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NEWS: Dōjinshi Retailer Melonbooks Pulls SSSS.Gridman Titles


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grooven



Joined: 16 Aug 2006
Posts: 1424
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 2:21 am Reply with quote
Oh wow, I'm guessing this because of the ultraman part of it all?
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Cardcaptor Takato



Joined: 27 Jan 2018
Posts: 4784
PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 2:26 am Reply with quote
Honestly the store should hold their ground and fight back against the studio. I'm all for supporting official releases of anime but there's no reason Gridman should be treated more harshly than any other doujin works if this is a commonly accepted practice for other series.
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Koda89



Joined: 10 Jul 2006
Posts: 278
PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 2:30 am Reply with quote
Ouch, that sucks. Wonder how this is going to affect Comiket 95?

I ask because I follow a lot of Japanese artists on Twitter, and many of the ones who are attending Comiket 95 as sellers have Gridman books they plan to sell. Would be extra lame if they won't be allowed to sell them, and their hard work would be for nothing. Crying or Very sad
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Lynx Raven Raide



Joined: 01 Nov 2017
Posts: 412
Location: Central Coast, AU
PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 3:45 am Reply with quote
Cardcaptor Takato wrote:
Honestly the store should hold their ground and fight back against the studio. I'm all for supporting official releases of anime but there's no reason Gridman should be treated more harshly than any other doujin works if this is a commonly accepted practice for other series.

To be fair, what the doujin creators are doing is technically illegal, so if the store fights back, it could not only affect them but the community in general. It will mean that even if a brand does support doujin creations of their products, there could be more scrutiny and enforcement of copyright regardless of those wishes. And also in all fairness, it is the official creator's property, and they may not like what some people are doing with that property through doujin works, and have every right to enforce copyright.

There is one misconception though: While it is seen as a commonly accepted practice, it isn't always accepted, and it is better for the community to accept the creators decision for individual products rather than risk ramifications that are out of the hands of either side.
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SheRrIs





PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 5:55 am Reply with quote
For doing such a thing fans should just boycott all official releases of the anime.
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JustStopPlz



Joined: 29 Aug 2018
Posts: 48
PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 6:55 am Reply with quote
Sherris wrote:
For doing such a thing fans should just boycott all official releases of the anime.

Yet according to the Blu Ray sales post the other day, the first volume sold over 7k and that doesn't even include all sales. So clearly people don't care enough to not buy the anime. I wonder if we'll see an increase in copyright crackdown as we get closer to the Olympics.
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Meongantuk



Joined: 03 Jun 2016
Posts: 353
PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 7:18 am Reply with quote
So, do they allow doujin or not? I'm oretty sure ANN has news they disallow doujin but then they changed their mind to allow doujin (in another article) then... apparently not again?

The most annoying kind of company is not the ones who disallow doujin but the one who can't make up their mind. Don't keep changing policies every other days especially less than a week before the big day after months of them saying "it's okay to make doujins based on our product."

The Doujinka will most likely comply, but it doesn't change the fact that it's such a dick move on Tsuburaya's part.


Last edited by Meongantuk on Wed Dec 26, 2018 7:44 am; edited 1 time in total
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xerox-guy



Joined: 20 Feb 2017
Posts: 66
PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 7:25 am Reply with quote
Sherris wrote:
For doing such a thing fans should just boycott all official releases of the anime.


Chill a bit Sherris, not all fans buy dujinshi for their beloved series.
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GNPixie



Joined: 25 Jul 2018
Posts: 293
PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 7:43 am Reply with quote
This has been part of Tsuburaya's policies forever. I don't think they were expecting Gridman to blow up the way it did; which explains all these back and forth decisions.
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Ashen Phoenix



Joined: 21 Jun 2006
Posts: 2904
PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 9:52 am Reply with quote
As an artist, I can't say this policy sits well with me. I can understand from a creator's standpoint, not wanting one's work to be reimagined in explicit ways, but it feels a bit like part and parcel of creating something that you release into the world.

