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Answerman - Who Actually "Owns" An Anime?


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Deynard



Joined: 08 Dec 2015
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 1:06 pm Reply with quote
{Edit}: I removed your rude/insulting one liner post. Next time as the saying goes if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything. Thanks. ~ Psycho 101


{2nd Edit}: Deynard, re-editing a post of yours that was edited out by a moderator, and insulting them & catching an attitude in the process, is generally speaking not allowed here. If you have a question or comment regarding an action by a moderator than PM the moderator. You do not go behind the moderator and re-edit your post. Consider this an official warning to not do it again. Thanks. ~ Psycho 101


Last edited by Deynard on Wed Mar 02, 2016 4:29 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Touma



Joined: 29 Aug 2007
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Location: Colorado, USA
PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 1:35 pm Reply with quote
It seems like a reasonable question to me.
I had been aware of the concept of production committees, but this answer tells me some things that I did not know about how they work, and who is on them.

I found this to be informative and worth reading.
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Saffire



Joined: 25 Nov 2007
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Location: Iowa, USA
PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 1:37 pm Reply with quote
In the case of an adaptation, what's the relationship between the original creator and the committee? Does the publisher represent their interests?
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mgosdin



Joined: 17 Jul 2011
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 1:56 pm Reply with quote
What about when a production committee member goes "Dark" i.e. out of business. Is it possible for one of these committees to function if a member is no longer able to have a representative present?

Mark Gosdin
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Moroboshi-san



Joined: 06 Apr 2015
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 2:29 pm Reply with quote
Well, it is the rights-holder who owns the anime. They have final say on anything whether they sit on production committee or not.

However, usually the rights-holder is e.g. the publisher of the original manga and they usually sit on the committee too so they are the most powerful member.

I have been under assumption that it has been custom to list committee members based on the size of their financial involvement.

To answer question above (Saffire): usually original creator signs contract with publisher to transfer rights of the property to publisher against suitable compensation. There are exceptions to this, e.g. Naoki Takeuchi (Sailor Moon) holds the rights to herself (or to her company these days) which has made her rich but which tends to cause all sorts of problems otherwise.
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relyat08



Joined: 20 Mar 2013
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 2:41 pm Reply with quote
mgosdin wrote:
What about when a production committee member goes "Dark" i.e. out of business. Is it possible for one of these committees to function if a member is no longer able to have a representative present?


You should send that question in!

Based on what I've seen, it seems like it usually causes quite a lot of problems, particularly with licensing and future distribution.
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AP24



Joined: 21 Apr 2011
Posts: 144
PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 2:42 pm Reply with quote
Here are companies that make up the DanMachi anime production comittee and the businesses they're involved other than anime production:

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Global distribution of BD/DVD and digital media of anime

Klockworx
Distribution and sales of BD/DVD

SB Creative
Light novel publisher

Showgate (now called "Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures”)
Broadcast rights, distribution rights sales, overseas rights sales, BD/DVD release

MAGES
Subsidiaries include 5pb Inc, which is involved in production and sales of games and musical works.

FuRyu
Planning, development, manufacturing, and sales of amusement prizes, video games and smart phone games.

Movic
Planning, production and sales of goods such as trading cards, figures, CDs, and other general media related to the anime industry. It is part of Animate group.

GENCO
Producer
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v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 3:14 pm Reply with quote
See I was wondering about this last night with Macross. Can a company pull the license from an overseas company if they don't like what they're doing with their work? It seems very strange that a company can just be locked into a lifetime deal with no exceptions.

Last edited by v1cious on Wed Mar 02, 2016 10:44 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Saffire



Joined: 25 Nov 2007
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 3:17 pm Reply with quote
v1cious wrote:
See I wondering about this last night with Macross. Can a company pull the license from an overseas company if they don't like what they're with their work? It seems very strange that a company can just be locked into a lifetime with no exceptions.
If the contract requires renewal, they can refuse to renew. No one actually knows what's up with Macross though.
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Touma



Joined: 29 Aug 2007
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 3:38 pm Reply with quote
Moroboshi-san wrote:
Well, it is the rights-holder who owns the anime. They have final say on anything whether they sit on production committee or not.

