FUNimation, Gonzo, and The Relationship Between Them
Posted by: CalAggie in Commentary, News
Friday’s news that Shinsen-Subs has dropped Romeo x Juliet in accordance with an C&D letter sent by FUNimation on behalf of Gonzo is a stark example of the deep relationship the two companies share. FUNimation has previously licensed many Gonzo titles including Black Cat, Bakuretsu Tenshi, Basilisk, Desert Punk, Kiddy Grade, Samurai 7, Solty Rei, Speed Grapher, and Trinity Blood. Anyone who remembers the “Babes, Blades, Blood, Beauty” campaign from last year knows that all those were Gonzo titles. Other licensors have also distributed shows from Gonzo such as ADV with recent releases Red Garden, Pumpkin Scissors, and Welcome to the NHK and less recent ones like Kaleido Star; Viz with Saikano; and Geneon with Hellsing, Last Exile, and Vandread.
One thing that concerns me about this occurrence is what FUNimation said to ANN about producers’ rights:
In a statement to ANN, FUNimation said, “…[I]t is important to note that the rights owned by Japanese producers are still applicable, and enforceable, worldwide even before the anime is licensed for local distribution.”
There have been instances of FUNimation acting on its own to protect its unannounced-as-licensed properties like in December 2005 when they sent a letter to Shinsen-Subs about a number of titles including two, Tsubasa and Solty Rei, for which they had not yet announced licenses. There was also a Japanese company taking similar action when Media Factory sent a notice to AnimeSuki in 2004 requesting that fansubs of all its shows including Genshiken, KimiNozo, and School Rumble be removed. But I believe this might be the first time an American licensor has taken action on behalf of a Japanese studio regarding an unlicensed property.
Because it is a large and high-production studio, Gonzo would like recoup some of its production budget through licensing and most if it not all of their titles have made their way to the States. It would be in their best interest to limit the distribution of their properties since they are likely tailoring their productions toward a more Western audience (e.g. Red Garden, Speed Grapher) but their first audience should be the Japanese people that the anime are being broadcast to initially. I recognize the right of creators to protect their works and earn appropriate money off of them but I hope that this doesn’t happen more often in the future because it makes the studio seem more overbearing and less confident in the viewers’ support of their shows.
Finally, FUNimation denied that they had the license for RxJ but a quote later in the article conveyed the company’s interest in it, saying it was a “fine show” and that they would “very much like to distribute it” in America. I’m considering them to have a very good chance given their assistance in serving the aforementioned C&D notice and their prior history with Gonzo.
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You know what? I hope ADV gets RxJ just for thematicly ironic lawls.
Actually I sent a correspondence to the EFF asking for assistance after find out Tadashi, a subber for Soul Eater, was sent one. Technically Funimation has absolutely no legal right to “act on behalf” of any copyright holder in such a manner whether it is done sue to a business relationship or a license to distribute. This an illlegal attempt at threatening these groups/people and is done this way so they do not have to invest the money involved that would allow the actual copyright holders to do this themselves. Of course the subbers are going to stop because it is something they do for no payment at all so even the cost of getting it thrown out of court on the basis of the statements I have just made makes dropping it an easy decision and that is what Funimation is going for because even they know they don’t have a legal leg to stand on. Hopefully the EFF will pull through as they have been battling the RIAA and MPAA for awhile and a small fry like Funimation would run with their tale between their legs if EFF gets involved.
So I ask you, the community to also inform the EFF of this corporate bullying by asking for their helps as I did by sending your requests to information@eff.org and hopefully if they get enough they will take action.
Gregory: I am not an expert in copyright law but I believe that in the cases where Funimation has sent cease-and-desist notices to fansubbing groups including this latest one involving Soul Eater, the company has acted as agent in a power of attorney between it and the studios that want to protect their copyrighted works. Since many of the Japanese studios do not have a physical presence in the United States, they utilize Funimation’s in order to enforce their international copyrights.
Even though news of the latest instance of such notices irritates me slightly, I disagree that the actions can be described as “corporate bullying”. Remember that fansubbers are essentially distributing digital copies of previously broadcast content with subtitles attached and thus engaging in infringement of copyright in the process in spite of any altruistic intentions they may have.