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INTEREST: 2 Arrested for Selling Modified Kamen Rider Figure




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msgundam2



Joined: 28 Dec 2005
Posts: 271
Location: Indiana USA
PostPosted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 12:25 am Reply with quote
If this keeps up then making and sell Doujinshi parodies and fan art will get you arrested in japan.
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KN_guro



Joined: 02 Oct 2008
Posts: 59
PostPosted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 12:51 am Reply with quote
Wtf? Japan gets more ridiculous every day.
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E-Master



Joined: 21 Aug 2005
Posts: 471
PostPosted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:42 am Reply with quote
You're right this does sound weird after reading the article. Well I'm still a noob when it comes to the laws of Japan.
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Dagon123



Joined: 01 Jul 2010
Posts: 194
PostPosted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:08 am Reply with quote
I'm waiting for Manga and Anime to just start being made out of prisons, because thats where everyone with a little bit of creativity is going in japan.
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Lady Multi



Joined: 11 Dec 2004
Posts: 673
PostPosted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:32 am Reply with quote
So...they bought a figure...spent time and money of their own altering it...then sold it as an altered fan-piece...then got arrested?

Shall we arrest little girl's for cutting Barbie's hair now? ..or what about the people who make anime/manga/game chara with custom dolls?

IDk, maybe I'm just over thinking it... :S
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Paploo



Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Posts: 1875
PostPosted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 6:08 am Reply with quote
Lady Multi wrote:
So...they bought a figure...spent time and money of their own altering it...then sold it as an altered fan-piece...then got arrested?

Shall we arrest little girl's for cutting Barbie's hair now? ..or what about the people who make anime/manga/game chara with custom dolls?

IDk, maybe I'm just over thinking it... :S


I think it's the "auctioning it for thousands of dollars" thing that got them into trouble with the copyright owners. Japan's copyright policies are more strict- I think they would of been okay if they had, say, gotten permission and done it as a charity auction. I don't think we'd see this here, where custom figures selling on Ebay is common, though they tend not to go for that kind of money.

And while the figure's nicely done, seriously, $3000 bucks? You could commission an action figure customizer to make you one just as nice for far less than that. I'm curious how specific they were about it being an unofficial piece.
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KAtchan15



Joined: 22 Dec 2006
Posts: 460
Location: NYC
PostPosted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:09 am Reply with quote
Feels bad man. Apparently you can't lend video games to friends in Japan either. Geez...
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Chrno2



Joined: 28 May 2004
Posts: 6171
Location: USA
PostPosted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:42 am Reply with quote
This is funny once again the masterful Ishinomori's work is the hews again. It's nice but... I'm surprised it went for so much.
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Emerje



Joined: 10 Aug 2002
Posts: 7338
Location: Maine
PostPosted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 12:12 pm Reply with quote
Man, it's really sad to hear this happened to these guys. I understand where they're coming from, in a lot places a single handmade piece wouldn't cause much concern. Japan has several events year round where people sell mass produced custom figures legally such of Wonderfest which happens twice a year or even Comiket (also twice a year). So it's easy to see why they would think a single, one of a kind figure wouldn't cause much trouble.

Emerje
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Mr. sickVisionz



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 2173
PostPosted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 12:54 pm Reply with quote
I wonder if it would be legal for them to sell this as a service and not an end product. Like advertise that if you mail them a doll they will do custom artwork on it for x dollars.

It seems like a waste of time to go after two guys selling a figurine that they modified unless these guys had dozens of auctions up and seemed like they were trying to make a business out of selling unlicensed goods.

On the other hand, when two guys spend a weekend or two modifying a doll and find out they can get $3,000 for it and never have to pay a licensing fee or get punished, there's probably a good chance that this would turn into a small business of selling unlicensed goods.
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Tempest
I Run this place.
ANN Publisher


Joined: 29 Dec 2001
Posts: 10420
Location: Do not message me for support.
PostPosted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:22 pm Reply with quote
Wow, this is kinda lame, especially since it's a modification of an otherwise legit figure.

Wonder if they would have been arrested if they sold a "Service" along the lines of "buy a Kamen Rider figure and we will modify it for you."

Same ultimate result, but they'd be charging for the labor, not the figure. I would think that, technically speaking, it would be legal to modify a figure you own, and/or pay someone to modify it for you, while selling a modified figure appears to be illegal (at least if they are charged and found guilty).

I love the anime industry, but as yesterday's news also showed, there are some serious douchebags working in this industry. Of course that's true of any industry.

-t
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configspace



Joined: 16 Aug 2008
Posts: 3717
PostPosted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 3:28 pm Reply with quote
^ totally agree. Japan also needs some written fair use and first sale laws.

Technically I would think even selling modified figures are not problem, since he has to buy one legit figure for every figure he sells. I think such activities would be covered under first-sale in the US.

It's exactly the same with anything else: you can buy a car, modify then it, then resell it. Buy a house, modify it, resell it and so on.

Finally it's ridiculous that people are arrested for what seems like a civil matter (the same goes for copyright infringement).
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Sven Viking



Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 1039
PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 1:03 am Reply with quote
Completely ridiculous. Glad to see that there's nobody in here trying to justify this one, at least (not sure if Paploo's post counts).

As far as the evils of "auctioning it for thousands of dollars", they may not have set the price -- it may have risen by itself. That's sort of a characteristic of auctions.


configspace wrote:
Finally it's ridiculous that people are arrested for what seems like a civil matter (the same goes for copyright infringement).

Exactly what I've been saying. Big commercial bootlegging operations etc. would of course be a different matter.
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ayashe



Joined: 31 Mar 2008
Posts: 122
PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 9:06 am Reply with quote
Quote:
I'm waiting for Manga and Anime to just start being made out of prisons, because thats where everyone with a little bit of creativity is going in japan.

Very Happy I hope the prisons now are better than they were in Rainbow!
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