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ADV sues Gainax; Over live-action Eva movie
Topic Started: Aug 13 2011, 07:18 AM (544 Views)
AmuroNT1
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The North American anime production company A.D. Vision (ADV) filed a lawsuit against the Japanese anime studio Gainax on Thursday over the live-action option to Gainax's Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise. In particular, ADV is asking the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, to "clarify certain rights and obligations" under the option and related copyrights.
ADV claims that "Gainax refuses to confirm ADV's acquisition of copyrights and other rights in, Evangelion, disputes the same, and has otherwise refused to perform its obligations under their agreement."
ADV and Gainax signed a memorandum of agreement for the option to "at least three (3) live-action theatrical motion pictures, five (5) television programs and three (3) direct-to-video movies products (each, a “Project”)" on March 1, 2003. The option was first announced at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival as a joint project between Gainax, Weta Workshop, and ADV. At that time, ADV co-founder John Ledford had given the project an "aggressive timetable." As recently as last year, producer Joseph Chou (Halo Legends, Appleseed: Ex Machina) said that the live-action plans were still "very active."
ADV asserted that it then made the following extension payments to Gainax:
US$10,000.00 on March 3, 2004;
US$2,500.00 on October 10, 2004;
US$2,500.00 on November 11, 2005;
US$2,500.00 on February 13, 2007;
US$2,500.00 on February 22, 2008; and
US$2,515.00 on February 19, 2009
To continue its option, ADV asserted that it made an additional payment of US$100,000 on February 17, 2010, before the expiration of the option term on February 28, 2010. However, ADV asserted that it requested materials from Gainax to confirm its option agreement, and said that Gainax delayed those materials. As a result, ADV said that "lost a major studio opportunity for the Motion Picture Rights. ADV gave notice of that loss to Gainax."
ADV asserted that Gainax proposed to change the agreement on July 15, 2010, but ADV rejected the proposal. According to ADV's filing, "Gainax refuses to confirm ADV's acquisition of copyrights and other rights in, Evangelion." Gainax also sent a return check for US$100,000 to ADV on July 27, 2011.
ADV is asking the court to declare ADV's option to be still valid past February 28, 2010 due to its US$100,000 payment on February 17, 2010. ADV is further asking the court to declare that " that ADV is the sole owner of the Motion Picture Rights without further payment obligations to Gainax save for certain contingent payment obligations" as outlined in the original agreement.
In addition, ADV is asking the court to declare "ADV's ownership of copyrights in relation to Evangelion (e.g. the Motion Picture Rights); namely, throughout the universe in perpetuity, ADV owns and has the right to produce, distribute and otherwise exploit the Projects (where Projects means three (3) live action theatrical motion pictures, five (5) television programs and three (3) direct-to- video movies products) and all ancillary, derivative and subsidiary rights as well as each and every second use right related thereto (including without limitation diffusion, merchandising, master toy rights, commercial tie-ups, soundtrack recordings, music publishing, character, theme park, remake, re- write, sequel, prequel and spin-off rights) and additional projects based thereon."


Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-08-12/adv-sues-gainax-over-live-action-evangelion-option
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XR
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In other words, Gainax got fed up with waiting for ADV to piss out something. At most Gainax may be forced to pay a fine for a breach of contract, but ADV will not acquire live action rights.
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Akito10
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Norman freakin' Jayden

They salty.

Not like it's ever going to get off the ground anyway.
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Deadzaku
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Can I sue Studio Khara for defaming the Eva franchise and making Rebuild 2.0 a terrible movie?
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ZetaStriker
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. . . and here I thought plans for the movie fell through a long time ago. Why has ADV wasted so much money on a movie that never seems like it's going to be made? And probably wouldn't be popular outside of the Anime fanbase anyway? They make it sound like they want a studio release, but I just can't see that happening.
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gundamtotoro
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There was a lot of hype at the time since WETA was supposed to be involved.

