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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.8 - NOVEMBER 2000
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MIPCOM 2000: A Report from the Front DIC's experience at MIPCOM was incredible, especially because the company had not had a booth at the market in three years. DIC has long been known as a leading supplier of quality animated content for kids so buyers were anxious to come to our booth to find out more about our offerings. We had a tremendous response to our three new series, Super Duper Sumos, Action Girls, and Salem. In general, the market was very positive for animation, and I was impressed by many of the high-quality animated properties being offered. Pat Ryan, Executive Vice President International Sales At this year’s MIPCOM, I was struck by the continued and growing presence of the "dot-coms," in spite of recent stock market downturns and the shuttering of several high profile entertainment Websites. For the animation community, this is good news because the digital media present outstanding opportunities for animation. Much of the buzz at the market had to do with the convergence of television and the new media, thanks at least in part to the MIPNET conference which focused on this subject. I was asked to participate in one of its panels, discussing digital rights management and protection. This gave me the opportunity to bring the audience up to date on the status of several closely watched legal cases in the United States. The best known of these is the Napster case, in which the lower court found that the creator of the software and a centralized Website for individuals to exchange MP3 files was liable for contributory and vicarious infringement of copyrights. This decision is currently on appeal. If upheld, this decision will confirm what most of the entertainment industry has felt for a long time -- that the unauthorized copying and distribution of musical and audiovisual works over the Internet is illegal. However, these decisions raise a more fundamental question. Has the industry won some major legal battles, but lost the war? Before the ink was dry on the Napster decision, peer-to-peer file sharing programs were already available. By avoiding the use of a central Website clearing house, infringement becomes much more diffuse and enforcement becomes more difficult and expensive. In the meantime, the legal precedents engendered by this litigation seems to be progressively limiting the application of the fair use defense and freedom of expression. If the entertainment industry succeeds in this battle for control over Internet access to audiovisual and musical works, it will end up at best limiting the creativity and vitality of the medium. At worst, it will create a rampant underground movement that will be working with almost religious fervor in designing around whatever methods of protection the industry may devise. Everyone seems to agree that artists need to be paid for their work, and clearly, those who finance artistic creativity (e.g., the studios) need to be compensated for their investment as well. The real question is whether the entertainment industry and the digital world will be able to come up with an economic model that will effectively "monetize" digital content, through pay-per-play, subscription, advertising, sponsorship or otherwise, and devise a technology to implement that model seamlessly and effectively. Louise Nemschoff, Entertainment and Intellectual Property Attorney Sometimes we Europeans complain like hell about the scheduling of Cartoon Forum and MIPCOM virtually back to back! This year, however, Elephant were thrilled to be able to capitalise on the good reaction to our presentations in Visby at the Cartoon Forum and we were actually able to take one major deal for Johnny Casanova almost through to its logical conclusion, which has really speeded things up! My general impressions were that independent animation producers are in for a tough time, as the big international players swallow up smaller more vulnerable companies. One thing is for certain, there will be far less options open to us and the chances of keeping hold of those hard fought for IPRs will be virtually nil! Sarah Muller, Managing Director At MIPCOM, I was networking with studios that might have an interest in sending their animation productions to our studio in India or even co-production deals with us. On that level it was very successful. Every studio and producer that we met, were very impressed with our set-up. In fact, we received our next production deal with Rainbow Productions while there. Our competitive pricing and English speaking, full-time staff has been our biggest advantage. Moreover, Trivandrum is known as a holiday resort with lovely beaches and waters. What a way for our clients to relax while they work! K. Subramaniam, Creative Director
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