AnimeSuki Forums

Register Forum Rules FAQ Members List Social Groups Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   AnimeSuki Forum > Anime Discussion > Older Series > Macross

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 2008-06-11, 07:26   Link #21
ZippyDSM
Incoherance is my friend!
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4Tran View Post
That's probably the best thing that could happen for Big West or North American Macross fans, but it'll take an R1 company willing to take that kind of risk of nasty legal fees (ADV is probably the most likely choice since they seem to have a good relationship with Harmony Gold). Another problem is that Macross licensing fees are notoriously high; or at least that's the story floating around for Do You Remember Love, Macross Zero, and especially Macross 7. Macross Frontier is the first one to come around to really justify that kind of fee.

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.


The reason I think that a Macross Frontier R1 release will be very successful is because the old time Macross fans seem to love it and it's really the first chance that any of them have of buying new localized Macross material in over a decade. As a big bonus, it looks really good, and a lot of new viewers can (and have) picked it up.
HG should move to make deals for some money,at least let be known publicly they are willing to give from their position some but I guess things are already moving in that direction right and all thats needed isa US company willing to do the detail legal work to ensure what ever thats brought over is done so in a way that its potected from the IP swap macross has bee in over the years.


It is an interesting quagmire, now heres a question how many other shows have been made into another IP like SDF/Robotech and how many modern contracts would easily let a series be "remade" to such an extent.

Altho looking at 4kids it seems anything is possible, then again I might picking out extreams.

Frontier leads to zero anything to push interest into another set of discs is always a winner and if theres enough momentum they can bring over 7, 7 has not aged so well its still a solid show it just looks a bit faded perhaps they have better masters...maybe recolor/remaster it abit.... but its going to be a long while until they can build up the macross franchise some before they will bring out M7..... altho if Galaxy Angel can be dubed and brought over....M7 has a much better chance at making profit... as long as US macross fans are not into "serious" anime.... then again i get a feeling M7 has enough in it to bring in a wide swatch of fans.
ZippyDSM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2008-06-11, 08:27   Link #22
4Tran
Senior Member
 
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZippyDSM View Post
HG should move to make deals for some money,at least let be known publicly they are willing to give from their position some but I guess things are already moving in that direction right and all thats needed isa US company willing to do the detail legal work to ensure what ever thats brought over is done so in a way that its potected from the IP swap macross has bee in over the years.
To a degree, that's pretty much exactly what Harmony Gold's been doing (or at least what they say that they've been doing). The Toynami cooperation is certainly a step in the right direction, but it'll probably take more than that before we see anything substantial brought over to R1.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ZippyDSM View Post
It is an interesting quagmire, now heres a question how many other shows have been made into another IP like SDF/Robotech and how many modern contracts would easily let a series be "remade" to such an extent.

Altho looking at 4kids it seems anything is possible, then again I might picking out extreams.
Modern contracts are written and signed much more carefully than they were in the past. Some Japanese companies don't care too much about what's done in terms of localization (a lot of them have no idea how the R1 market works), so we get stuff like the 4Kids treatments. One big difference is that pretty much all modern licenses have an expiry date, so we won't see problems like Macross/Robotech drag on for decades any more.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ZippyDSM View Post
Frontier leads to zero anything to push interest into another set of discs is always a winner and if theres enough momentum they can bring over 7, 7 has not aged so well its still a solid show it just looks a bit faded perhaps they have better masters...maybe recolor/remaster it abit.... but its going to be a long while until they can build up the macross franchise some before they will bring out M7..... altho if Galaxy Angel can be dubed and brought over....M7 has a much better chance at making profit... as long as US macross fans are not into "serious" anime.... then again i get a feeling M7 has enough in it to bring in a wide swatch of fans.
The problem with Macross 7 doesn't have anything to do with the content or perceived quality of the show. It's that, reputedly, Victor Entertainment owns the music rights separately from the animation rights, and that they are asking for as much just for the music rights as the anime license itself. It's pretty much impossible to get one and not the other, so Macross 7 is going to sit unlicensed for a very long time.
__________________
The victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won...
4Tran is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2008-06-11, 11:30   Link #23
ZippyDSM
Incoherance is my friend!
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4Tran View Post
To a degree, that's pretty much exactly what Harmony Gold's been doing (or at least what they say that they've been doing). The Toynami cooperation is certainly a step in the right direction, but it'll probably take more than that before we see anything substantial brought over to R1.


