New
Jan 13, 2012 8:41 PM
#1
According to Anime News Network, FUNimation Entertainment filed a lawsuit in the district court of Harris County, Texas against CEO and co-founder of ADV Films John Ledford, including companies ADV Films, AEsir Holdings, Sxion 23 (Section23 Films), Valkyrie Media Partners, Seraphim Studios, Sentai Filmworks, Sentai Holdings, and Unio Mystica Holdings (Switchblade Pictures) for breach of contract and other claims on November 4, 2011. According to the lawsuit, FUNimation claims that the defendants owe FUNimation "an amount to be proven at trial but currently estimated" at approximately US $8 million. The lawsuit alleges that FUNimation became a creditor of ADV in regard to a debt owed to ARM corporation by ADV. FUNimation claims that ARM gave them the right to enforce ARM's agreement with ADV in regard to the debt ADV owed ARM, making FUNimation a creditor, and that ADV never paid this debt, instead selling its assets to several companies owned by former ADV executives. The suit goes on to claim that ADV's transfer of assets "was made with the intent to defer, hinder or defraud the creditors of ADV," including Funimation, and that the new companies "succeeded ADV's contractual liability" in regard to the debt. FUNimation is requesting that the court declare ADV's transfer of assets "as null, voided and without effect," restoring those assets to the parent company, and is also requesting a jury trial. On December 23, Sentai Filmworks, Seraphim Studios, Sentai Holdings, Valkyrie Media Partners, Unio Mystica Holdings, AEsir Holdings, and Section23 Films filed a counterclaim disputing these charges, claiming that they do not have a contract with Funimation and are not liable to the company. They claim that the companies did not exist when FUNimation acquired the rights from ARM to enforce ADV's contract with ARM, and in addition, the companies claim that FUNimation's lawsuit was filed after the two-year statute of limitations and that Funimation was not involved with the original contract and cannot claim any direct damages. The first pre-trial meeting is currently scheduled for October 5, 2012. Source: ANN |
mta_pnFeb 17, 2022 6:40 PM
Jan 13, 2012 8:45 PM
#2
I don't even know what to say. :O |
Jan 13, 2012 8:50 PM
#4
Looks like the downfall of American anime continues. Now companies are fighting among themselves. Funimation is trying to basically have a monopoly on American anime distribution. This is a horrible thing for the industry. Funimation is evil. No one understands what the legal words mean. ^This is what the whole discussion turns into basically. I've seen it happen on other sites already today. |
Jan 13, 2012 8:53 PM
#6
well......this isn't going to end well |
Immahnoob said: Jizzy, I know you have no idea how to argue for shit, tokiyashiro said: Jizzy as you would call yourself because youre a dick The most butthurt award goes to you And clearly you havent watched that many shows thats why you cant determine if a show is unique or not Or maybe you're just a child who likes common stuffs where hero saves the day and guys gets all the girls. Sad taste you have there kid you came up to me in the first place making you look more like a kid who got slapped without me even knowing it and start crying about it to me |
Jan 13, 2012 8:59 PM
#7
Jan 13, 2012 9:00 PM
#8
Wow. This year has been bad for the American anime market. First, Bandai's collapse. Then, Media Blasters lets go of 60% of its staff, and now...this. WTF is going on, and even worse, it's only January. |
Jan 13, 2012 9:13 PM
#9
Jan 13, 2012 9:14 PM
#10
Calm your tits, Funi. Jeeze. |
Jan 13, 2012 9:22 PM
#11
Funimation just really loves lawsuits don't they? Well I guess I can't blame them...it's only the American way. When in doubt, sue everybody. |
Ok™ |
Jan 13, 2012 9:26 PM
#12
Jan 13, 2012 9:26 PM
#13
So October 2012...? Oh that's like in nine months. |
Even when I was in crowd, I was always alone |
Jan 13, 2012 9:29 PM
#14
The heck is going on with the American anime industry..? Everything seems to be falling apart all of a sudden. |
Jan 13, 2012 9:37 PM
#17
It's all about the money. |
Jan 13, 2012 9:45 PM
#18
damn... FUNimation doesn't joke around. I'm not sure what to think about this since I don't really understand it or how I'm even supposed to look at it. |
Jan 13, 2012 9:47 PM
#19
this should be fun |
Smile, Sweet, Sister, Sadistic, Surprise, Service, Slider |
Jan 13, 2012 9:57 PM
#20
Ah, goddammit. Why can't we all just play nice and get along, eh? -.-V |
Jan 13, 2012 9:59 PM
#21
lol funi forgets they don't actually make anime of their own.... and 8 million? really? they are really hurting for cash that badly? |