Yes, you control the original work and may hold it dearly to your heart, but others who were affected by your work can then go on to reimagine it in their own way. That, to me, is the nature of fan fiction/fanart. You don't have to agree with what some fans do with your original work/characters, but it crosses into the freedom of expression in some ways.
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Juno016



Joined: 09 Jan 2012
Posts: 2377
PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 11:50 am Reply with quote
I think it should be clear that this isn't going to be a pattern. Tsuburaya productions has always had a strict hold on fan products of its works, and they're not explicitely banning the making of these works--just certain sales of them. There's no word of Toranoana or K-books removing the works yet, either, and Melonbooks does tend to have a much more open policy for amateur doujin works, meaning they're much more susceptible to violations of the guidelines already put forth. I don't like it, but I wouldn't worry too much.

Meongantuk wrote:
Don't keep changing policies every other days especially less than a week before the big day


The guidelines were put forth at the beginning of November, which gave creators time to comply. It didn't ban doujinshi either. It only put forward a guide on what to avoid when making fan works. The new thing is Melonbooks removing works, but this is unusual and they're only complying with the copyright holders' wishes, which were pretty clear at the beginning. It's still not a fun situation, but it shouldn't be a huge issue for doujinshi as a whole.
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TexZero



Joined: 25 Oct 2017
Posts: 582
PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 2:39 pm Reply with quote
GNPixie wrote:
This has been part of Tsuburaya's policies forever. I don't think they were expecting Gridman to blow up the way it did; which explains all these back and forth decisions.


This is the correct take away. Tsuburaya had no way of knowing that the property would be this well recieved. I'm sure Akira Amemiya was shocked as well even though he mostly designed Rika and Akane based on having a higher than normal sex appeal.
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FinalVentCard
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 28 Oct 2018
Posts: 483
PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 5:44 pm Reply with quote
Meongantuk wrote:
The Doujinka will most likely comply, but it doesn't change the fact that it's such a dick move on Tsuburaya's part.


Considering that doujinshi is just fan-made stuff and fan-made stuff in Japan doesn't have the benefit of a Japanese equivalent to parody law protecting it, this is honestly fair. It's pretty assholish to not listen to a company that says, "Hey, please don't do this" and go "Imma do this because I'm a faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan", even if they didn't have the law on their side. Tsuburaya has all the rights in this case, either deal with it or... don't, I guess. When you make an animated sequel to a 1993 live-action special effect show you also made, you can decide on parody policy however you like, how's that sound? Very Happy

JustStopPlz wrote:
I wonder if we'll see an increase in copyright crackdown as we get closer to the Olympics.


Considering the olympics don't have anything to do with established Japanese copyright law? Probably not, but please do tell me more about the Social Saussurians and their plot to corrupt body fluids.
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Meongantuk



Joined: 03 Jun 2016
Posts: 353
PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 11:43 pm Reply with quote
Juno016 wrote:


The guidelines were put forth at the beginning of November, which gave creators time to comply. It didn't ban doujinshi either. It only put forward a guide on what to avoid when making fan works. The new thing is Melonbooks removing works, but this is unusual and they're only complying with the copyright holders' wishes, which were pretty clear at the beginning. It's still not a fun situation, but it shouldn't be a huge issue for doujinshi as a whole.


I know, it won't put any dent on doujin scene as whole. I mean, Tsuburaya's stuff don't exactly have strong presence in doujin scene beyond occasional very very rare Ultraman doujin that only known by select few. And SSSS.Gridman probably won't have any noticable presences in next year Comiket even without Tsuburaya's meddling.

Do they have any clear rule for what they consider "exceeding the bounds of dōjin activity." like maximum number of copies or profit gained? I felt that this can be avoided if they're a bit more clear on the rules. If they only asks Melonbooks to remove few books that don't fit their criteria (like R-18 stuff), I understand, but the entire thing? It's not like every books there are R-18.
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ballinamon



Joined: 19 Oct 2018
Posts: 389
PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 1:34 pm Reply with quote
You fudge**** sons of bitches don't take away my Tenzei Miyabi doujin!!
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