The Case of the Missing DVD

The Case of the Missing DVD

by Armand Vaquer

An alert fan discovered today that the Retromedia DVD, Destroy All Planets 2010 has "mysteriously vanished" from Amazon.com's website.

No doubt this may be due to the issues Ryan Clark and other fans raised pertaining to the rights issue at Amazon.com and several kaiju-oriented message boards.

This is probably a cautionary move on Amazon.com's part until the rights issues are resolved.

UPDATE: The DVD is still being offered at Amazon.com.

FOR THE RECORD: Kaiju historian August Ragone commented on several message boards about the rights issues. I had quoted him as he has the most knowledge on Japanese movie companies, DVD & screening rights and many other facets. As his comments are on several public message boards, I took the liberty in quoting him. Unfortunately, I should have given him a "head's up" first. It was not my intention to box him into the fray which may give someone the impression that this was an "August vs. Retromedia" situation. It wasn't. He also expressed that he'd like to also hear what Carl Craig has to say in his commentary. He was only speaking as a fan and not in any official (or otherwise) capacity with his role in Shout! Factory's Gamera releases. I apologize if that is the impression given.

"Destroy All Planets" DVD Controversy - Part II

Avery Guerra, who has been a reliable source for news and behind-the-scenes info on many movie productions, posted this message from Fred Olen Ray at the Monster Zero message board about the Destroy All Planets 2010 DVD controversy:

"I have never been contacted by anyone associated with these films in the ten years we have distributed them except about five years ago when I emailed Daiei to ask about buying rights to the wide screen versions and they told me they didn't own the US rights. Toei likewise denied knowing anything about THE MAGIC SERPENT which we also tried to buy the wide screen rights for at the AFM three years ago.

Otherwise as far as we know there are no rights issues "a'brewing".

The biggest point that everyone is missing is that I only put this out because I was led to believe that the fans wanted it. I had no intention, or desire, to do this, all my usual distribution outlets had turned it down... but I was encouraged by fans to invest in doing the commentary, which we did, but then thought better of putting the show out as it would have to compete with a plethora of other editions.

Continual and repeated emails from fans made me want to offer it to them, but I didn't believe there was enough people really wanting it to do a big run so I went the Amazon.com route so copies would only be created for those who really wanted it... why can't anybody see that I only tried to give them what they kept asking me for? I could give a OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE otherwise... this could have stayed on the shelf for the rest of my life and I wouldn't care. I'm not going to make any real money off the Amazon release, it was done strictly for the fans who asked me for this. It might move a grand total of 25 copies, who knows? Get a life guys, I have bigger and better things to do. The DVD company is my hobby, not my business, I do it for the fans... but probably should have known better.

On different points "Ryan" posted his slander in Amazon's "Customer Review", a section created so that people who have actually bought products on Amazon can view them, then create a review of them. It's not your private flame forum, dude. If this basement dweller doesn't understand the concept of "customer review" then maybe someone should cut him off from a word processor.

Secondly, Copyright registrations begin with the letters PA, not V... don't you kids ever do your homework? The copyright registration the other ignorant guy puts forth is also BS... that's a transfer letter and has nothing to do with registration. Period. He hasn't a clue about copyright laws.

The item you mention is probably a transfer for banking purposes, I don't even need to look at it to know it's not a registration of copyright. Please write 100 times "I will know what I'm talking about before embarrassing myself on-line again".

Third, I'm legally not able to disclose the details of the settlement we made regarding this film and its legal action. However, drop your own dime and search the LA Court records... it's there as far as I know...

After all is said and done DESTROY is already out on 30 different labels and has NEVER been out of print on Retro in almost 10 years... I'd say the horse is out of the barn on this one."

FRED

In response to Ray's comments, August Ragone (who is involved in Shout! Factory's Gamera releases) posted this reply also at Monster Zero:

Avery,

Thanks for posting this. I just want to sort out the facts, and Mr. Ray isn't helping.

Everyone Else,

Since DESTROY ALL PLANETS is not PD, did Mr. Ray get the rights from Kadokawa? The issue is, that he has tried to copyright this as "DESTROY ALL MONSTERS 2010: Special Edition", much like a certain Wade Williams tried to copyright PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. But, unlike PLAN 9, all the Gamera films reverted back to Daiei (owned by Kadokawa).

Something Weird Video were ordered to C&D once the rights to the Mexican Horror films that they planned to release (including the US dubs by K. Gordon Murray) reverted back to the original owners in Mexico via the NAFTA agreement. Another company, Casa Negra, secured the rights and released the original Mexican versions with Subtitles and the English dub option. How is this different?

Now, I'm not posting to bash this release. I'm passing along information and asking questions regarding the relative legality of this release—it doesn't matter that MGM doesn't own the rights anymore to DESTROY ALL PLANETS. The fact of the matter is that they are now in the hands of Kadokawa, despite claims to the contrary. I don't understand how Kadokawa can own this film and how its in the public domain?

