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Robotech and HG license debates


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I don't believe any of those three had that kind of decision making ability, if it rested with anyone it was with their boss (who I believe was Alan Letz at that point), or his boss, Frank Agrama. JasonC could probably weigh in with his perspective.

That's right! I forgot about Alan Letz.

Okay, I'm happy to blame him instead of Tommy Yune. ^_^

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With all the twists and turns, I think that the story of the HG-Macross-Robotech legal rights issue could easily be made into a cheap, crappy straight-to-TV-movie.

Who would play Carl Macek? :lol:

Taksraven

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LOL, wasn't Frank Agrama in jail during this though? Nah, I'm kidding, but I swear that guy has bigger problems than fighting with BW.

Kinda. From Dec. 2006, http://www.variety.com/article/VR111795469...yid=13&cs=1

Just an odd question that popped into my head: Is Robotech the only franchise under Harmony Gold making money right now? In fact, is it the ONLY thing they have that's still active?

They have other productions which they have rights to:

http://www.imdb.com/company/co0004023/

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Have we figured out at all if HG's pushing has affected Bandai and the rest of the MacF products? I'm wondering if BBTS will be listing the second pair of DX valks or not... I'm gonna be mighty pissed if they aren't able to offer them.

According to someone who recently emailed them in the DX thread, BBTS will be carrying the VF-25G and RVF-25.

Vostok 7

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So with 2008 coming to a close, how does everyone think HG and related entities handled the Robotech license debacle and franchise this year?

I am sure that as far as they are concerned that they handled it brilliantly. We all know a lot better than that though.

Taksraven

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I am sure that as far as they are concerned that they handled it brilliantly. We all know a lot better than that though.

Taksraven

So I assume I shouldn't hold my breath for a State side release of Macross Zero and Frontier anytime soon huh? :rolleyes:

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The Bandai DX VF-25's Mikhail & Luca are up for Pre order at Big Bad

BBTS' e-mail specifically made reference to Yamato's Macross toys. Bandai's Macross toys are ok.

We won't be able to carry Yamato Macross items moving forward - Toynami owns the rights to Macross in the US and they have informed us that Yamato items are no longer allowed to be imported. Because we buy a lot of Toynami items, and have plans to buy much more in the future, we have to respect their request - sorry!
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I thought without Tats there wouldn't be a second ending to Macross (ep. 28-36).

God, did we *really* need most of those episodes though?

Taksraven

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How do ya figure? Without Tats there wouldn't be much of a Macross.

I thought the Japanese court ruling stated Tats never truly owned the rights, or at least never had the right to sell the rights to a third party.

Vostok 7

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I thought the Japanese court ruling stated Tats never truly owned the rights, or at least never had the right to sell the rights to a third party.

They own the rights to the animation, not the original conecpt/story or lineart. So what they can do with the animation is their business. No one can tell them otherwise.

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God, did we *really* need most of those episodes though?

Taksraven

The last episodes were decent, except for the revival of the love triangle. In the long run, it set the stage for the series to become a franchise with man spreading out into space and etc. Sure, that also applied to Robotech, but they wasted that opportunity for the sake of syndication.

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The last episodes were decent, except for the revival of the love triangle. In the long run, it set the stage for the series to become a franchise with man spreading out into space and etc. Sure, that also applied to Robotech, but they wasted that opportunity for the sake of syndication.

The last *two* episodes were decent and I think that most of what they wanted to achieve in the others could have been done in half the number of eps they made. Halving the number of eps in the finale would also have left money for more "quality" animation.

Taksraven

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The last *two* episodes were decent and I think that most of what they wanted to achieve in the others could have been done in half the number of eps they made. Halving the number of eps in the finale would also have left money for more "quality" animation.

I liked the postwar arc a lot, personally.

Certainly the revival of the love triangle hurt(Hikaru is an idiot. Of monumental levels.), but...

Hikaru made an eleventh-hour call to leave Minmay to Kaifun, literally minutes before he headed out to almost-certain death.

And his "final" resolution with Misa... there was a real possibility that they were the only two people left of the entire race. He damn well BETTER start liking the girl in front of him.

Then it turned out that "everyone" was alive, and hey, Minmay broke up with Kaifun(who she was never dating anyways, you moron!).

The love triangle wasn't exactly resolved under optimum conditions, so as painful as it was, it was a BELIEVABLE re-opening.

It was really nice to see the acknowledgment that the final battle didn't mean "and they all lived happily ever after."