Jan 13, 2012 10:14 PM
#23
Sanguis said: The heck is going on with the American anime industry..? Everything seems to be falling apart all of a sudden. It's looking that way. :( I'm even shocked that this is happening 'cause I grew up on Funi and ADV. I've grown to like Sentai despite what the haters say. *hard facepalm at some comments* I'm glad I passed business law a few months ago (and found myself loving it) because to those of you who are "demonizing"--for lack of a better word--FUNI for filing a lawsuit against the following parties for BREACH OF CONTRACT as stated in the article, let me explains what it means: when one or 2 or more parties are failing or have failed to comply to the terms of any sort in a WRITTEN contract, in general. The one party that feels cheated can sue the other party. Think of it this way, if you give me your end of the bargain as written in contract and I don't (or fail to), you have the legal right to sue me. And if you have solid evidence to prove that, I lose and you win the case. It's that simple. Now, all that Funi and the other parties need is solid evidence that prove the claims to be true. Again, written contracts would be the best source of evidence. If not, then Funi loses and Sentai don't have to pay squat. It's not about Funi trying to destroy Sentai (though I hope it doesn't turn out like that) or the competition so please, don't assume it is that just b/c you don't like Funi or simply biased against them. It's just taking legal action that they think is right against the parties not complying with their end of an agreement. This is how business law works! Sentai would've have done the same thing is some other company tried to hustle them. This could happen to any company as well. On a note, I'm not defending both sides. Just stating the facts of what I've learned and how it may--not WILL--turn out in this situation for both parties given the evidence. If the accused parties did something wrong (or illegal, God forbid), that's their fault, not Funi's. I hope this clears some misunderstandings and notions of the "big guy picking on the little guy". |
TerrorH3ctorJan 13, 2012 10:20 PM
Jan 13, 2012 10:16 PM
#24
This isn't good. With Bandai's American branch stepping out of the anime scene, I really don't want there to be any turmoil between the companies that are still here. Seriously, I'll be sad if I have to stop collecting anime until I'm fluent in Japanese. |
Jan 13, 2012 10:25 PM
#25
his just stupid. TT.TT come on adv! keep making your dvds! |
Jan 13, 2012 10:31 PM
#26
/facepalm Come on Funi, don't do this. |
Jan 13, 2012 10:33 PM
#27
Jan 13, 2012 10:49 PM
#28
Jan 13, 2012 10:50 PM
#29
The money used to hire lawyers could be better put to licensing more animes. |
Jan 13, 2012 10:57 PM
#30
I'm pretty sure within 5 years, Funi will be the only significant American anime company left, and most releases will be done straight through Japan. This is a sinking ship. |
RyanSaotomeJan 13, 2012 11:10 PM
Jan 13, 2012 10:59 PM
#31
This is the silliest thing I ever heard. I dont know what to say. |
Jan 13, 2012 11:05 PM
#32
Mormegil said: Wow. This year has been bad for the American anime market. First, Bandai's collapse. Then, Media Blasters lets go of 60% of its staff, and now...this. WTF is going on, and even worse, it's only January. Yup, January 2012. Didn't you hear? The (anime) world is supposed to end this year. |
Jan 13, 2012 11:18 PM
#33
EmperorH3ctor said: Sanguis said: The heck is going on with the American anime industry..? Everything seems to be falling apart all of a sudden. It's looking that way. :( I'm even shocked that this is happening 'cause I grew up on Funi and ADV. I've grown to like Sentai despite what the haters say. *hard facepalm at some comments* I'm glad I passed business law a few months ago (and found myself loving it) because to those of you who are "demonizing"--for lack of a better word--FUNI for filing a lawsuit against the following parties for BREACH OF CONTRACT as stated in the article, let me explains what it means: when one or 2 or more parties are failing or have failed to comply to the terms of any sort in a WRITTEN contract, in general. The one party that feels cheated can sue the other party. Think of it this way, if you give me your end of the bargain as written in contract and I don't (or fail to), you have the legal right to sue me. And if you have solid evidence to prove that, I lose and you win the case. It's that simple. Now, all that Funi and the other parties need is solid evidence that prove the claims to be true. Again, written