<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div><br></div><blockquote type="cite"> <div id="role_body" style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial" bottommargin="7" leftmargin="7" topmargin="7" rightmargin="7"><font id="role_document" face="Arial" color="#000000" size="2"><font id="role_document" face="Arial" color="#000000" size="2"> <div>Following a suggestion made here, I did e-mail the Kawakita Institute about getting a still from Kinugasa's "Crossroads" for my book. What they said, however--and this will be, I think, of interest to others here because of the issues it raises--is that the film is copyrighted by Shochiku (which is news to me), that they are very strict on copyrights and I need to go to them and get their permission first before they (Kawakita) can send anything to me. Considering that without any difficulty at all I will be able to get photos from great American silent classics like "The Big Parade" and "Ben-Hur" which really are in copyright, I find this response a bit bizarre. It's my understanding that all Japanese silent films are as much in the public domain as all Chinese and Russian/Soviet silents. And in any case, Shochiku never released "Crossroads" on VHS or DVD. </div></font></font></div></blockquote><br></div><div>This doesn't surprise me at all. Markus and I note that the Kawakita has become less cooperative in recent years in our Research Guide to Japanese Film Studies. There are basically two problems: 1) companies like Shochiku asserting rights that they may not have (remember that Jujiro is now out on a cut-rate DVD without, presumably, Shochiku's permission); and 2) institutions like Kawakita refusing to stand up and speak out on behalf of scholars. </div><div><br></div><div>Still, I should note that the person at the desk at Kawakita also initially balked when I asked for stills of Page of Madness for my book. I insisted on talking to someone higher up, who ended up being much more reasonable and agreed that the film was in the public domain and that I could have the stills. I do wonder if you can't do the same with Jujiro. </div><br><div apple-content-edited="true"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Aaron Gerow</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Associate Professor</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Yale University</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">53 Wall Street, Room 316</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">PO Box 208363</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">New Haven, CT 06520-8363</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">USA</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Phone: 1-203-432-7082</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Fax: 1-203-432-6764</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">e-mail: <a href="mailto:aaron.gerow@yale.edu">aaron.gerow@yale.edu</a></div><div>site: <a href="http://www.aarongerow.com">www.aarongerow.com</a></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span></div></span></div></span> </div><br></body></html>