JF Waste?

[Aaron Gerow]

On Nov 10, 2009, at 2:46 AM, Nornes, Markus wrote:
>
> But JF purchased it's prints, so there is no reason for them to be
> secretive.

I don't know about the possession of the physical prints, but the JF  
has never asserted any rights over the films in its collection. They  
say that whatever they do with them has to be done with the permission  
of the rights holder.

I do want to ask, however, why companies would ask for the list to be  
kept secret. As I speculated on my blog (thanks to Mark Roberts, I  
have followed up on the JF issue and our discussions: www.aarongerow.com/news) 
, I think that companies do not want it generally known abroad that  
one can either get the JF to show the film at a JF office or Japanese  
embassy/consulate (with admission being free and the JF only paying  
25000 yen to the distributor), or rent it via the JF for reduced  
shipping costs. Why? Probably because they hope that you will either  
rent it at full cost or that you buy the real theatrical or DVD  
rights. In other words, they don't want the JF to function as a  
substitute for or competitor with regard to foreign distribution.

Personally, I think that is short-sighted - most of these films would  
not sell abroad anyway - but it's par for the Japanese film industry  
course.

Aaron Gerow
Associate Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Yale University
53 Wall Street, Room 316
PO Box 208363
New Haven, CT 06520-8363
USA
Phone: 1-203-432-7082
Fax: 1-203-432-6764
e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu
site: www.aarongerow.com