Modern contracts are written and signed much more carefully than they were in the past. Some Japanese companies don't care too much about what's done in terms of localization (a lot of them have no idea how the R1 market works), so we get stuff like the 4Kids treatments. One big difference is that pretty much all modern licenses have an expiry date, so we won't see problems like Macross/Robotech drag on for decades any more.


The problem with Macross 7 doesn't have anything to do with the content or perceived quality of the show. It's that, reputedly, Victor Entertainment owns the music rights separately from the animation rights, and that they are asking for as much just for the music rights as the anime license itself. It's pretty much impossible to get one and not the other, so Macross 7 is going to sit unlicensed for a very long time.
Did not know they hamstrung the music to it, but of coarse even they must see that holding it back ensures no profit from it at all,even some game companies have figured out regional releases cost them more, oh well one more thing for tempers and time and money to work out.

Out of curiosity how many other shows have such odd legalities with music?
Or was M7 done before music was handled better regionally speaking.
ZippyDSM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2008-06-11, 11:41   Link #24
4Tran
Senior Member
 
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZippyDSM View Post
Out of curiosity how many other shows have such odd legalities with music?
Or was M7 done before music was handled better regionally speaking.
This isn't all that common, but it does happen from time to time, mostly with older shows. Off the top of my head, the same thing happened to Zeta Gundam and Kodocha. In both cases, the OP songs (both of Zeta's, and the Tokio songs) had a separate license, and they were replaced with different music. This isn't a viable solution for Macross 7 though, since the music plays a much more prominent role.
__________________
The victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won...
4Tran is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2008-06-11, 11:48   Link #25
ZippyDSM
Incoherance is my friend!
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4Tran View Post
This isn't all that common, but it does happen from time to time, mostly with older shows. Off the top of my head, the same thing happened to Zeta Gundam and Kodocha. In both cases, the OP songs (both of Zeta's, and the Tokio songs) had a separate license, and they were replaced with different music. This isn't a viable solution for Macross 7 though, since the music plays a much more prominent role.
ah common as in its up to the music rights holder to decide if they want some profit IE making a deal a letting it through or no profit either having it removed,replaced or simply let the show maintain a minim profit in a 1 or 3 regions.

So much for tieing music to shows at least to a point where a steady flow of profit is shared..then again I guess up front contracts are easier to manage and better for the short run than a 1-5% off the top from a shows profit over time.
ZippyDSM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2008-06-11, 14:44   Link #26
stray
Classic Yandere
 
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Philadelphia
American DVD industry on the whole is pretty awful about licensing music to keep costs down. Music heavy shows like Northern Exposure and WKRP in Cincinnati had basically all the music changed to generic dreck. IIRC even Married with Children didn't license the 'Love and Marriage' song for season releases past a point. Considering the anime industry on the whole is... in the crapper (Geneon, now maybe ADV, etc.) in R1 and what they'd have to compete with... Even if we ever saw an R1 Macross 7 it wouldn't have anything but new recordings of songs that sound absolutely nothing like Planet Dance or Totsugeki Love heart. Probably wouldn't even have a Japanese track. Not to mention the cost of either going to court with HG, or licensing the Macross TM. Hopefully Bandai Ent. will take HG to the house for Frontier, but considering whats been going on with BV USA, who knows. But then I have the M7 R2 remaster set, so whatever's clever.

I'd like to think that between Macross Frontier and the Robotech live action movie we're going to see things squared away no matter what within the next few years as far as Macross rights. If nothing else I can't really see Tobey Maguire being complacent about ignoring the Macross saga altogether, but you never know. I can still see the RT movie end up in the same limbo as the Halo movie.
stray is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2008-06-11, 21:38   Link #27
4Tran
Senior Member
 
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Quote:
Originally Posted by stray View Post
Even if we ever saw an R1 Macross 7 it wouldn't have anything but new recordings of songs that sound absolutely nothing like Planet Dance or Totsugeki Love heart. Probably wouldn't even have a Japanese track. Not to mention the cost of either going to court with HG, or licensing the Macross TM. Hopefully Bandai Ent. will take HG to the house for Frontier, but considering whats been going on with BV USA, who knows. But then I have the M7 R2 remaster set, so whatever's clever.
That's probably not a viable choice since it'd lose most of the existing Macross 7 fanbase.

