Arama They Didn't

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12:15 am - 06/22/2012

NHK to sue Kodansha for obstructing drama production just before the filming



On June 21st, it was reported that NHK has filed a lawsuit against Japan’s largest publisher Kodansha at the Tokyo District Court.

NHK planned to adapt Tsujimura Mizuki’s novel ‘Zero, Hachi, Zero, Nana.‘ into a four-episode drama starring actress Nagasawa Masami and broadcast it on BS Premium this May. The pre-production was already done, the actors were cast, the script was written by Omori Sumio, and the request for composition of the theme songs were sent out, when publisher Kodansha suddenly forced the suspension of the production.

The public broadcaster and the publisher already worked together numerous times, which makes it all the more shocking for them to end up in court over license agreements. The truth is that Kodansha wasn’t quite fond of the changes made to the story by Omori and already discussed this matter with NHK on various occasions. When discussions started to drag on forever and NHK was all set to start the filming, Kodansha said that Tsujimura herself doesn’t agree with the script and forced them to stop with the production. It was also a huge shock for all the people involved, including Nagasawa and the other actors who suddenly faced an unasked-for vacancy in their schedules.

Moreover there has never been a written agreement between the two parties about adapting this novel into a drama. However, NHK claims that Kodansha already gave their oral consent and therefore should have to pay for all the expenditures that have gone to waste by breaking this oral agreement. In total they demand a compensation of 59,800,000 Yen (745,825 USD) from the publisher.

No matter how this dispute will end, it will leave a deep crack in what was previously a good relationship between the two companies.

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asaphira_sachi 22nd-Jun-2012 05:30 am (UTC)
Moreover there has never been a written agreement between the two parties about adapting this novel into a drama. However, NHK claims that Kodansha already gave their oral consent and therefore should have to pay for all the expenditures

I never believe in oral consent. It's so sloppy.
thefortysecond 22nd-Jun-2012 05:51 am (UTC)
It's also not legally binding in any way, unless there's an audio recording, and even then it's pretty shaky. I have to imagine that either there's more to the story that we haven't found out yet, or someone in a position of power made the VERY stupid decision to get started working on a drama they technically didn't have permission to make.
asaphira_sachi 22nd-Jun-2012 06:08 am (UTC)
I'd believe it if it were the latter. The "oral consent" already shows the lack of formality in the whole process. Personally I'm rooting for Kodansha, especially since I believe the original author should have a say in how her work gets represented.
thefortysecond 22nd-Jun-2012 06:18 am (UTC)
I just... the stupidity involved in preparing to film a drama without any binding contract is just amazing to me. How in the world does this happen? Especially in bureaucracy-crazy Japan?

I'm definitely rooting for the author, I'm just having a hard time understanding why this wouldn't get thrown right out of court by a judge who goes "what, so you didn't even sign a CONTRACT? Pay the lady a fine for wasting her time and get out of my face."
asaphira_sachi 22nd-Jun-2012 06:31 am (UTC)
Ikr. Guess something went sloppy with the management for the production, yet they made agreements for the time-slots, actors, staffs blah blah blah so production needed to go forward... Although, I also wouldn't be surprised if "verbal agreement" is valid in Japanese law cuz well, it's Japan.../facepalm

Edited at 2012-06-22 06:32 am (UTC)
coika 22nd-Jun-2012 10:06 am (UTC)
Actually "oral consent" can be somewhat legally binding here depending on the situation, even if there is no recording... like if other evidence presented establishes that there was likely consent, etc.

Is it a dumb way of doing business when lots of money is at stake? Yep, yep, and yep. I hope Kodansha doesn't have to pay up. NHK already is stealing from people left and right with their outrageous channel tax (i.e. being taxed if you own a TV since nobody can prove whether or not prove they watch NHK to get out of it.)
thefortysecond 22nd-Jun-2012 10:59 am (UTC)
Oh wow, that's actually kind of frightening- I can imagine a lot of touchy situations turning into a game of "He said, she said". And the implications of what it could do to rape investigations is terrifying. How does this kind of scenario usually play out? What could "other evidence that establishes the likelihood of consent" be?
coika 23rd-Jun-2012 04:17 am (UTC)
Rapes usually aren't followed by a trial here, or even reported. The police usually sides against the victim testifying as it's hard to prove unless there's some huge evidence left behind. My best friend tried to get her rapist (her boss) tried and found guilty, but eventually didn't even go to trial because the police weren't even really trying to come up with anything. Boss is still the company boss and probably has gone on to rape again. My friend lost her company job and has been working as a hostess; it was pretty much impossible for her to find another job in her field since nobody wanted to hire her for fear she might "make up" another story against the company. The fallout of her accusing her rapist is why most women don't even bother to report here.

