Laws regarding Broadcasting Unlicensed Anime?

[Heero]

llj: hahaha, AWESOME, thanks for noting that. That looks NOTHING like the actual movie, but I totally believe that's the one.

[SteveH]

While I will again note my lack of definitive knowledge, I'll point out two things.
#1. Foreign laws <> US laws, and anime copyrights are not definitively the same as US copyrights. There are similarities to be sure (most of which are intentional) but there are also differences
#2. "New works" do NOT "restart the clock". Peter Pan has had numerous redos, remakes and even "licensed" sequels, but it still went public domain (the wife is a HUGE Peter Pan fan, and we also both truly respect that Barrie gave the rights to charity upon his passing). Each NEW work gets it's own copyright, but the original work has a copyright that is unaffected by the new one.

The conventional wisdom is that Disney keeps paying off lawmakers to keep moving the goalpost so that Mickey Mouse NEVER goes public domain, but we'll see.

In THEORY (and again, I grant that I am NOT a lawyer, and the law COULD change tomorrow even if I'm right) the ORIGINAL Mach Go Go Go could go public domain soon, but the courts ruled in the industry's favor in terms of extending the copyright life for Kurosawa works from the 50 yr mark to the 70 year mark, so that's why I say "who knows". (apparently some courts have gone with 50 for pre-1970 works, but another case went 70 for certain other works) Now, I will again note, that I have ZERO idea how or where the copyright would stand on the English language dub version of the original Speed Racer.

(and Disney does horrible sequels for the same reason small animation houses do TERRIBLE knock-offs: because they can SELL them. MOST awful Disney sequels are for properties released less than 5 years prior (see: sequels to: Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, Lion King and Aladdin, I think some moron even thought it was a good idea to make a Hunchback of Notre Dame sequel or Direct to Video thing))

The story is basic. Peter Pan, the original work, may have fallen into Public Domain, but that's not the issue and that's not what Disney is protecting.

The Specific work, Disney's animated Peter Pan, is the product in danger. THAT is what is protected, and that is what is grandfathered by the various new works. If the copyright expired on the movie then any company could grab a print and release it for a buck or something. Disney does not want its treasured 'jewels' in any Dollar bin at Big Lots.

And many of the 'direct to video' have been commercial failures. Note that rentals do NOT count. Doesn't matter. They act to extend the various copyrights.

It's part of the reason why Tatsunoko did that wave of remakes in the mid '90s. Each title was more and more diluted as they progressed but they all served the function of protecting and extending copyrights.

[Andrue]

The basic question I had, beyond public domain or anything, if that if something has not been licensed for release and distribution in America, do you have to pay a licensing fee to broadcast it for free? And if you do have to do that, who do you pay it to?
I was a director at a pretty large radio station near Boston for 3 years, and we had to pay a licensing fee to broadcast bands represented by major record labels, while our programming that featured unsigned bands didn't have to pay. There are a few organizations that you pay to broadcast copyright material for a commercial station.
The tricky thing was, that if a song was over 60 years old, or if they didn't have distribution contracts in this country, we didn't have to pay licensing for that programming. So if I played some J-pop music or something from outside the USA, the FCC didn't care to track that stuff down. Also, the moment that a band was signed to a big record label, or started receiving major airplay, or if they were an international act that got signed on a stateside label, we wouldnt be able to play them on that block of radio.

But I know it must be different with animation. This is why I was trying to figure out the finer details in regards to international media with no current USA distribution rights. Titles such as Legend of the Galactic Heroes, and Macross 7, which have never seen an english release in any form, are the types of things I would try and broadcast. The reason I asked about previously licensed series in America is because of certain series having their licensing period ending (such as Urusei Yatsura, which AnimEigo lost in 2011) would mean that there is no way to purchase or watch the series legally in America without going through a second hand market.

That being said, I am still trying to figure out ways I could potentially bring some series (In their original Japanese), to the American airwaves via public access. I wanted to include in my show some history and context relating to certain episodes and series, and make it more educational than anything. One of the reasons I am here, and I feel many people are here, is preserve the memory of some things that they hold dear, and show the world something that could've otherwise been forgotten. That's the whole purpose of this question and discussion, no more, no less. Thanks to all of you.

[Heero]

Sorry about the derail, to answer your basic question, IF it is not licensed in the US, then (in order to be LEGAL) you would need to track down the copyright holder in Japan and purchase broadcast rights from THEM. Obviously that's incredibly complicated and time consuming (and if you don't speak Japanese either impossible or expensive). As was noted early, if you don't CARE about legality, then the odds of you being PROSECUTED for broadcasting "never released in America" on public access is practically zero. But the simple answer is EITHER a US company has licensed the anime for broadcast in America, in which case you go through them; OR no US company has that right so you NEED to ask the Japanese company in order to be legal.

[SteveH]

The basic question I had, beyond public domain or anything, if that if something has not been licensed for release and distribution in America, do you have to pay a licensing fee to broadcast it for free? And if you do have to do that, who do you pay it to?
I was a director at a pretty large radio station near Boston for 3 years, and we had to pay a licensing fee to broadcast bands represented by major record labels, while our programming that featured unsigned bands didn't have to pay. There are a few organizations that you pay to broadcast copyright material for a commercial station.
The tricky thing was, that if a song was over 60 years old, or if they didn't have distribution contracts in this country, we didn't have to pay licensing for that programming. So if I played some J-pop music or something from outside the USA, the FCC didn't care to track that stuff down. Also, the moment that a band was signed to a big record label, or started receiving major airplay, or if they were an international act that got signed on a stateside label, we wouldnt be able to play them on that block of radio.

But I know it must be different with animation. This is why I was trying to figure out the finer details in regards to international media with no current USA distribution rights. Titles such as Legend of the Galactic Heroes, and Macross 7, which have never seen an english release in any form, are the types of things I would try and broadcast. The reason I asked about previously licensed series in America is because of certain series having their licensing period ending (such as Urusei Yatsura, which AnimEigo lost in 2011) would mean that there is no way to purchase or watch the series legally in America without going through a second hand market.

That being said, I am still trying to figure out ways I could potentially bring some series (In their original Japanese), to the American airwaves via public access. I wanted to include in my show some history and context relating to certain episodes and series, and make it more educational than anything. One of the reasons I am here, and I feel many people are here, is preserve the memory of some things that they hold dear, and show the world something that could've otherwise been forgotten. That's the whole purpose of this question and discussion, no more, no less. Thanks to all of you.

And so, go back to my very first response. Clips, yes. Entire episodes, no.

And technically your station was breaking the law playing J-pop. JASRAC has reciprocal agreements with ASCAP and BMI and others. I have a sneaking hunch you were using SM CDs but that's an entire other issue.