Quote:
Originally Posted by stray View Post
I'd like to think that between Macross Frontier and the Robotech live action movie we're going to see things squared away no matter what within the next few years as far as Macross rights. If nothing else I can't really see Tobey Maguire being complacent about ignoring the Macross saga altogether, but you never know. I can still see the RT movie end up in the same limbo as the Halo movie.
From what I got from a recent (May) interview, the Robotech movie is still very much on the go. Harmony Gold and Warner Brothers seem to be trying to make sure that the different Robotech released planned don't "conflict with each other". If it really does bear fruit, it'd represent an opportunity to finally clear up the North American Macross rights.
__________________
The victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won...
4Tran is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2008-06-24, 20:32   Link #28
vision33r
Oldskool Otaku
 
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: New York City
M7 and other similar anime like Nana would never get licensed here.

All the music featured in Nana would require separate licensing which would be too expensive to license and promote.

Unless a big studio is willing to help promote the artists featured in the show and make some money from the music.

The 2 main singers in Nana are pretty well known artists in Japan, their labels would definitely want a slice at the revenue.
vision33r is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2008-06-24, 20:42   Link #29
ZippyDSM
Incoherance is my friend!
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Quote:
Originally Posted by vision33r View Post
M7 and other similar anime like Nana would never get licensed here.

All the music featured in Nana would require separate licensing which would be too expensive to license and promote.

Unless a big studio is willing to help promote the artists featured in the show and make some money from the music.

The 2 main singers in Nana are pretty well known artists in Japan, their labels would definitely want a slice at the revenue.
Gotta love the media mafia instead of taking want money they can they derail and postpone wasting millions as the years go by, the game industry is just starting to realize the more time you waste getting product to regions the more money is wasted.
ZippyDSM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2008-06-24, 21:07   Link #30
Zinjo
Junior Member
 
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Quote:
Originally Posted by stray View Post
Probably wouldn't even have a Japanese track. Not to mention the cost of either going to court with HG, or licensing the Macross TM. Hopefully Bandai Ent. will take HG to the house for Frontier, but considering whats been going on with BV USA, who knows. But then I have the M7 R2 remaster set, so whatever's clever.
That will depend on how big a hit MF is in Japan and possibly by how many overseas orders of the first Bluray Discs there are as indicators of its popularity here. The sticking point is the name. HG successfully TM'd the name in early 2003 after about 4 years of a mexican stand off with BW at the trademarks office. The 25th anniversary merchandise sales to foreign markets may play a large role in future TM challenges as well. With the internet downloads of MF giving the franchise sufficient exposure, it may prompt BW to challenge the TM as IP rights holders. The best test bed for this would be in the Canadian Trademarks Tribunal who generally favor the IP rights holder over all others. This would provide a satellite office the ability to distribute to the North American market if a US court challenge is either too expensive or unsuccessful.

The impression I tend to get from BW is that it is afraid of loosing and thus either incurring an expensive long term lawsuit or loosing what grey area rights they have in the North American market. In the age of successful IP rights challenges this seems a bit irrational, but then again so is fear...

Quote:
Originally Posted by stray View Post
I'd like to think that between Macross Frontier and the Robotech live action movie we're going to see things squared away no matter what within the next few years as far as Macross rights. If nothing else I can't really see Tobey Maguire being complacent about ignoring the Macross saga altogether, but you never know. I can still see the RT movie end up in the same limbo as the Halo movie.
If WB and Maguire are set on using Macross as the basis for the movie then they will have to deal directly with BW and most likely HG will NOT be allowed in the negotiations or directly profit from the Macross property. Had they stayed quietly on the fence during Japanese the court battle BW might be willing to deal with them, but since they sided with Tatsunoko, they are considered a common enemy.

A month or so after the movie announcement a poster on the Robotech.com boards said that an insider told him that the movie was "facing" litigation, which could only mean that BW made their ownership known to WB.