"Settlement"? What settlement? So, he has paid someone for the rights to this? MGM has some original elements, but they know that they don't own the rights and that they reverted back to Kadokawa. Also, Mr. Ray's unwillingness to post the proof of licensing or ownership, in his own defense, is also suspect. "Check on your own dime"? Right.

BTW, the interesting thing about Mr. Ray's comment about trying to get the rights to THE MAGIC SERPENT from Toei... I contacted their LA office on the behalf of a friend of mine, a couple of years ago, and they said it was available. Perhaps Ray isn't asking the right people. At the time, Toei wanted about $20k for the North American Home Video license for this film (for five years), and I rather doubt that Retromedia would want to shell that kind of dough out.

I wonder if Ray tried to contact Kadokawa Pictures through their Los Angeles office when he began this project. It would have only taken a simple phone call at the very least. (I even have their number programed into my cell phone.)

He said he sent emails to Daiei five years ago (was he aware that Kadokawa took them over around about that time or earlier and released Gamera The Brave in April 2006?). We all know that emails get lost, deleted (people thinking they're spam and other reasons) and it appears he might've emailed the wrong person. A traditional business letter would have been more appropriate in this instance (but that's just my opinion), sent via registered or certified mail if need be.

For the record, I happen to like Ray's output and have posted articles about his movies my blog and at Monster Island News, so I have nothing against him. In the blog posts on this DVD, I tried to be even-handed (by posting both sides of the matter) and just stuck to the facts as we know them. He can get permission to release the documents giving him the DVD rights from the parties involved. Doing so could possibly put to rest this matter.

It appears something fell though the cracks involving this particular DVD.

"Destroy All Planets" Rights Battle Brewing

A new controversy is brewing over whether or not a Gamera DVD being issued by Retromedia is legitimate or not. Cries of "bootleg" are being posted at the Monster Zero message board. Is it?

The movie in question is Retromedia's DVD of Destroy All Planets 2010 which features a commentary by one of the movie's stars, Carl Craig.

At issue is whether Retromedia has the rights to issue the U.S. version of this movie. Shout! Factory is slated to release the same movie (the subtitled Japanese version) in a few months and this is seen by some as a bit of one-upsmanship by Retromedia.

The movie was originally released in 1968 by Daiei, which was bought out by Kadokawa Pictures.

According to August Ragone, noted kaiju film historian and who is involved in the Shout! Factory's Gamera DVDs, posted at the Monster Zero Message Board:

Meanwhile, doing a copyright registration check at the Library of Congress website, shows that Destroy All Planets was re-registered by Orion Pictures (who owned the AIP catalogue at the time). Orion was bought out by MGM, which still has all of the original materials in their vaults. But, a friend at MGM tells me that the rights reverted back to the Japanese owners (vis-a-vis Kadokawa through their ownership of Daiei).

And he adds, "This [the Retromedia DVD] was released under the assumption that it is Public Domain. Kadokawa claims that all the rights to any version of the GAMERA films have reverted back to them."

Fred Olen Ray, who is the owner of Retromedia, said this in a response to Ryan Clark's review post at Amazon.com:

Since this program only became available yesterday it's physically impossible for "Ryan" to have seen it or even have received a copy of the DVD. Your "review" is a lie and obviously fueled by a personal agenda. Retromedia was the first company to ever present the AIP-TV Gamera films to the public on DVD and quickly became the source of material for all the cheap DVD labels that flooded the market afterwards. Retromedia also successfully initiated and won a copyright case based on their release of DESTROY ALL PLANETS, so your claim of illegality is BS as well. This DVD doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't. It's simply the best edition of the AIP-TV version of the film ever released on DVD and it has an actors commentary track with star Carl Craig. That's all it advertises as being and that's what it is. Next time try watching the film first before rendering your "opinion", and if you happen to work for a rival DVD company, I'd have to say I'm disappointed... these kind of smear tactics are nothing less than juvenile.

[Note: Ryan Clark never claimed to have viewed the DVD nor received a copy of it.]

In a comment post at the Classic Horror Film Board, Ragone took note of Ray's assertion of rights with:

Fred Olen Ray (who is Retromedia) has retorted to Ryan's comments on the Amazon page (Ryan is just a fan, and not an employee of Shout!), where Ray asserts that "Retromedia also successfully initiated and won a copyright case based on their release of DESTROY ALL PLANETS, so your claim of illegality is BS as well." I'd like to see the paperwork on that, because the rights to the AIP Gameras reverted back to them [i.e., Kadokawa Pictures. - Armand] once their contract with AIP expired. Now, I'm not accusing anyone of any wrong doing, but I'm curious to sort out the truth here (and not through second and third-hand parties).

If all U.S. rights to this film reverted back to Kadokawa (by virtue of buying Daiei), then Retromedia would be in hot water. However, if Fred Olen Ray is correct in claiming that he has the U.S. rights over the U.S. version (and can provide the paperwork to back that up), then he should be able to continue to offer the movie. At this point, no back-up material has been provided by Ray (he's welcome to send it me me and I'll be happy to post it).