As for other situations... it would depend. Sometimes it's really circumstantial evidence that would never fly in the U.S. (or perhaps other countries) but sometimes a bunch of people will testify they heard similar things, there will be e-mails/other correspondence that implies there was a verbal agreement, and it makes a hard case for reasonable doubt.
rim1789 22nd-Jun-2012 12:20 pm (UTC)
Oral can be bidding sometimes, though.

Edit = Sorry, someone already told you so ^^'

Edited at 2012-06-22 12:21 pm (UTC)
thefortysecond 22nd-Jun-2012 12:24 pm (UTC)
Yeah, I've been informed. I'm still trying to grasp how it can be binding though, if there's no record of it ever happening. I mean, anyone can come along and say "She said I could ___, we had an oral contract!" with no proof.
eyeslikefirefly 22nd-Jun-2012 03:44 pm (UTC)
My friend had to be on the jury in a trail that was completely "he said, he said" (since it was two guys). 'A' claimed he had been side swiped by 'B' and that 'B' was swerving all over the road (I'm sure along with some other things). 'A' was the only witness and in the end 'B' lost in court. It was pretty messed up.
buyme_arashi 22nd-Jun-2012 05:15 pm (UTC)
I'm no law expert but I know that an oral contract can be binding if there's a repetition in action to show there was a commitment understood.
Let's say Kodansha have had several drama agreements that was committed with verbal consent previously, it too can be taken in account that the same situation is agreed upon in this case. However, it only applies if there's somewhat a routine.
kat_desu 22nd-Jun-2012 05:51 am (UTC)


Why oral consent when there's a big money and production involved? :(
Nothings gonna be the same between them after this.
flipangel_88 22nd-Jun-2012 06:20 am (UTC)
Oral consent in legal matters is crap ...

In the eyes of the law, without tangible proof, nothing really happened (to be settled in court). The word of one against the other is all hearsay and therefore will eventually be decided by the judge as to the strenght of NHK's motion to file this suite. More often then not, the judge will side with the publishing company because they can just say that the verbal agreement was a fabricated story that never happened and NHK will not have anything to refute their stand on the matter.

Edited at 2012-06-22 06:25 am (UTC)
limegummi 23rd-Jun-2012 12:49 am (UTC)
In this case, most if not all the evidence presented would either not be defined as hearsay (statements by adverse party) or fall under the business records exceptions for hearsay. In the US at least, everything they have could be laid out in court.
takarai_karin 22nd-Jun-2012 09:11 am (UTC)
I always feel sorry for all the Japanese novelists whose books got turned into dorama with questionable quality. Not saying that's the case for this one. Just in general.

The sensei should have the right to approve the dorama or not. Ideally.
arashic5 22nd-Jun-2012 11:13 am (UTC)
I was waiting to watch another masami's project :(
squallina 22nd-Jun-2012 11:16 am (UTC)
Oh for crying out loud. Greed is once again first before the original author and the consumers I see. >:( And as someone said earlier, why would you make an oral contract for something this big and important?
gashinenai 22nd-Jun-2012 12:33 pm (UTC)
they started a drama production without a proper contract?

dogangel22 22nd-Jun-2012 02:24 pm (UTC)
THIS! hahahah
rainbow_yarn 22nd-Jun-2012 03:34 pm (UTC)
A+ gif usage
anduril_narsil 22nd-Jun-2012 02:22 pm (UTC)
This is pretty big, especially when you got two major companies meeting in the court like these.

People might easily dismissed oral consent, but then again, this is Japan where there's still assumption that spoken words are as good as written in the ink. I was just wondering where it will go from here, since both of them do have a good working relationship before (eg, NHK taiga drama novels/guidebooks were released by Kodansha).
flutterbychild9 22nd-Jun-2012 03:39 pm (UTC)
I seriously hope Kodansha wins this, but it sounds like it'll just be a legal headache. Whether spoken word is as good as written in Japan or not, there should still be a contract to spell out all the terms of an agreement - so neither party can {either actually or claim they did} forget.
redgreendress 22nd-Jun-2012 03:51 pm (UTC)
Kind of leaning towards Kodansha on this one, if NHK was going to fuck up the story without the author's consent.
blackdevil2722 22nd-Jun-2012 05:08 pm (UTC)
NHK, no matter how big you are, you're not gonna win this.

An oral agreement...like, seriously?
limegummi 23rd-Jun-2012 12:43 am (UTC)
This is a tough case. Oral contracts are generally enforceable, even in the US. If there was a valid oral contract between them, I think it probably would be enforced in the US (comes down to how a particular state views licensing agreements). Unless Japan has added something new to their civil code, I would say the chances are even higher it will be enforced there.

But that's a question you ask only if a valid contract was formed at all. If Kodansha can prove that there was no contract (like, those discussions were still in the pre-contract offer/acceptance phase) then the game will change.
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