I didn't even know ADV existed enough as a company anymore to even make a lawsuit. Sounds like a cash grab to try to rejuvenate some projects the remaining scraps have in mind.
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NewtypeS3
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Well, this might explain some of ADV's serious money problems in its final years.
But it makes me wonder what happened to the last payment. Someone just go out to spend it all on hookers and blow?

...

...wait, this is anime nerds.
Someone just go out to spend it all on rare games and creepy-ass merchandise?
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XR
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NewtypeS3
Aug 14 2011, 10:12 PM
Well, this might explain some of ADV's serious money problems in its final years.
But it makes me wonder what happened to the last payment. Someone just go out to spend it all on hookers and blow?

...

...wait, this is anime nerds.
Someone just go out to spend it all on rare games and creepy-ass merchandise?
They spent it all on EVA coffee cans.

Posted Image
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Shinryoma
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デビルマン
ADV is still around?
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NewtypeS3
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Probably in-name-only, seeing how their assets were sucked up by another company... that was basically owned by the same guys.
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Shinryoma
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Whose left now? Media Bastards?

It's gonna take another Pokemon to get people interested again.

I guess it's not a total loss. Anime has left it's mark in some ways. We got things like continuity, over arching plots and character development in cartoons now. Children are treated with some respect as to their intelligence.
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XR
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Shinryoma
Aug 15 2011, 12:44 AM
Anime has left it's mark in some ways. We got things like continuity, over arching plots and character development in cartoons now. Children are treated with some respect as to their intelligence.
I'm actually getting the feeling that the "mark" has already passed its peak and shows are becoming less intelligent nowadays. But that could just be reflective of what the producers think of their audience.
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NewtypeS3
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Depends on the show and network, really.
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Shinryoma
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Yeah.

In general, animation has suffered greatly in the states. Not that current anime is breaking any ground nowadays.

Thanks to guys like this.
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/disney/disney-executive-story-is-irrelevant-to-our-company.html

And I've linked this before. Still worth mentioning.
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/ideas-commentary/frank-zappa-explains-why-cartoons-today-suck.html
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/ideas-commentary/what-frank-zappa-tex-avery-and-monty-python-have-in-common.html

Back to anime. Is the culture really that different? Or is there another reason anime on TV didn't do well?
Although foreign, European and Arab kids had no problems with anime growing up. Super robot, shonen, sports, shoujo, comedy, sci-fi, fantasy, educational, historical or children's literature anime. They all did well.
I remember kids would notice a difference between those shows and shows like Thundercats, Silverhawks, Mask...etc. I remember one kid saying "English" cartoons had no story and each episode ended with everyone laughing.
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ZetaStriker
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It's Like You're Carrying the Weight of the World~
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Yeah, things seem to be going downhill again. It's not all bad, but most of the newest shows are ADHD-fueled drug trips like Adventure Time! rather than plotted shows. There's still room for story-fueled cartoons on television, shown by things like the new Thundercats, Ben 10/Generator Rex and of course the DCAU . . . but as far as new projects are concerned, they're shrinking in number.

In short, needs more Legend of Korra.
Edited by ZetaStriker, Aug 15 2011, 07:50 AM.
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Deadzaku
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It's not like American TV needs any more shows since it already has Breaking Bad.
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ZetaStriker
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Which is not a cartoon, and definitely not appropriate for children. So, kind of the wrong argument there.
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Posted ImageNeko
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Noir

I remember an article about this in Newtype USA.
It seemed unlikely then so I wonder why they kept pushing it.
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Thrawnma
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ITT: Self-righteous animu nerds talk about crap they know nothing about.

