Forum - View topicNEWS: Godzilla's TOHO Sues Over Monster Film Starring Anne Hathaway
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Hehaho1830
 Posts: 59 |
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More importantly, Toho will keep this movie from being produced, which will stop "dumb" Americans from thinking that Mazinger Z was their robot first and ruining any chance of us getting Mazinger Z shows here.
I'm not concerned about Godzilla since everyone knows that's from japan, but Mazinger Z isn't well known in the US, and due to when stuff was brought over, was called a rip-off of Go-Lion even though it predated it (Go-Lion was brought over first though). |
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doctordoom85
 Posts: 2093 |
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Heh, makes me think of The Simpsons: Groundskeeper Willie: Boy, you read my thoughts! You've got the Shinning! Bart: You mean "Shining". Groundskeeper Willie: Shh! You want to get sued?! |
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TarsTarkas
 Posts: 5842 Location: Virginia, United States |
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Perhaps I am wrong, but from what it sounds like, TOHO is suing because they used Godzilla as an example of their movie in the investor promotional materials. Not that they are actually going to use Godzilla or a Godzilla look-a-like. Which probably is just sheer laziness on their promotional department's part.
So unless new information comes out, I am sure that the matter will be settled out of court quite quickly and the movie will still proceed without delays because of this. |
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Estelle the White Mage
 Posts: 51 |
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Hmmm.
This doesn't really look like copyright infringement since no movie or filming has been produced. The only thing close to it is the fact that the name Godzilla was mentioned in the marketing email trying to get investors to back the movie. Perhaps the marketers wanted to make the idea more clear about "a giant monster that destroys a city" and included a picture of Godzilla to make the idea all more clear to potential investors. As for actual production, they can then change up what the monster looks like, or its actions. To me, Toho doesn't have a case since this is an early concept script, and a reference to Godzilla in marketing emails. All of which is subject to change, and may not even be in the final cut itself. It would be like me saying "Hey guys, I want to make a new anime. Some kind of ecchi show where a guy lives with a bunch of women.... umm... like To Love Ru!" This doesn't mean that I am infringing on the rights to To Love Ru in my new anime, I'm just using To Love Ru as an example of my idea to make it more clear of how it will look like for the guy to be living with a bunch of women. |
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EricJ2
 Posts: 4016 |
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Ie., Rumiko Takahashi would be the first to note the legal difference between, on one hand, saying, "And the girl comes from a devil planet, and devils are a distinctly western concept, whereas Oni are traditionally Japanese--She doesn't have horns, she has a tail", and on the other, Lum showing up, shouting "Rito no ba-ka!" and zapping the entire cast with lightning. |
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Desslok
Posts: 178 |
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They also probably shouldn't do it with Mazinger Z either (check out page 6 and the poster on page 10) |
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Chrno2
 Posts: 6171 Location: USA |
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Hearing Ann Hathaway in the same sentence as Godzilla is odd. Man, you have to admit it's an odd story. So I wonder when Disney is going to go after all those dry cleaners named "Bambi" dry cleaning. LOL.
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unitmikey
 Posts: 286 |
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Please TOHO, give these people a break so that this ridiculous thing can get made.
Potentially the most random thing ever. |
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2528 |
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I am afraid you are missing the point two ways. First, Voltage used images pulled from two TOHO properties without permission (presumably) which would be a clear violation of law. Second, assuming they weren't given permission, how is TOHO to assume that these slimes won't use the actual footage these come from and maybe more than that if left uncontested? Everyone in the creative industries know better than this, these guys are apparently so worried that potetial investors will "meh" at thier concept that they feel they need to use images of successful shows to slyly suggest it will be the same for them. I hate to see big companies slam little kids or little old dry cleaners for the slightest infringement, but I think TOHO is justified here. Spend the money and come up with your own concept art (if you can!!).
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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Let me direct your attention to the elephant in the room. The only way TOHO could get a hold of an e-mail sent by Voltage Pictures to potential investors is that one of them thought it was such a stupid idea that they forwarded the email to some fellow TOHO executive.
To me this sounds like "Hey, let's make a picture like Dracula, let's just change the names" which ended in the german court ordering the destruction of all Nosferatu film reels. It is very different from "Let's make a movie about vampires organized in clan, like in Vampire the masquarade" since they used an idea (which cannot be copyrighted or trademarked) white wolf lost they lawsuit against the producers of the Underworld movie. The fact that they could not hire one cartoonist to do some kaiju and giant robot sketches to include in the mail talks volumes about their intention to ripoff intellectual property they do not own. |
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Sam Murai
 Posts: 1051 |
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The idea sounds both incredibly cheap and incredibly lame. The director seems either flippant about using other copyrights without permission for scamming purposes or trying to fly under the radar doing it, or he is blissfully ignorant about his attempted project. Overall, it's rather blatant of him. I wouldn't be surprised if Hathaway's never even heard of him…
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EricJ2
Posts: 4016 |
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It's from Spanish director Nacho Vigalondo, and his artsy-indie producer on "Timecrimes", so I'm guessing A) he's more interest in the sci-fi-indie sound of the project than in any actual analysis of Honda or Tsubaraya (using the romance-comic image on the conceptual poster to symbolize Hathaway's character sort of shows where his priorities were on the project), and B) he was approaching the foreign-pop-culture idea of Japan as a found object, and probably thought Godzilla DID fight Mazinger Z, and then Astro Boy showed up to help. Not so much out of malice--even Asylum wouldn't use Godzilla's name to do a knockoff of the '14 movie--so much as "Caramba!...Somebody actually OWNS Godzilla? We just thought, y'know, he was always just there!" 
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Tempest_Wing
Posts: 305 |
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That's pretty sad. It's like they had nothing else to do but go after a damn restaurant in Maine. |
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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an spaniard would say "Joder!" or maybe even "Me cago en la leche".
Maybe Buddha or mount Fuji were there for all to (ab)use, but after two non-japanese films (one by Tri-star and one by Warner) these arguments does not fly unless said filmmaker is too dumb to use google.
Disney is much worse, just google it. |
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BadNewsBlues
Posts: 5971 |
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I don't believe we'd miss out on Mazinger Z for that reason I believe we'd miss out on it because it's old and it's anime. 
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