Gonzo Halts Romeo×Juliet Fansub with FUNimation's Help

[Roy Mustang]

From ANN

The unofficial anime subtitling group Shinsen-Subs reported that it had received a letter Thursday which requested that Shinsen-Subs cease and desist its subtitling of Gonzo's Romeo × Juliet anime series. The distribution company FUNimation Entertainment sent the letter on behalf of Romeo × Juliet's Japanese studio Gonzo. Shinsen-Subs stated it has "already complied to the requests in the letter, and this project is hereby dropped."

FUNimation has confirmed that it did send the letter on behalf of Gonzo and that the series has not yet been licensed to a distributor in North America. In a statement to ANN, FUNimation said, "…[I]t is important to note that the rights owned by Japanese producers are still applicable, and enforceable, worldwide even before the anime is licensed for local distribution."

In a situation similar to Gonzo's, the Japanese anime distributor Media Factory's law firm requested that several websites and subtitling groups stop the unauthorized distribution of Media Factory's titles in December of 2004. The titles included ones which did not have local distributor in North America at the time. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex scriptwriter Yoshiki Sakurai asked American fans to buy anime, instead of downloading without authorization, in a December 2002 post on the Production I.G forum. At the time, the Stand Alone Complex series was still running in Japan, and had been effectively licensed but not yet released by Bandai Entertainment and Manga Entertainment in North America.

FUNimation's statement added, "FUNimation Entertainment, along with others in the industry both in Japan and North America, have long understood that unauthorized distribution of anime, especially prior to localization, is very harmful to Japanese producers because it lowers the value of the anime on the worldwide market. For this reason, Japanese producers are highly motivated to stop unauthorized distribution. We believe there will be a strong trend toward these types of anti-infringement actions being taken more regularly and systematically."

In regards to a possible license of the Romeo × Juliet anime re-imagining of William Shakespeare's romantic play, FUNimation said, "…[O]f course it is a fine show, and we would very much like to distribute it" in the United States.

FUNimation concluded, "As part of the longstanding relationship between FUNimation and Gonzo, we have been asked to monitor and take action against unauthorized distribution of all Gonzo's current new titles. Because we believe that this will benefit FUNimation, and the industry in general, we have agreed to do so."

Is FUNimation getting close to getting the license rights for R X J for North America?

Is this a backlash coming from what is happening to Geneon?


[color="Red"][font="Book Antiqua"]Col. Roy Mustang[/font][/color]

[ShiroiHikari]

...sigh.

One thing that would help is if American distributors would quit charging so much for the DVDs. Because 25 bucks for 4 episodes is a ripoff, and I can't justify paying it when I don't have a lot of money.

[Radical Dreamer]

...sigh.

One thing that would help is if American distributors would quit charging so much for the DVDs. Because 25 bucks for 4 episodes is a ripoff, and I can't justify paying it when I don't have a lot of money.

This is why DeepDiscount.com is the best place ever, 'cause I agree. XD

Also, this hadn't been picked up yet? I thought someone might have already licensed it.

[Tenshi no Ai]

Heh funny how they go after Shinsen but not Umai who'se subbed the show longer and has more episodes of it out :/


Still, some things don't make sense:

1) FUNI did it on behalf of Gonzo's international policy. WHY pick out only certain series and not others that they own the property too?

2) With FUNI admitting they don't even OWN the series yet, why couldn't Gonzo do it themself, and is it even right for a company whop doesn't even OWN the property rights to something to C&D it before they even have it? Legally (and I know, subs in general legally are, well, you know) could FUNI say something like "well, we were THINKING of picking it up...." when they C&D series?


Just curious...

[MasterDias]

This is why DeepDiscount.com is the best place ever, 'cause I agree. XD

...and Rightstuf sales.

If one waits until the boxset comes out and plays their cards right, they could get the series for about the cost of two dvds (or more or less).

Well, except for certain Geneon titles perhaps. They often tended to be rather expensive.

Heh funny how they go after Shinsen but not Umai who'se subbed the show longer and has more episodes of it out :/

Shinsens probably more visible however as they do a number of fairly high profile series. The other one doesn't do very many titles.