As to the claim that Destroy All Planets (the AIP U.S. version) is in the Public Domain, Ragone posted this at Monster Zero:

Dubious Comforts* on the Classic Horror Film Board wrote: ...there exists a copyright registration to Destroy All Planets which precedes Retromedia's and Alpha's 2003 claims ("new soundtrack material" and "DVD box cover" respectively) by more than 10 years. Just look up document V2840P133 on the Library of Congress web site. The catalog only includes registrations from 1978 and onward, so there may be additional records prior to 1978.

[*"Dubious Comforts" is the handle of a member of the Classic Horror Film Board forum. - A.]

He continues in a subsequent post:

Copyright records, as well as a proper notice on the film's title sequence, show that the work is not public domain. The Library of Congress has guidelines pertaining to duration: http://www.bitlaw.com/copyright/duration.html

To see the CHFB thread for the above quotes, go here.

As August Ragone posted several times on this topic, "the plot thickens."

It will be interesting to see how this one plays out. The courts may have to be the ultimate decider in this matter.

Gamera DVD Set Coming May 18!

Kaiju fandom is abuzz over the news that Shout! Factory is going to release a Gamera DVD May 18th.

Shout! Factory's news release is as follows:

From Japan – the country that brought us such mythical movie monsters as Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra and King Ghidorah – storms Gamera, the titanic terrapin feared by adults and loved by children. On May 18, 2010, Shout! Factory will unleash Gamera, The Giant Monster – Special Edition on DVD for the first time in its unedited original version, with English subtitles — in anamorphic widescreen from an all-new HD master. The DVD includes a 12-page booklet with an essay by director Noriaki Yuasa, a photo gallery, trailers and more. The collectible Gamera, The Giant Monster Special Edition DVD is priced to own at $19.93.

Like all classic monster movies, it is the folly of man that unleashes a ginormous beast upon the world. This time it is literal fallout from the Cold War — a Soviet bomber is shot down over U.S. airspace in the Arctic Ocean, with the massive radiation from the resultant atomic explosion awakening the ancient, gargantuan Gamera. A long-forgotten legend of the lost continent of Atlantis, the 200-foot-long, fire-eating turtle isn't in a good mood, and proving impervious to all manmade weapons, the colossal chelonian smashes a cataclysmic swath across the globe. But when he arrives in Tokyo, a small boy forms an odd connection with him, allowing authorities to unleash “Plan Z.”

The classic Gamera was directed Noriaki Yuasa, who helmed all seven of the original Gamera entries in the Showa era series between 1965 and 1971, and stars Eiji Funakoshi (Fires On The Plain), Harumi Kiritachi, Junichiro Yamashiko and Jutaro Hojo (Wrath of Daimajin). The subsequent franchise was more kid-friendly (yet ironically bloodier) than Godzilla, who became less menacing and more cuddly himself during the Sixties. The Gamera series was creative in the monstrous nemeses that it pitted against the towering turtle, the most famous being the flying, pointy-headed Gyaos, who was resurrected for the successful trio of movies in the Heisei-era series between 1995 and 1999.

Created by the same company who brought Zatoichi to the screen, Daiei Studios’ titanic terrapin is the only true rival to Toho’s King Of The Monsters, able to hold his own at the box office and secure a place in the hearts of kaiju eiga (Japanese monster movie) fans around the world. The original films have woefully been underrepresented on DVD, a especially release featuring the authentic Japanese versions.

About Shout! Factory

Shout! Factory is a diversified entertainment company devoted to producing, uncovering and revitalizing the very best of pop culture. Founders Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos have spent their careers sharing their music, television and film faves with discerning consumers the world over. Shout! Factory’s DVD offerings serve up classic, contemporary and cult TV series, riveting sports programs, live music, animation and documentaries in lavish packages crammed with extras. The company’s audio catalogue boasts GRAMMY®-nominated boxed sets, new releases from storied artists, lovingly assembled album reissues and indispensable “best of” compilations. These riches are the result of a creative acquisitions mandate that has established the company as a hotbed of cultural preservation and commercial reinvention. With its fingers on the pulse of pop culture, Shout! Factory continues to impact the entertainment media landscape through acquisition of top quality programming for home entertainment releases. Shout! Factory is based in Santa Monica, California. For more on Shout! Factory, visit shoutfactory.com

Above, Gamera director Noriaki Yuasa (1933-2004) (left) at G-FEST in 2003. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

August Ragone, author of Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters, is the Special Features Producer for Shout! Factory's Gamera series.

Showa Gamera Movies Licensed By Shout Factory

Shout Factory is on the lookout for a 35mm scope print of the U.S. version of Daiei's 1965 feature Daikaiju Gamera, released here as Gammera The Invincible.

Shout Factory has licensed this film along with the 7 other early Showa Gamera films from Kadokawa Pictures, who now owns the Gamera character. Unfortunately, Kadokawa does not own a copy of the U.S. version.

Shout Factory plans to release these movies in HD transfer along with new subtitles and many extras.

The last Gamera movie was Gamera The Brave, released in 2006 by Kadokawa Pictures.