Forum - View topicLanguage vs region rights
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Dilandau
 Posts: 525 Location: Tea House |
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When US companies purchase the 'rights' to anime, they are purchasing region 1 rights plus English language rights. I think.
I have noticed that other English speaking countries (such as Madman in Australia), essentially buy/beg/borrow/steal the US versions (to the letter in most cases). I would like to know if this is because the US company owns the 'global' English language rights, or is it simply for economic (and stress) reasons that they decide to not redo the dub/subs in their native accent/dialect? I could see the curious problem of language rights transcending DVD 'regions' to be a hassle....does anybody know for certain what rights are required and where the boundaries lay? |
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Kessu
Posts: 21 Location: Sweden |
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I was just going to say that it really would be strange if they could buy the rights for a certain language, but then I realized that's just what we do when translating printed media... *confused*
But then again (I'm very unsure of this), sometimes books come in different English 'flavours', for instance British and American editions with more or less edited stoff. My guess is that this is up to how each agreed deal/contract is written. 
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Emerje
 Posts: 7550 Location: Maine |
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Usually when a license is signed and announced you'll see the phrase, "For world wide distribution outside of Japan." or something along those lines. Now, just because they can do world wide distribution doesn't mean they'll do it themselves. A lot of the time they'll contract out to forign (or domestic depending on what end you're on) distributers to expand their market (like Madman in Australia).
Emerje |
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Sword of Whedon
Posts: 683 |
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They're buying the rights to sell the property in a geographic region. They can release it in Swahili should they so desire. Madman licenses the subs/dubs in Australia because it's cheaper than producing their own.
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Dilandau
Posts: 525 Location: Tea House |
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Now that I think about it....RightStuf released KareKano with additional Spanish tracks...I'd never heard of that before. Emerje
Really! Is this connected to English, though? What if S Korea wanted to release anime with Korean subs....would they have to purchase rights from the US rights holder? This is confusing....but thanks for the posts! |
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Steventheeunuch
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Not nessecerally. They can go straight to the Japanese companies if they have no intention on using English tracks/subtitles/menus etc. Several series Madman owns are licensed directly from Gonzo, however due to contracts, they're given the US materials for most of it (usually sub and dub, Madman have bought additional artwork and what not or have just been given it, thats why quite a few of their covers do look different to their US counterparts).
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Tempest
 I Run this place.ANN Publisher  Posts: 10539 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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Rights can be bought in a multitude of ways. Here are some of the most common examples of what North American Anime companies have bought:
-North American English Rights -North American Rights (all languages) -World Wide (except Asia) English Rights -World Wide (Except Asia) rights (all languages). Often times a foreign distributor (say Madman) will license the Australian rights from the Japanese licensor, but rather than produce their own dub, they'll license the dub from the North American licensee (ie: ADV). It's a financial win/win situation when they can do that. They spend less money/time on the dub, and ADV makes a bit of money. Othertimes they'll license the entire thing from ADV (if ADV had worldwide rights) or they might license the show from Japan and produce their own dubs. There's a company in Quebec that puts out French region 1 versions of Bandai DVDs. They usually license the DVD rights from Bandai Ent (because Bandai has North American Rights), and they license the French translation from the French R2 Licensee. -t |
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Tempest
I Run this place. ANN Publisher Posts: 10539 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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Yes, when a company gets world-wide rights, all foreign hopefuls have to deal with them instead of the Japanese company. However its usually "World Wide (except Asia)" so in this case the Korean company, being in Asia, wouldn't have to deal with the US licensee; But a German company would.
Provided they had region + all languages. Sometimes they get the rights only to release it in a specific language. For Example if ADV films and Telecine (a fictional Mexican Company) are both negotiating the rights for YYY Anime, one of three (or similar variations) things may happen. 1) ADV would win the complete North American (or World) rights, and then sub-license the show to Telecine. 2) The Japanese licensor would grant ADV North American English Speaking Rights, and Grant Telecine North American Spanish Rights. Both companies would probably have the right to release the Japanese track. 3) ADV would win the rights for "North America Except Mexico," while Telecine would win the rights for Mexico only. In today's market, where the US licensee's have so much clout, option 1 is most likely. -t |
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Dilandau
Posts: 525 Location: Tea House |
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Thanks for the help Tempest-sama!
It makes a lot more sense now. I would have thought that information like this would be easier to find. I have spoken with a good number of general Publishers as well as the anime industry, and they all respond (or don't) like I am some sort of terminal threat because I asked about rights.... Arigatou gozaimasu, minna-san! |
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