It is not uncommon for a studio to shelve a project for years. So long as they continue to pay Frank Agrama for the option of making a movie he won't push it either. If WB is determined to make the film based on Macross they will have to gain the option from BW themselves and despite what a lot of Americans think, a truck load of money won't be enough. This is about saving face and honor to the Japanese and that can't be bought.

I am hopeful a resolution can be made, but unless someone ponies up the money to challenge HG's TM, we may only be able to hope to see, at best, subtitled releases from BV Japan on Bluray Disc.
Zinjo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2008-06-26, 23:44   Link #31
4Tran
Senior Member
 
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zinjo View Post
HG successfully TM'd the name in early 2003 after about 4 years of a mexican stand off with BW at the trademarks office. The 25th anniversary merchandise sales to foreign markets may play a large role in future TM challenges as well. With the internet downloads of MF giving the franchise sufficient exposure, it may prompt BW to challenge the TM as IP rights holders.
While this may yet be the subject of a legal challenge, I can't see how Harmony Gold has a legal leg to stand on since all of their rights were purchased from Tatsunoko, and Tatsunoko was ruled to not have the right to sell off the trademark. The expense and trouble of any potential lawsuit would still be a major impedement towards any such move though.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zinjo View Post
The impression I tend to get from BW is that it is afraid of loosing and thus either incurring an expensive long term lawsuit or loosing what grey area rights they have in the North American market. In the age of successful IP rights challenges this seems a bit irrational, but then again so is fear...
I get the feeling that it's more a combination of Big West being unfamiliar and uncomfortable with the American legal system, and that they're not really sure what they want to do with Macross in North America.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zinjo View Post
If WB and Maguire are set on using Macross as the basis for the movie then they will have to deal directly with BW and most likely HG will NOT be allowed in the negotiations or directly profit from the Macross property. Had they stayed quietly on the fence during Japanese the court battle BW might be willing to deal with them, but since they sided with Tatsunoko, they are considered a common enemy.
From what I gather, all of Warner Brothers' dealings have been with Harmony Gold who are certainly working in cooperation with the pre-production of the movie. I haven't heard of Big West's association with the production at all. This means that either they're tackling just the Mospeada section (Big West also owns Southern Cross), or they're ignoring Big West's ownership.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zinjo View Post
A month or so after the movie announcement a poster on the Robotech.com boards said that an insider told him that the movie was "facing" litigation, which could only mean that BW made their ownership known to WB.

It is not uncommon for a studio to shelve a project for years. So long as they continue to pay Frank Agrama for the option of making a movie he won't push it either. If WB is determined to make the film based on Macross they will have to gain the option from BW themselves and despite what a lot of Americans think, a truck load of money won't be enough. This is about saving face and honor to the Japanese and that can't be bought.
From a piece a month ago, Tommy Yune said that the movie is still a go with no mention of any litigation. Admittedly, it's not exactly the kind of thing that they'd advertise, but it's still a much more reliable source than a random poster. The impression I got is that the Robotech movie is very much still in motion and that there's a fair bit of communication between Warner Brothers and Harmony Gold (which admittedly should be taken with a grain of salt).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zinjo View Post
I am hopeful a resolution can be made, but unless someone ponies up the money to challenge HG's TM, we may only be able to hope to see, at best, subtitled releases from BV Japan on Bluray Disc.
I agree. It's still a bit unlikely to happen; therefore, Macross Frontier itself will probably be one of the most desirable properties to lie unlicensed for some time to come.
__________________
The victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won...
4Tran is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2008-06-27, 12:54   Link #32
stray
Classic Yandere
 