The zentradi didn't all assimilate and many wound up as criminals or in armed rebellion.

The Earth didn't magically turn green again through the power of love and large portions were barren inhospitable wasteland.

Basic necessities of life weren't in ready supply, and government handouts kept people fed and washed and clothed.

Even Kaifun's insane anti-military raving adds some color.

Everyone's not just happy to be alive. They wanted to know WHY.

And a lot aren't going to take "it was just really bad luck" for an answer. The military makes an easy scapegoat, even if they WERE mostly blameless. Kaifun's just a face for that portion of society.

Sadly, one great question is left unanswered.

When Kamjin moves out to join in the final battle of SW1.... which side is he coming in on? Or is he just shooting whatever comes in sight?

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When Kamjin moves out to join in the final battle of SW1.... which side is he coming in on? Or is he just shooting whatever comes in sight?

I think that the "shooting whatever comes in sight" theory is correct, given his insanity.

Taksraven

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Thanks guys for the responses so far! I'll give Macross 7 another shot, but when I'm finished with the other series.

Another question- not about the shows themselves, but about the apparent legal mess about who actually owns the rights to Macross. Now I understand that, because of this, shows like Macross 7 and Frontier would probably never see the light of day here, but how the hell did ADV manage to get the rights to the original series on DVD, amidst this giant lawsuit about who controls the rights to the franchise?

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Thanks guys for the responses so far! I'll give Macross 7 another shot, but when I'm finished with the other series.

Another question- not about the shows themselves, but about the apparent legal mess about who actually owns the rights to Macross. Now I understand that, because of this, shows like Macross 7 and Frontier would probably never see the light of day here, but how the hell did ADV manage to get the rights to the original series on DVD, amidst this giant lawsuit about who controls the rights to the franchise?

The rights for the original series are a bit clearer.

Tatsunoko has international distribution rights for SDF Macross. No one argues that.

HG's Macross license is through Tatsunoko, meaning THEY have international distribution rights.

The following political editorial does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of this messsage board:

And ADV, being basically in bed with HG, managed to convince HG to screw Animeigo over so that ADV could have someone else do the remaster work for them and then distribute the finished product.

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Big West and Studio Nue having rights on the character design and story.

Frankly Big West has a fair chance winning in US courts.

Macross 7 is more on music licenses. They'll have to pay Victor Entertainment.

That's why for the sake of irony they called the Vajra Victor.

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Big West and Studio Nue having rights on the character design and story.

Frankly Big West has a fair chance winning in US courts.

Macross 7 is more on music licenses. They'll have to pay Victor Entertainment.

That's why for the sake of irony they called the Vajra Victor.

But...but...doesn't Victor own ALL the Macross music (except for Macross Generation)...?

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Victor wants their cut and the artists want their royalty.

Macross 7 is too expensive to bring in.

I think you may be missing my point, or else I'm missing yours.

Victor owns the music for SDFM, II, and Plus, right? Presumably everyone got paid when those were brought to the west. What makes 7 so different?

And I know the U.S. anime companies said in 1995 or 1996 that the music for M7 was too expensive...but I wonder if that's still true in 2009. After all, most of the M7 CDs were out of print until the big 25th Anniversary push last year.

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You've heard of music artist royalties right?

Royaty is basically every dime you make of the music you'll have to pay the original artist or music writer.

We come down to the music industry's intellectual copyright laws.

You're missing HIS point. Why don't the other shows generate similar royalty issues?

Of course, I think the answer is that Fire Bomber was a "real" band.

Big West and Studio Nue having rights on the character design and story.

Frankly Big West has a fair chance winning in US courts.

But if they signed their international distribution rights away to get financing...

I agree they have a good chance of winning any case about the sequels if they fight. I'm not so sure about the original, though.

Remember, the japanese courts upheld that Tatsunoko does have partial rights to the original series.

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You've heard of music artist royalties right?

Royaty is basically every dime you make of the music you'll have to pay the original artist or music writer.

We come down to the music industry's intellectual copyright laws.

Yes, of course I know about royalties. <_<

So why do you think the performers from M7 get royalties, but all the singers from SDFM, MII, and M+ don't?

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It comes down to the Contract.

The singers or music writers of other Macross shows and movies get royalties but how much depends on the contract.

Macross 7 wasn't using a mere idol it featured the songs of a Rock band.

From what I've gleened to bring it over by anime distributers (Bandai Visual specifically) here would be too costly for them.

What is the point of bringing a show over if you can't profit from it?

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