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NEWS: Tatsunoko Wins Macross Lawsuit




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ewilen



Joined: 23 Feb 2004
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Mon Feb 23, 2004 5:04 pm Reply with quote
Is this based on the Kyodo News report? I can't read Japanse but based on machine translations it looks like the report alludes to the line art/character design case without saying that it's been appealed to the Supreme Court.

Put another way: where does the information that the character design case has been appealed to the SC come from?
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gnollman



Joined: 05 Oct 2003
Posts: 535
Location: Richmond, KY
PostPosted: Mon Feb 23, 2004 11:24 pm Reply with quote
Thus the neverending litigation wars continue....
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cookie
Former ANN Editor in Chief


Joined: 02 Jan 2002
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 24, 2004 12:00 am Reply with quote
ewilen wrote:
Put another way: where does the information that the character design case has been appealed to the SC come from?


http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20040213-00000181-kyodo-ent

The final line reads:
"Sakuhin no Kizo ni naru Kyarakuta no zugara ni tsuite wa, betsu no soshou de Nue-gawa ni Chousakuken wo mitomeru Tokyo Kousai Hanketsu ga Kakutei shiteiru." [or so i hope]

Or, roughly, "With respect to the basic character designs, Nue's copyright lawsuit is separate, being decided and judged by the Tokyo High Court."

Which we interpret to refer to:
http://news.braina.com/2002/1011/judge_20021011_001_0010___.html

(something which ANN only briefly mentioned back in 10/2002)

Which basically says that Nue has the character designs, but Tatsunoko Pro appealed the issue higher. Both the author's right copyright issue (this one) and the character designs issue (the October 2002 one) are being debated by the same court (Tokyo High Court).

Nue won the lawsuit in 2002, but Tatsunoko appealed it higher, to the same court. That lawsuit is still ongoing, although Nue won it in earlier rounds.
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Beatdigga



Joined: 26 Oct 2003
Posts: 4371
Location: New York
PostPosted: Tue Feb 24, 2004 1:05 am Reply with quote
One suit down, one to go. Then maybe we can get merchandise without all the legal mumbo-jumbo.
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ewilen



Joined: 23 Feb 2004
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Tue Feb 24, 2004 4:07 pm Reply with quote
But there's nothing in the yahoo link that says the character/mecha copyright case is being appealed to the Supreme Court.

The braina.com report is about the Tokyo High Court's judgment (on 10/2/2002) of an appeal of the decision by the Tokyo District Court (dated 2/25/2002).

I may be missing something, but I don't see anything about the Tokyo High Court judgment being appealed further, or the lawsuit being ongoing. Can you tell us where it's reported that the character/mecha copyright case is "currently under appeal at the Supreme Court"?
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cookie
Former ANN Editor in Chief


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 24, 2004 6:57 pm Reply with quote
OH! I think I see your concern. The author's rights were judged at the _Supreme Court_ level. The character designs are being judged at the _Tokyo High Court_.

Is that what you're saying?

Okay, it looks like an error WAS made regarding that -- the author's rights were appealed to the Supreme Court, but the character designs were still at the High Court.
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ewilen



Joined: 23 Feb 2004
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2004 5:24 pm Reply with quote
Cookie wrote:
OH! I think I see your concern. The author's rights were judged at the _Supreme Court_ level. The character designs are being judged at the _Tokyo High Court_.

Is that what you're saying?

Okay, it looks like an error WAS made regarding that -- the author's rights were appealed to the Supreme Court, but the character designs were still at the High Court.


Yup, that's what I'm saying. The character/mecha design judgment of the Tokyo High Court may have been appealed to the Supreme Court, but at this point we don't have any reports that it definitely has or hasn't been.

Also, I must correct the use of the term "author's rights". The case to which you're referring (Tokyo District Court judgment of 1/20/2003, appealed to Tokyo High Court and upheld on 9/25/2003, appealed to Supreme Court--appeal denied) determined that Tatsunoko Productions has the copyright of Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, but not the "author's [personal/moral] right". Please see http://cozylaw.com/copy/tyosakuken/kenri.htm and http://www.cric.or.jp/cric_e/csj/csj4.html for the distinction between these terms. Also see http://www.maxlaw.co.jp/e/ipclw/03autumn.pdf for a brief explanation of how the rights were judged in that manner. In short, Tatsunoko has been judged to have the economic rights associated with the "maker" of the TV series, but not the "moral" rights associated with the "author" of the work.
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