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Philadelphia
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zinjo View Post
That will depend on how big a hit MF is in Japan and possibly by how many overseas orders of the first Bluray Discs there are as indicators of its popularity here. The sticking point is the name. HG successfully TM'd the name in early 2003 after about 4 years of a mexican stand off with BW at the trademarks office. The 25th anniversary merchandise sales to foreign markets may play a large role in future TM challenges as well. With the internet downloads of MF giving the franchise sufficient exposure, it may prompt BW to challenge the TM as IP rights holders. The best test bed for this would be in the Canadian Trademarks Tribunal who generally favor the IP rights holder over all others. This would provide a satellite office the ability to distribute to the North American market if a US court challenge is either too expensive or unsuccessful.
The impression I tend to get from BW is that it is afraid of loosing and thus either incurring an expensive long term lawsuit or loosing what grey area rights they have in the North American market. In the age of successful IP rights challenges this seems a bit irrational, but then again so is fear...
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4Tran View Post
While this may yet be the subject of a legal challenge, I can't see how Harmony Gold has a legal leg to stand on since all of their rights were purchased from Tatsunoko, and Tatsunoko was ruled to not have the right to sell off the trademark. The expense and trouble of any potential lawsuit would still be a major impedement towards any such move though.
I get the feeling that it's more a combination of Big West being unfamiliar and uncomfortable with the American legal system, and that they're not really sure what they want to do with Macross in North America.
I wouldn’t be that surprised if Bandai announces they licensed Macross Frontier at either AX or Comic-Con. Although, it’s starting to get to the point where music licensing might be tricky, depending on how music rights are handled between Flying Dog/Bandai/Big West.

The only real legal leg HG has to stand on is the Macross TM, and even then it’s kind of hazy. The whole case kind of reminds me of what happened with (ah, the nerd card…) SCO v. Novell a year or so ago, the gist of which was that SCO claimed full ownership (of UNIX) over a poorly worded contract that it was shown never gave them anything more than licensing rights. Granted, BW/HG is a different animal, but I could see the result being more or less the same.

I think the biggest hold up to this point with regard to BW taking any action was simply the fact that a. they had no licensors and b. until Frontier, they really didn’t have anything to license. Zero took, what, 2.5 years to make? AFAIK it wasn’t a huge success, and the whole episode 4 to episode 5 transition reeks of cancellation. By the time they established their rights in 2002 it was already 7-8 years past Macross 7’s run, and it’s kind of questionable how it would have done in the west, considering both it’s age and it’s content.

Regardless, it’s kind of a catch-22 right now; the anime industry in the US on the whole is in the crapper, but something like Frontier has namesake (that’s dwindling), and a real chance of being a crossover hit (IMO) should it get picked up on Sci-Fi or Adult Swim. The killer being that, whoever licenses it has to take the risk of incurring a lawsuit by Harmony Gold.

Quote:
If WB and Maguire are set on using Macross as the basis for the movie then they will have to deal directly with BW and most likely HG will NOT be allowed in the negotiations or directly profit from the Macross property. Had they stayed quietly on the fence during Japanese the court battle BW might be willing to deal with them, but since they sided with Tatsunoko, they are considered a common enemy.

It is not uncommon for a studio to shelve a project for years. So long as they continue to pay Frank Agrama for the option of making a movie he won't push it either. If WB is determined to make the film based on Macross they will have to gain the option from BW themselves and despite what a lot of Americans think, a truck load of money won't be enough. This is about saving face and honor to the Japanese and that can't be bought.
Exactly. The movie doesn’t have a screenplay yet, and it’s not even in production. The most BW could do at this point is send a letter informing Warner of their rights regarding the elements of Robotech. Once there’s some actual money involved, and something tangible (that’s based on Macross) it would be crazy for BW to not get involved, there would just be too much money at stake. I could see Warner being much quicker to settle than HG, but if HG doesn’t want to acknowledge BW’s ownership… Although, looking at Shadow Chronicles, that’s not really the case. But with Warner’s money empowering them, who knows. I doubt HG really wants to jeapordize whatever grey area rights they have, regardless.

What is it about this forum and having to write novel length posts... uggh
stray is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2008-06-27, 13:08   Link #33
ReddyRedWolf
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
May I point out that M Zero was a OVA so you can't say cancellation.

It was supposed to be just a prequel.
ReddyRedWolf is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2008-06-27, 16:40   Link #34
stray
Classic Yandere
 
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Philadelphia
Quote:
Originally Posted by ReddyRedWolf View Post
May I point out that M Zero was a OVA so you can't say cancellation.

It was supposed to be just a prequel.
Valid, but the same principle... delayed, overbudget, and with lackluster sales to where the call was made to "wrap it up."