[Roy Mustang]

Still, some things don't make sense:

1) FUNI did it on behalf of Gonzo's international policy. WHY pick out only certain series and not others that they own the property too?

2) With FUNI admitting they don't even OWN the series yet, why couldn't Gonzo do it themself, and is it even right for a company whop doesn't even OWN the property rights to something to C&D it before they even have it? Legally (and I know, subs in general legally are, well, you know) could FUNI say something like "well, we were THINKING of picking it up...." when they C&D series?


Just curious...

This didn't hit me untill about 20 mins ago. FUNimation did the same thing that they are doing now with a few anime titles, that they reported not having. Then with in a few months later, they did a press release about them picking up the rights for a few anime titles and two of the ones that they told fansub groups to stop were on the list.

I feel that FUNimation and Gonzo are so close to finishing the deal for release in NA that Gonzo and FUNimation went ahead and starting to send letters out to fansub groups.

[color="Red"][font="Book Antiqua"]
Col. Roy Mustang[/font][/color]

[TriezGamer]

Just because they don't have a contract yet doesn't mean they aren't negotiating one.

[ilikegir33]

It's a little strange though, because most Junichi Sato anime are picked up by ADV, not Funimation. If you argue about it being by Gonzo, then you should know that Gonzo anime are sometimes licensed by ADV like NHK and Kaleido Star.

[MasterDias]

It's a little strange though, because most Junichi Sato anime are picked up by ADV, not Funimation. If you argue about it being by Gonzo, then you should know that Gonzo anime are sometimes licensed by ADV like NHK and Kaleido Star.

Sato didn't direct the series however. He was only the sound supervisor or something.

[termyt]

Heh funny how they go after Shinsen but not Umai who'se subbed the show longer and has more episodes of it out :/


Still, some things don't make sense:

1) FUNI did it on behalf of Gonzo's international policy. WHY pick out only certain series and not others that they own the property too?

2) With FUNI admitting they don't even OWN the series yet, why couldn't Gonzo do it themself, and is it even right for a company whop doesn't even OWN the property rights to something to C&D it before they even have it? Legally (and I know, subs in general legally are, well, you know) could FUNI say something like "well, we were THINKING of picking it up...." when they C&D series?


Just curious...

I don’t think Gonzo has legal status in the US. They'd have to go through the international courts to take legal action here and then they'd be suing a not-for-profit venture. It would cost them a lot of money without the possibility to recoup those losses.. They do have a good working relationship with FUNimation though, so I'm sure they just dropped the possibility of doing this for them while they were negotiating the rights for one or more series, perhaps including Romeo X Juliet.

As for why they picked out this series specifically, it could be a number of things like:

Shinsen Subs is listed as a legal entity, so it is easy to find and, if it comes down to it, sue. (I don’t know if it actually is or not).

Gonzo may be particularly worried about RxJ’s sales potential in the US and fears that fan-subs may hurt it more than help it.

This is just the first step. If people don’t get the hint, more letters and possible legal action may follow.

[Yokuo]

Honestly, it doesn't matter what the true motive behind FUNI's sending of the letter is, because if the Japanese group wants the anime to stop being subbed, then that's all there is to it. After just going through this with Death Note a few months ago (ViZ hit it up with a C&D when we had 2 episodes left to go...), I know the annoyance of the C&D letters, but the simple truth is that they can do whatever they please.

And yes, it sounds like FUNI's about to license this anime, so I wouldn't be worried about WHY they did what they did, as it seems that is the reason.

[minakichan]

Just FYI, Umai has been sent C&Ds a while ago and they've stopped subbing.

And um, there... is a rogue subber on RXJ. But I won't mention where it is.

[Tenshi no Ai]

And um, there... is a rogue subber on RXJ. But I won't mention where it is.

There's a couple now, actually. Heh usually for groups only ONE company continues to sub after license, buuut in favor of fans the subbing WILL continue... (out of pity that there were 2 eps left of course, and the series is quite popular!) Personally, I'm kinda glad so I don't have to wait HOW many years, before a DVD boxset comes out...