Look, a little history is important here. Gives us some context and other shit we need here. All this talk about "glorious animu master race, inferior western animation lesser race" crap needs to end. Yes, Anime has been used to project a much broader spectrum of stuff than Western cartoons typically has. But other than a Akira Kurosawa film how many amazing Japanese movies have you seen? How many big name action/sci-fi Japanese movies have you watched that had even half the special effects budget as even a mid-level Hollywood production? Japan isn't tossing out dozens of animu because they're so respectful of animation and how amazing it is -- the shit is still seen as a kid's medium over there and it's hardly like even half of the released series are anything more than derivative crap (and always has been, this is true in all mediums of entertainment across all lines of countries. Nostalgia and tendencies to ignore terrible stuff only makes us remember the "good stuff" from "back in the day" and hence the days of our past look better than our present). For every Ghost in the Shell you get a Yugioh or Pokemon or anything along those lines. For every Miyazaki film you get a rehashed piece of crap like the Zeta Gundam movie trilogy. So it's not like Japan is some glorious land of consistently amazing and highly regarded animated works.

Going off from that, the early days of animation in both countries has served to influence how its treated even to this day. American cartoons were shown in movie theaters, alongside film clips and news reels. Bugs Bunny would play before a reel depicting the incoming storm of Nazi evil. Shit like that. Cartoons were either 5-7 minute shorts (Bugs Bunny, Goofy, Donald, Mickey Mouse, Daffy Duck, etc) or they were one of Disney's large budget films. It was either slapstick and silly or it was a beautifully made film with singing and romance. And that's how it was. And that influenced how stuff was made later on. But to pretend like this stuff had no worth? C'mon. Can you imagine a world without Bugs Bunny? And without Disney and Steambot Willie there would literally be no Animu at all. History-wise, American animation far predates the beginning of the glory days of the Japanese. The origins of Bugs Bunny come from a 1938 short. Tetsuwan Atom, aka Astro Boy, started being published in 52 and didn't get a series till 63. Tetsujin-28 beganto be published around the same time and had a series made around the same time. Modern Animu and Mango, as we know it, is the result of post-war Japan. For comparison and contrast, consider that Superman was created in 1938, Batman in 1939, and the famous Fleischer Superman cartoons were made in the forties!

And now some of you are going to try and counter this with "Well if they were so good why didn't they keep making better and better stuff instead of slipping back?"

Well I counter with this: we have never slipped back. Cartoons in Western society have always occupied the niche they have for a damned good reason -- our live-action industry is far and beyond anything the Japanese can crank out. My god, we have HBO series with larger episode budgets, I'll wager, than a full-length Japanese major motion picture. We don't NEED to draw the stuff, we can actually make it. And when we do make an animated work we've got a number of different legacies to pull from. Anything that's silly, over-the-top, funny and in general "wacky" is remembering the days of Bugs Bunny. Anything beautifully animated but with moments of darkness and mystery and inspiring some fear or terror can only be paying homage to Walt Disney's works. There's Pixar in modern times redefining how animated movies can be seen, pushing the boundaries of imagination and looking at things in new ways. Then you had guys like Ralph Bakshi, and Don Bluth. We had the Heavy Metal movies, Rock and Rule, The Last Unicorn, Flight of Dragons. Yes, I admit, some of these were collaborated works between Japanese animation studios and Western production staff. Which just drives home the point I'm making -- there's no rivalry between Western and Japanese animation. There's no "OUR SIDE IS BETTER" except what the fans make. The companies in question have always managed to work together fairly well. Pixar is fantastically popular in Japan. And without Western influence we would have never gotten a second season of Big O. Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust, to my knowledge, was made with an english audio track first, if they ever even made a Japanese track.

Heck, I can name some great Western animated series that certainly did more with what they had than Anime have. Batman The Animated series put a spin and tone on Batman that has influenced all depictions since then. The voice of Batman to thousands of people, I imagine, is Kevin Conroy. Batman Beyond took it a step further by showing what a life will do to a person by depicting Batman as an old, lonely, and isolated man. Superman The Animated Series, Justice League, JLU, all great shows. Hell, can you guys name any anime which are quite like Sealab: 2021, or more importantly, like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast? These shows didn't just use animation in new ways, they redefined how animation could be used to present a show, and what kinds of shows you could do with animated works. Once more I'm not saying one side is superior or inferior, I'm just pointing out they're different, for understandable and important reasons, and that both have great things to offer us amidst the piles of crap they (and all entertainment in general) float in.