I still loved Zero regardless.
stray is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2009-05-22, 19:21   Link #35
Zinjo
Junior Member
 
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
With respect to the current state of things...

Quote:
Originally Posted by stray View Post
I wouldn’t be that surprised if Bandai announces they licensed Macross Frontier at either AX or Comic-Con. Although, it’s starting to get to the point where music licensing might be tricky, depending on how music rights are handled between Flying Dog/Bandai/Big West.
While Bandai certainly has the money and the market presence in the US to do such a thing, they'd probably have to be a legal agent of BW or have their authorization to act on their behalf to make any challenges. Keep in mind that Macross is not a big title for Bandai and if Gundam had the same issues, they'd challenge it in US court.

As for music, I don't think Flying Dog is nearly as big as Victor in Japan, so they don't have a large music distributor demanding rediculous amounts of money for licensing as they would have with Mac 7.

Quote:
Originally Posted by stray View Post
The only real legal leg HG has to stand on is the Macross TM, and even then it’s kind of hazy. The whole case kind of reminds me of what happened with (ah, the nerd card…) SCO v. Novell a year or so ago, the gist of which was that SCO claimed full ownership (of UNIX) over a poorly worded contract that it was shown never gave them anything more than licensing rights. Granted, BW/HG is a different animal, but I could see the result being more or less the same.
There is still the TM issue to deal with in the US, which requires expensive court proceedings. Whereas if BW was serious about getting into the North American market they could side step the US and take their case to the Canadian Trademarks Tribunal, where all they have to do is successfully argue they are the IP rights holder of the name and the HG TM would be thrown out. However I don't know of any Japanese writing fan who has ever brought this to their attention.

Another aspect is that with the announcement of the RT movie, BW may be hesitant to assert their rights in fear that WB may open its bank account against their efforts. However, a letter of intent and even tossing them a bone of first option on a Macross based movie might be enough to keep them silent during any legal challenge. However that requires some initiative from BW which we haven't seen yet.

Quote:
Originally Posted by stray View Post
I think the biggest hold up to this point with regard to BW taking any action was simply the fact that a. they had no licensors and b. until Frontier, they really didn’t have anything to license. Zero took, what, 2.5 years to make? AFAIK it wasn’t a huge success, and the whole episode 4 to episode 5 transition reeks of cancellation. By the time they established their rights in 2002 it was already 7-8 years past Macross 7’s run, and it’s kind of questionable how it would have done in the west, considering both it’s age and it’s content.
That can be an issue, considering how few Macross productions that have been made, however there is still the fact that BW would probably like to release the remastered Macross Plus here as well as Frontier and it would allow them to directly profit from overseas merchandizing. Macross (via RT) is still an enduring hit over here as we have much less anime distributed over here compared to Japan.
I also suspect it is why Manga Entertainment has never made any attempt to bring over the remastered Plus or re-issue Macross II during its re-issue blitz a few years back. If you go to their website, you'll see they are very cozy with HG now, unlike before the TM was given to HG in the US.


Quote:
Originally Posted by stray View Post
Regardless, it’s kind of a catch-22 right now; the anime industry in the US on the whole is in the crapper, but something like Frontier has namesake (that’s dwindling), and a real chance of being a crossover hit (IMO) should it get picked up on Sci-Fi or Adult Swim. The killer being that, whoever licenses it has to take the risk of incurring a lawsuit by Harmony Gold.
The problem with the anime industry here is that like most of the media industry they are dismally failing to exploit the internet to their advantage.
Fansubs are a perfect gauge for them to determine which titles to license as well as developing partnerships with studios to get simulcasting of current shows running in both Japan and North America. Sites like Youtube are also excellent free broadcasting areas that allow shows to be shown in smaller resolutions to promote DVD sales later. The industry is clinging on to outdated, failing business models and trying to litigate profits from consumers and that will never work.


Quote:
Originally Posted by stray View Post
Exactly. The movie doesn’t have a screenplay yet, and it’s not even in production. The most BW could do at this point is send a letter informing Warner of their rights regarding the elements of Robotech. Once there’s some actual money involved, and something tangible (that’s based on Macross) it would be crazy for BW to not get involved, there would just be too much money at stake. I could see Warner being much quicker to settle than HG, but if HG doesn’t want to acknowledge BW’s ownership… Although, looking at Shadow Chronicles, that’s not really the case. But with Warner’s money empowering them, who knows. I doubt HG really wants to jeapordize whatever grey area rights they have, regardless.

