Living Corpse wrote:gvamp wrote:I'd love to see more Ultra series released over here too but sadly I don't think we will for awhile for one thing Tsuburaya went back to court against Chaiyo and for another they wheren't to thrilled with BCI licensing Ultraman from Chaiyo.
God damn, is it me or are Japan's business man even more sue happy then business men in the U.S.?
A Thai businessman presented a contract, supposedly written 20 years before by a now-dead CEO of Tsuburaya Productions, granting him all international rights to the first five Ultra shows (including ULTRAMAN and ULTRA SEVEN). The "contract" got the name of Tsuburaya Productions wrong, got the names of several shows wrong, and even misspelled the name and signature of the CEO... but it bore a official seal which made it legal in Japan. You really think Tsuburaya shouldn't have sued over that?
gvamp wrote:Living Corpse wrote:gvamp wrote:It's not Japan's doing Tsuburaya won the case then last year Chaiyo filed for an appeals.
Didn't they get in a lawsuit with Toho over Jet Jaguar looking like Ultraman?
I'm not 100% sure on that. I don't think so as far as I know Tsuburaya had a good relationship with Toho.
kpa or August would be the ones to ask about that.
I haven't heard about a lawsuit over Jet Jaguar. That doesn't mean it didn't happen, but I'm not aware of it. With the number of giant heroes that existed before MEGALON came out, it seems like the case wouldn't have gotten far regardless.
Toho and TPC have an odd relationship. Toho invested in the company early on, and they handled theatrical distribution for the first ULTRAMAN movie. While Eiji Tsuburaya was alive he used his clout to access Toho props and costumes for his shows. After Eiji's death, the two companies worked together for a few more years; they collaborated on DAIGORO VS GOLIATH and Toho regularly included TPC shows in their Toho Champion Festivals through 1974 (well past the release of MEGALON). The two companies went their separate ways in the mid-1970s; Toho was the theatrical distributor for ULTRAMAN USA in 1989 but that's the only exception that comes to mind.