Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Ponyo library screening

This is topic Ponyo library screening - question about licensing in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 02-25-2010, 03:54 PM:

The details:

The local anime club Anime Vegas is planning to screen Ponyo at the West Charleston Library here next month. Both Anime Vegas and the LVCC library district have the necessary licenses from Swank... or so they thought.

Though Ponyo was listed on Swank's website when the screening schedule was set, it seems to have been recently removed. Checks with Swank and Disney seem to indicate that the performance rights for Ponyo are no longer held by Disney, but have reverted to the film's maker, Studio Ghibli in Japan. Ponyo played on a limited release in US theaters last summer, and the US Blu-ray/DVD release by Disney is coming up on March 2nd.

Anyone hear anything about this? Disney still holds the US rights for almost all of Studio Ghibli's films, apparently except for Ponyo. Anime Vegas and the library would really like to show this on the 13th. Is this a "timing" issue, i.e. the Disney/Swank rights will resume sometime after the film comes out on home video?

Anyone with info on this please post (or contact me privately if you wish). Many thanks in advance!

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 03-10-2010, 02:41 AM:

Following up, one of the editors I volunteer with over at the GhibliWiki posted a link to the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation. I thought only Swank had the video public performance rights to Disney-held titles. Anyone have any comments about MPLC? Something about adding MPLC as a licensing entity around the time that Disney and Pixar joined forces?

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 03-10-2010, 04:55 PM:

From the Motion Picture Licensing website...

Q. We do not charge admission. Do we still need a license?

A. Yes. Regardless of whether an admission fee is charged, a license is required. However, the Umbrella License® covers only those situations where admission is not charged.

If you are charging admission, you still need to deal with Swank or one it's competitors.

Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 03-19-2010, 08:20 PM:

Huh. I had wondered why we had been unable to book Ponyo on 35mm all this time...

I was under the impression, incidently, that Swank was the corporate entity behind MPLC.

--jhawk

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 03-19-2010, 09:33 PM:

Hmmm. OK. I had never heard of MPLC before last week. Shows you what I know about the business end of this business...

I didn't try to attend the planned screening last weekend and haven't yet been able to ask my friend (the owner of Anime Vegas) about it either. So I don't know if the screening went off as planned or not.