Chaiyo & China's new Ultraman film

[lhb412]

http://kotaku.com/japans-biggest-superh ... 1797047149



Title says it all: Chaiyo has licensed Ultraman for a starring role in what is apparently some CGI superhero series made in China? To add insult to injury: all this unlicensed Tsuburaya commercials used in this promo! And take a look at that horrific body paint Ultraman who showed up at the press conference!

Anyway, August Ragone reports on Tsuburaya's open letter threatening legal action:

http://augustragone.blogspot.com/2017/0 ... legal.html

[Dr Kain]

Sigh, can't they both just "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" and get it over with already?

[lhb412]

^I don't quite get your metaphor, but if one were to, metaphorically, copulate with the anthropomorphic personification of Chaiyo I imagine you'd wake up in a bathtub full of ice missing a kidney with a post-it saying 'get to a hospital' on your face.

[Dr Kain]

[lhb412]

^This isn't just distributing those first six shows, this is putting out (crappy) original content when Tsuburaya's trying to raise the brand by putting out quality content. To quote Tsuburaya's open letter, it 'devalues the brand.'

[sentaison]

Can't Chaiyo just give up on milking this cow?

[RichCo]

[klen7]

^ This isn't the first time they have done this either. Tsuburaya has successfully shot down other attempts at derivative work like an Ultraman cartoon. Not sure if the China factor will sway this in a different direction

[lhb412]

Wow. Sci-Fi Japan(Keith Aiken)'s article really lays everything out nice and tidy like - and the ending is quite enticing, giving an optimistic outlook about Tsuburaya finally settling this thing once and for all in American court!

http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2017 ... s-dispute/

[Dr Kain]

Any reason in particular why it is now being done in an America court? The article didn't seem to really explain that.

[RichCo]

[Henry88]

one could hope this will open the door to Ultraman joining the monsterverse .

[Dr Kain]

[lhb412]

^Yeah, it's not clear from the article why it's happening, but I'm certainly happy it is happening.

The sooner Chaiyo/UGM is out of the picture is the sooner Tsuburaya can better market and distribute all things Ultra worldwide.

[RichCo]

[Specium Ray]

Chaiyo sold most of their Ultraman rights to a company based in Japan called UM Corporation. UM Corporation then sub-licences to different partners around the globe. Most of what you see for sale in the Western market (budget DVD sets, smartphone games, Xbox Live avatars, etc) traces back to them. UMC licensed YouTube rights for the original Ultraman series to a party in the US, and it was flagged as a content strike from Tsuburaya. Hence, the case is being tried in the US: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-es ... ube-797291

[lhb412]

BAM! Thanks for that.

[Dr Kain]

[Geno]

Can't be any worse than the MonsterVerse flicks.

[Henry88]