns them can be found. They also stated a dub of the movie would be made available, as well as subtitled, again provided that they can find who currently holds those rights and scquire them for themselves. This probably means AnimEigo won't get the project should HG nab the rights. One must wonder what Big West's response will be to this?
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2008-06-04, 09:04 | Link #13 | ||
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2008-06-04, 09:47 | Link #14 | |
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Tatsunoko owns SDF1 anime but nothing else correct?(who own southern cross and the other one thats in robotch?) Harmony Gold has some legal hooks still into the franchise at least enough to make setting a new license a headache this is more or less correct? Big West needs to look at HG as a left over hanger on to a CP issues and give them a carrot probably a few 100K or a couple million make the contract clear and simple that HG gives up any and all claims to anything outside of SDF1 and that any SDF1 refance but it art,tech,characters can be freely used by big west, this will at least let them bring macross to the states and that should be worth whatever money is spent on the contract, I say this because we are talking about the whole macross series here but for SDF1. Big west should be focusing on setting up a contract with HG that ensures their interests are protected when they license the anime in the US, the other stuff seems to have been worked out but just setting something up as so they are protected from legal action while they have the rest of macross brought to the states is something they should focus on. Care to go any deeper on the US rights issue, any more info would be greatly appreciated =^^=
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2008-06-04, 10:58 | Link #15 | |||
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It's less that Harmony Gold has any legal claim to Macross works that's the problem; it's more that there's a possibility that they can launch a lawsuit to challenge any license, thereby making it unprofitable. The obvious remedy is to license a show with Harmony Gold's cooperation, but then there's the problem that Big West probably won't want to deal with them. To give you an idea of how much trouble this can potentially be, bear in mind that FASA folded up largely because of the costs incurred from their lawsuits against Quote:
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As far as I can tell, there won't be any US rights issues until it's settled by some sort of legal action. If the Robotech movie actually gets made, it might clear a lot of things up.
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2008-06-10, 22:32 | Link #17 | |
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HG understands that they have no leg to stand on other than costly court tactics that will ultimately bankrupt them, working for a middle ground to let the new stuff though on the macross name unopposed and let the older stuff work its way through the system would be best for both IMO, but I guess big west has had it with HGs nickel and diming and will wait out the next 5+ years to have things settled for once and for all.
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2008-06-10, 23:12 | Link #18 | ||
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On the other hand, Harmony Gold's acceptance of the Toynami Macross toys suggests that there's more room for compromise than I originally thought. Still, it doesn't seem all that likely for any Macross show to be licensed any time soon, the the odds are much higher than they were a few months ago. My bet is that the next one will actually be Macross Frontier - it's pretty much guaranteed to sell oodles.
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2008-06-10, 23:33 | Link #19 | ||
Incoherance is my friend!
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While I tend to not buy anything retail anymore the Macross brand will do well in the states and is a long time coming but even I can only stand to shell out 3$ an ep at most...still wish they would make better sub discs and sell them cheaper...I'd rather buy sub only than a americanized dub >> (don't worry I am a media nazi,I think Xmen films suck and spider man 1 was better than its crappy seqauls...at least Iron man was solid..the new hulk flick looks bearable as well )
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2008-06-11, 00:36 | Link #20 | ||
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By the way, I can't entirely blame Harmony Gold for this mess because it's sort of natural for a business to try to protect what part of the property they can. However, their actions have still thrown a big monkey wrench into the works. Quote:
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