Just a few random issues

[Don Brown]

A few questions for everyone out there:
1) Is there any resource that lists films and videos released in Japan, 
including both their English and Japanese titles?  It's often difficult to 
track certain films down due to their titles being totally reworked in 
Japanese.  Just wondering if such a thing exists.
2) This is a slightly less straightforward query.  I'm not sure if this is 
an exclusively Japanese phenomenon or not, but often when perusing the 
shelves of your local video store here, you'll see several covers that 
almost totally ape those of a bigger budget, more well-known release.  
Currently on the new release shelves are totally unknown features whose 
covers bear an uncanny resemblance to Hannibal, The Sixth Day, and even 
Taxi.  Is this kosher?  I'm a little surprised that the distributors of the 
films being imitated don't kick up more of a stink about this.
3) Lastly, and linked to the previous question, how do distribution 
companies here get away with creating a whole series of films that are only 
linked by the titles created for them for Japanese release?  The "DNA" 
series, which began with Brando's "The Island of Doctor Moreau" and 
continued with a bunch of totally unrelated straight-to-video features 
starring Mark Dacascos and Mark Hamill (?) is one example.  I've also seen 
shark attack flicks retitled as "Jaws ?" over here too.  Surely this 
constitutes some kind of trademark infringement?  I can't imagine that 
someone like Jack Valenti at the MPAA would be able to let that one rest.
Any ideas?
Don Brown    


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