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FUNimation sues alleged DVD counterfeit operation
- By Phyl Good
- Published 10/30/2008
- Anime and Manga
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Phyl Good
View all articles by Phyl Good
According to the Anime News Network, FUNimation Entertainment is suing several interrelated companies for allegedly using their websites to sell counterfeit DVDs of its licensed anime.
In a statement to ANN, FUNimation said, "We can confirm that we have discovered the unauthorized sale of counterfeit DVDs of FUNimation titles through DiscountAnimeDVD.com. As a result of this discovery, we did file a complaint in Federal District Court against N Trading, Inc., the owners/operators of the site. We feel that exercising our rights in this manner is sometimes the best way to protect the creative contributions of everyone involved in such collaborative endeavors."
But supposedly the four affiliated businesses named in the law suit were equally engaged in a "collaborative" effort. These businesses - N Trading, Inc., Discount Anime DVD, BuyDVD.com, and DOES - along with a California resident named Hae Yong Ro (also known as Richard Ro), are claimed to have sold unauthorized copies of five anime series. The series in question are Fruits Basket, Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragonball GT, and Fullmetal Alchemist.
The BuyDVD.com site was also affiliated with a brick-and-mortar store, Anime Nuts, until October 12. The store has now closed.
While the law suit was launched in August (2008), the illegal activity, according to FUNimation, has been going on since at least 2002. The company apparently learned of it in 2006, finally sending a cease-and-desist letter in February of 2008. When nothing changed, the defendants' web host shut down the websites in April of this year. But less than two days later, the sites reappeared, this time hosted in Korea, and the activities alleged in the law suit continued.
The suit seeks all sorts of penalties, including the destruction of all illegal copies of DVDs as well as any tools used to create them. In addition, FUNimation seeks US $23.7 million in damages, plus legal fees, and more than US $5 million and legal fees for infringement of the trademarks of TV Tokyo, Square Enix, and Shueisha.
For more details about this law suit, check out the Anime News Network report.
In a statement to ANN, FUNimation said, "We can confirm that we have discovered the unauthorized sale of counterfeit DVDs of FUNimation titles through DiscountAnimeDVD.com. As a result of this discovery, we did file a complaint in Federal District Court against N Trading, Inc., the owners/operators of the site. We feel that exercising our rights in this manner is sometimes the best way to protect the creative contributions of everyone involved in such collaborative endeavors."
But supposedly the four affiliated businesses named in the law suit were equally engaged in a "collaborative" effort. These businesses - N Trading, Inc., Discount Anime DVD, BuyDVD.com, and DOES - along with a California resident named Hae Yong Ro (also known as Richard Ro), are claimed to have sold unauthorized copies of five anime series. The series in question are Fruits Basket, Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragonball GT, and Fullmetal Alchemist.
While the law suit was launched in August (2008), the illegal activity, according to FUNimation, has been going on since at least 2002. The company apparently learned of it in 2006, finally sending a cease-and-desist letter in February of 2008. When nothing changed, the defendants' web host shut down the websites in April of this year. But less than two days later, the sites reappeared, this time hosted in Korea, and the activities alleged in the law suit continued.
The suit seeks all sorts of penalties, including the destruction of all illegal copies of DVDs as well as any tools used to create them. In addition, FUNimation seeks US $23.7 million in damages, plus legal fees, and more than US $5 million and legal fees for infringement of the trademarks of TV Tokyo, Square Enix, and Shueisha.
For more details about this law suit, check out the Anime News Network report.
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Comment #1 (Posted by Shawn)
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Thank god they finally did it!