The big thing here is that most of this crap is purely silly since everything is animated in Korea anyways.
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ZetaStriker
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Thrawnma, I have no idea what your problem is, but you're flying off the handle for no reason. No one is claiming that. In fact, it's so off topic I didn't bother reading beyond the first three sentences. I've seen communities where your argument would be valid, but this is not one of them, believe me.
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AmuroNT1
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The man who destroys worlds and creates worlds
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For the guys who were asking earlier, I think ADV broke up into a number of smaller companies like Sentai Filmworks and Section 23. I guess the main brand is still around, for them to be able to sue people.
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Yoshi6400
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Aug 16 2011, 01:14 PM
...I didn't bother reading beyond the first three sentences.
Then you have nothing to say either.
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gundamtotoro
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Thrawnma
Aug 16 2011, 10:42 AM
The big thing here is that most of this crap is purely silly since everything is animated in Korea anyways.
Word.
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Scorps
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Yoshi6400
Aug 16 2011, 04:39 PM
ZetaStriker
Aug 16 2011, 01:14 PM
...I didn't bother reading beyond the first three sentences.
Then you have nothing to say either.

I read the whole thing myself, and I have to say that the rant was indeed incredibly off topic and irrelevant to whatever discussion there was before it.

No one was talking about East versus West, so I don't know where that came from at all. If I read into the past discussion correctly, there was reference to animation going into decline in the States once more and anime's general impact on Western animation or something.

I do agree that cartoons today seem to be treating their audiences like tripped out druggies, though. A lot of the stuff that's showing on Cartoon Network have shown themselves to be absolutely ridiculous results of post-modernism. But there are the occasional (some of them hidden) gems that manage to come along in the form of Thundercats, Young Justice, Clone Wars, Generator Rex, Ben10 and the like.

Though I must say that I like Adventure Time and Regular Show. Adventure Time, while it doesn't seem like it at first glance, does indeed have a plot that it follows, if the more recent episodes (Mortal Folly and Mortal Recoil) are any indication.
Edited by Scorps, Aug 16 2011, 07:06 PM.
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Thrawnma
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Scorps
Aug 16 2011, 07:02 PM
I read the whole thing myself, and I have to say that the rant was indeed incredibly off topic and irrelevant to whatever discussion there was before it.

No one was talking about East versus West, so I don't know where that came from at all. If I read into the past discussion correctly, there was reference to animation going into decline in the States once more and anime's general impact on Western animation or something.

I do agree that cartoons today seem to be treating their audiences like tripped out druggies, though. A lot of the stuff that's showing on Cartoon Network have shown themselves to be absolutely ridiculous results of post-modernism. But there are the occasional (some of them hidden) gems that manage to come along in the form of Thundercats, Young Justice, Clone Wars, Generator Rex, Ben10 and the like.

Though I must say that I like Adventure Time and Regular Show. Adventure Time, while it doesn't seem like it at first glance, does indeed have a plot that it follows, if the more recent episodes (Mortal Folly and Mortal Recoil) are any indication.
Quote:
 
Yeah.

In general, animation has suffered greatly in the states. Not that current anime is breaking any ground nowadays.

Back to anime. Is the culture really that different? Or is there another reason anime on TV didn't do well?
Although foreign, European and Arab kids had no problems with anime growing up. Super robot, shonen, sports, shoujo, comedy, sci-fi, fantasy, educational, historical or children's literature anime. They all did well.
I remember kids would notice a difference between those shows and shows like Thundercats, Silverhawks, Mask...etc. I remember one kid saying "English" cartoons had no story and each episode ended with everyone laughing.


It's cool guys. I can see how you'd think my rant, which was was less rant and more exposition on history and context of two differing cultures, was off-topic with a comment like this predating it.

For the record though, Scorps, there's shows that blow the ones out nowawadays out of the water in terms of "ADHD" content that was out when I was a kid. Ren and Stimpy is foremost in my memory, though there's certainly other stuff too. It's not like wacky, insane cartoons are a recent thing.
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