It looks to me like Justin is saying that the production committee is the rights holder for the anime.
Am I reading it wrong?

Quote:
However, usually the rights-holder is e.g. the publisher of the original manga ...

I think that the rights for the manga and the rights for the anime are different things.
The anime and manga are different intellectual properties, aren't they.
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 3:43 pm Reply with quote
Saffire wrote:
v1cious wrote:
See I wondering about this last night with Macross. Can a company pull the license from an overseas company if they don't like what they're with their work? It seems very strange that a company can just be locked into a lifetime with no exceptions.
If the contract requires renewal, they can refuse to renew. No one actually knows what's up with Macross though.


Also, the Japanese companies usually maintain enough control over their properties that they require some manner of approval before an overseas company finishes work on it. How strict that might be varies a lot, but it makes it pretty hard to say the final product wasn't satisfactory when it had advanced approval. Plus, the overseas companies aren't in the habit of deviating from what is approved since that would be a good way to make sure nobody worked with you in the future.
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Moroboshi-san



Joined: 06 Apr 2015
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 3:51 pm Reply with quote
Touma wrote:
It looks to me like Justin is saying that the production committee is the rights holder for the anime.

They are not, all rights are owned by original property rights-owner. Rights can be sold, however, so as an example international distribution rights can be sold to some company specializing in that.

Touma wrote:
The rights for the manga and the rights for the anime are different things.

Of course but the same applies here, original property rights-holder can sell animation rights to somebody. As an example Astrid Lindgren rights-managing company Saltkråkan sold animation rights of Ronja Rövardotter to Ghibli.
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Tempest_Wing



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PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 5:34 pm Reply with quote
The Production Committee system seems outdated and Inefficient to me. With such a system, decisions are slow to be made and as such many new ideas will never reach committee because why even bother with the hassle? No wonder it takes so long for older shows to be rereleased on BD. If an anniversary or special occasion isn't coming up soon, then no re-release will happen. And don't even get me started in the deplorable pricing. They can't be assed to make a quick decision and when a decision is finally made they want as big a slice of the pie as possible even if it means screwing over the customer and fan.
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John Thacker



Joined: 28 Oct 2013
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 6:14 pm Reply with quote
As is usual for these questions, Shirobako has a nice example of a production committee in action in episode 14 as they fight over the seiyuu selection of Third Aerial Girls Squad. You can see that the music sponsor wants a seiyuu who can sing, the game company wants someone popular, the live events company wants someone cute and sexy, the animation studio wants the best actress, etc.

Tempest_Wing wrote:
And don't even get me started in the deplorable pricing. They can't be assed to make a quick decision and when a decision is finally made they want as big a slice of the pie as possible even if it means screwing over the customer and fan.


I am baffled as to how you can think that the use of a production committee splitting up the initial high investment costs is related to pricing. Yes, they all want their share, but if, say, an animation studio were bearing the entire risk they also certainly couldn't afford to not take as much money as possible on their successful shows. Having a big production committee can make it much easier to take a loss on home video, if the production committee members are willing to take that loss in exchange for higher original media sales (manga, light novels) or music or whatever.
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TarsTarkas



Joined: 20 Dec 2007
Posts: 5825
Location: Virginia, United States
PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 7:57 pm Reply with quote
Tempest_Wing wrote:
The Production Committee system seems outdated and Inefficient to me. With such a system, decisions are slow to be made and as such many new ideas will never reach committee because why even bother with the hassle?


If it wasn't for the Production Committee sharing the risk, anime might be a rare thing.

v1cious wrote:
See I wondering about this last night with Macross. Can a company pull the license from an overseas company if they don't like what they're doing with their work? It seems very strange that a company can just be locked into a lifetime deal with no exceptions.


Wouldn't be much of a lifetime deal, if it could be easily broken. Also have to remember, when this deal was made how could the Japanese know what the future of anime would be in the United States.
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