contracts would be the best source of evidence. If not, then Funi loses and Sentai don't have to pay squat. It's not about Funi trying to destroy Sentai (though I hope it doesn't turn out like that) or the competition so please, don't assume it is that just b/c you don't like Funi or simply biased against them. It's just taking legal action that they think is right against the parties not complying with their end of an agreement. This is how business law works! Sentai would've have done the same thing is some other company tried to hustle them. This could happen to any company as well. On a note, I'm not defending both sides. Just stating the facts of what I've learned and how it may--not WILL--turn out in this situation for both parties given the evidence. If the accused parties did something wrong (or illegal, God forbid), that's their fault, not Funi's. I hope this clears some misunderstandings and notions of the "big guy picking on the little guy". I think more people than you realize already are aware of what you said. From the original news post, I vaguely gather that Funi is largely pulling this accusation out of their ass. Funimation's accusation seems to stand on shakey ground (the whole bit about redistributing the assets with malicious intent and what not. The malicious intent has to be established and proven first,) and ADV's rebuttal seems quite sound. I think most of the readers were able to pull that vibe from the post and thus respond harshly towards Funi. |
Jan 13, 2012 11:22 PM
#34
Exkalamity said: I think more people than you realize already are aware of what you said. From the original news post, I vaguely gather that Funi is largely pulling this accusation out of their ass. Funimation's accusation seems to stand on shakey ground (the whole bit about redistributing the assets with malicious intent and what not. The malicious intent has to be established and proven first,) and ADV's rebuttal seems quite sound. I think most of the readers were able to pull that vibe from the post and thus respond harshly towards Funi. I doubt most of the readers even read the full opening post, and just bashed Funi for stirring up trouble. |
Jan 13, 2012 11:27 PM
#35
Who gives a shit about FUNi. EDIT: Why do you guys care anyways? I'd much prefer if no anime made it to the states. |
YanofliesJan 13, 2012 11:31 PM
Signature removed. Please follow the signature rules, as defined in the Site & Forum Guidelines. |
Jan 13, 2012 11:35 PM
#36
Yanoflies said: Who gives a shit about FUNi. EDIT: Why do you guys care anyways? I'd much prefer if no anime made it to the states. And while this is kinda blunt, I agree. No license holders makes it easier for the fansub industry to thrive. |
Jan 13, 2012 11:36 PM
#37
RyanSaotome said: Yanoflies said: Who gives a shit about FUNi. EDIT: Why do you guys care anyways? I'd much prefer if no anime made it to the states. And while this is kinda blunt, I agree. No license holders makes it easier for the fansub industry to thrive. And all us people who want to actually own the anime we love on DVD/Blu-ray as well as support the creators of it can all just go fuck ourselves, right? |
Jan 13, 2012 11:37 PM
#38
is this the end of Americant licensors? stay tuned for more info! |
I signed my screen and now its all smeary "When you meet your God tell him to leave me alone." check out my bloghttp://corpse69.wordpress.com/ fix MAL already |
Jan 13, 2012 11:45 PM
#39
Redfoxoffire said: RyanSaotome said: Yanoflies said: Who gives a shit about FUNi. EDIT: Why do you guys care anyways? I'd much prefer if no anime made it to the states. And while this is kinda blunt, I agree. No license holders makes it easier for the fansub industry to thrive. And all us people who want to actually own the anime we love on DVD/Blu-ray as well as support the creators of it can all just go fuck ourselves, right? Well, it would suck for the people who like to build DVD/BD collections... but if you truly wanted to support the original creators, you should buy directly from Japan instead of through a middleman at 1/10th the price. The original creators get a fraction of what they'd get if you bought the import release. |
Jan 13, 2012 11:53 PM
#40