What is it about this forum and having to write novel length posts... uggh
Frank Agrama cares little about RT, don't be fooled. It's a property that he can make money on and will exploit to its fullest extent. If WB was set on making a Macross based movie, they'd have to "buy" the live action movie rights to SDFM from HG outright and then WB would be free to deal directly with BW without any issues.

Frank would sell those rights in a heartbeat if the money were right.

As for HG "suddenly finding out they had rights to DYRL", I'd call Bull$hit on that!

What they may have learned is that BW doesn't know who owns all the rights to the movie and that in order to find out it would cost them much. Yet again Agrama is exploiting legal grey areas. If HG did indeed have any rights to DYRL they would have released it on DVD by now and we all know that hasn't happened....

Last edited by Zinjo; 2009-05-22 at 19:35.
Zinjo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2009-05-22, 19:26   Link #36
Zinjo
Junior Member
 
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Quote:
Originally Posted by stray View Post
Valid, but the same principle... delayed, overbudget, and with lackluster sales to where the call was made to "wrap it up."

I still loved Zero regardless.
Actually I suspect it was more a situation of "too much story to tell in too little time". I believe the same situation existed with Macross II.

OVAs never go beyond 5 episodes in Japan as all the studios and distributors believe that the market will not watch / buy an OVA series that is longer. That belief is based on traditional history of video sales. Whether it is real or imagined, it has yet to be challenged in the Japanese market.

Last edited by Zinjo; 2009-05-22 at 19:41.
Zinjo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2009-05-22, 19:37   Link #37
Tak
Catholic = Cat addiction?
 
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: MURICA!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zinjo View Post
OVAs never go beyond 5 episodes in Japan as all the studios and distributors believe that the market will not watch / buy an OVA series that is longer. That belief is based on traditional history of video sales. Whether it is real or imagined has yet to be challenged in the Japanese market.
Actually, there are many exceptions where an OVA would go over 5 episodes.

One perfect example is Legend of the Galactic Heroes, which spans over 100 episodes.

Moreover, the recent Hellsing remake is already at its 5th OVA episode (50 minute each), and its not yet over.

And I am not too sure if I'd agree to the claim that Macross not being a major title for Bandai. Certainly it is the second largest mecha franchise in Japan. I think the issue here is that Bandai doesn't really care about the anime market here in North America. After all, East Asia is where all the money is (for now). Moreover, since Gundam will never suffer from the same legal issues, we can't really use it as a gauge. On a further note, anime merchandise sales in NA pales in comparison when the East Asian market is considered. Therefore, how much emphasis do Japanese companies place on our market begs to be asked.

- Tak
__________________
BLESSED IS OUR GOD, THE LORD OF MIRACLES, FOR HE HAS SUPPLIED AN ENTIRE BATTALION WITH JUST FIVE ROUNDS OF AMMO AND TWO GRENADES!!

Remember, the toes you step on today may be connected to the @ss you have to kiss tomorrow.
Tak is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2009-12-08, 23:23   Link #38
robotechtehbest
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Harmony Gold legal use macross, Harmony Gold did buy to Tatsunoko Macross Rights. So Macross Fanboy no complain, Robotech legal use Macross design.
go www.robotech.com, it say "CAN USE ALL ROBOTECH", so can use macross design too. By contract Harmony Gold use too macross sequel design.
robotechtehbest is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2009-12-09, 04:21   Link #39
BetoJR
A blast from the past
*Artist
 
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Fortaleza-CE, Brazil
Age: 46
Eh, what? Come again? Anyone understand this drivel?
__________________
It's always a great time to immerse yourself in Deculture love!
All hail the Empress!!!

BetoJR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2009-12-09, 04:30   Link #40
magnuskn
Senior Member
 
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Age: 48
Quote:
Originally Posted by BetoJR View Post
Eh, what? Come again? Anyone understand this drivel?
Did someone from the MacrossWorld flamewars slither over here?
__________________
magnuskn is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:59.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
We use Silk.