Rody wrote:So, if the Japanese courts would accept the possibility of the hanko being forged, the dispute could end?
I guess so. But that would involve the Japanese courts changing how they've operated for decades. Change is always possible, but not likely.
Also, does this dispute prevent Tsuburaya from distributing ANY of their shows outside of Japan, or just the Showa series? It's not quite clear to me.
The dispute only involves the Ultra shows from ULTRA Q to ULTRAMAN TARO, the JAMBORG ACE series, and the two movies co-produced by Tsuburaya and Chaiyo. All the other TPC shows, films, etc are in the clear. Chaiyo did try to claim some ownership of all the characters in the shows-- which would have made it extremely difficult for Tsuburaya to internationally market a series like ULTRAMAN MAX which features classic monsters-- but the courts thankfully shot that down a few years back.
For anyone who wants to know more about this case, on SciFi Japan we ran a lengthy covering the legal battle from its beginnings up until 2007. There's pictures of the contract, descriptions of the various court rulings, plus details on how far Chaiyo tried to push their claim...
http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2007 ... oductions/
