Just to put everything in proper perspective for the record, I'm not a lawyer, either. But, with that being said, its amazing how so many Armchair Lawyers assumed that Chiayo was right, by only reading their statements funneled through the Thai press, without seeing any of the evidence first hand, or even understanding some of the elements of the case -- which hinged on a Japanese signature stamp, called a Hanko, on a very badly-written document. (Or even being able to grasp that court cases are handled differently in countries outside of the US; we're not the center of the universe.)
The said document, supposedly prepared by Tsuburaya Productions, was rendered in clumsy Japanese, really bad Japanese, and even referred to "Ultra Seven" as "Ultraman Seven." Such a document would never have been sent out by a Japanese company in that manner. That should have been a tip off. It screams "forgery."
The whole case was built upon the Hanko stamped document of the late CEO of Tsuburaya Productions who passed away in 1995. After he was gone, and couldn't speak on the company's behalf, Chiayo began waving this twenty year-old "contract" around. Why did they wait two decades to exercise their rights? Conveniently after the man who signed it passed away? Japanese courts still recognize the legal validity of the Hanko, even though there have been increasing cases of forgery, which has led to a call to phase out this antiquated signature method.
Tsuburaya Productions does have legal consul. Some folks outside of Japan might believe that Tsuburaya should pursue the case in a certain way. Again, their lawyers would know better than the rest of us, so let us allow them to continue building their case and tackling Chiayo in the manner that they feel is best. A lot is at stake, and they are not going to let Chiayo get away with it. Who will prevail in the end? This is the real world, where sometimes the Good Guys lose and the Bad Guys win. But, just because someone wins, doesn't make them right, either.
For those who care: cross your fingers, but don't hold your collective breath.