RyanSaotome said: Redfoxoffire said: RyanSaotome said: Yanoflies said: Who gives a shit about FUNi. EDIT: Why do you guys care anyways? I'd much prefer if no anime made it to the states. And while this is kinda blunt, I agree. No license holders makes it easier for the fansub industry to thrive. And all us people who want to actually own the anime we love on DVD/Blu-ray as well as support the creators of it can all just go fuck ourselves, right? Well, it would suck for the people who like to build DVD/BD collections... but if you truly wanted to support the original creators, you should buy directly from Japan instead of through a middleman at 1/10th the price. The original creators get a fraction of what they'd get if you bought the import release. That is an acceptable solution if and only if: 1. English subtitle quality is good and common across many/all new releases. 2. Shit really hits the fan with NA market and there's no saving it. Otherwise, I like my English dubs and localized releases in general. Reasonable prices are a plus. I mean, I like supporting the people who make what I like and all, but I wouldn't pay those prices for anything except my top favorites. Plus these are the people who brought me and probably ~98% of you into the anime fandom in the first place. Without these companies bringing us stuff like DBZ and Pokemon, most of us would not even be here. Have a little respect. Hoping the NA industry goes down so fansubbing can flourish...I don't even know what to say about that. Even many fansubbers themselves have standards and try to avoid getting in the way of the industry. |
Jan 14, 2012 12:02 AM
#41
Geez, I don't see the point here. It's not like any of these companies have $8 cash on hand here. What sort of assets do Funi stand to gain here? Publicity? Cause other companies to back out? Honestly, their lawyer must be high. There's no way they'll suit the full burden of proof required here. |
Jan 14, 2012 12:55 AM
#43
Jan 14, 2012 12:58 AM
#45
Redfoxoffire said: agree - most of us americans either can't afford the high price of imports and/or can't speak japanese - life w/out anime would be a much less rich one for me and many others here in the states.........RyanSaotome said: Redfoxoffire said: RyanSaotome said: Yanoflies said: Who gives a shit about FUNi. EDIT: Why do you guys care anyways? I'd much prefer if no anime made it to the states. And while this is kinda blunt, I agree. No license holders makes it easier for the fansub industry to thrive. And all us people who want to actually own the anime we love on DVD/Blu-ray as well as support the creators of it can all just go fuck ourselves, right? Well, it would suck for the people who like to build DVD/BD collections... but if you truly wanted to support the original creators, you should buy directly from Japan instead of through a middleman at 1/10th the price. The original creators get a fraction of what they'd get if you bought the import release. That is an acceptable solution if and only if: 1. English subtitle quality is good and common across many/all new releases. 2. Shit really hits the fan with NA market and there's no saving it. Otherwise, I like my English dubs and localized releases in general. Reasonable prices are a plus. I mean, I like supporting the people who make what I like and all, but I wouldn't pay those prices for anything except my top favorites. Plus these are the people who brought me and probably ~98% of you into the anime fandom in the first place. Without these companies bringing us stuff like DBZ and Pokemon, most of us would not even be here. Have a little respect. Hoping the NA industry goes down so fansubbing can flourish...I don't even know what to say about that. Even many fansubbers themselves have standards and try to avoid getting in the way of the industry. |
Jan 14, 2012 1:42 AM
#46
jmal said: I can't get all teary-eyed and sentimental about businesses that couldn't care less about you or me or anything but our wallets. This is all I needed to read. Businesses, yes. Think about that. Also consider if anime studios are any different. But I don't really have beef with you anyway. You at least support the industry via CR and imports, which means you aren't in the (or probably aren't) "get rid of the R1 so fansubs can flourish" group, which is why I posted at all, even if you do hate the R1 industry. I'm not saying everyone should like it, after all. |
Jan 14, 2012 1:49 AM
#47
Whelp, time to get used to fansubs again. |
Jan 14, 2012 1:53 AM
#48
It's at times like this I'm glad Australia has it's own licensing companies and don't need to rely on American ones. |
Jan 14, 2012 2:08 AM
#49
So Funimation got tried of threatening torrent sites with legal action for a little while? |
It doesn't think, it doesn't feel, it doesn't laugh or cry..... All it does from dusk till dawn is make the soldiers die. |
Jan 14, 2012 2:24 AM
#50
Doesn't make much of a difference to me because there's barely any anime at all in the UK. |
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