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More on Red Tint Lawsuit

source: Daily Mainichi (Japanese)

In an interview with the Daily Manichi, Tetsuyuki Ohya explains the motivation and reasoning behind the lawsuit that he and two other plaintifs are launching against Buena Vista Home Entertainment over the red tint on the Japanese Spirited Away DVD.

- What made you decide to file a lawsuit?

I am one of the DVD consumers. I bought the DVD on the Net in early August. I saw it and found it had red tin. I, however, did not seriously think about the problem; I only thought that it was due to a scratch on my DVD disc. I asked Buena Vista about the problem by e-mail, only to receive a reply stating that the red tint was normal. I didn't know that displeasure with the red tint was spreading among consumers until I came across news reports about people complaining about it all over Japan.

- You filed a lawsuit in the end of November. Months after you purchased the DVD.

In August I was displeased, but I didn't feel that I could file a lawsuit based only on my personal anger. So I analyzed the DVD and made a hystgram. It proved that the color balance was biased. Then I thought that I could properly file a lawsuit against the distributor.

- Other than the possibility of a mail-exchange, what other discussions did you have with Buena Vista?

There were no other discussion. I asked to have my DVD replaced with a normal (untinted) one and Buena merely replied that my DVD was normal. They would not make an untinted DVD for one consumer only. I felt that wasn't the issue of the conversation and that I should make the truth clear in court.

- You seek 10,000 yen per plaintiff. What is the basis of this amount?

I believe that we should not demand too much compensation because it is not as if we were harmed in any way. Our purpose is not financial, but rather to scrutinize the distributor's attitude as a corporation towards its clients. I think that this would not have become such a problem if Buena Vista had admitted its mistake when people complained in the first place. I think that it is Buena Vista's attidude and response to the issue that are the problem

- Why did you not file your lawsuit against Studio Ghibli?

We don't know the exact relation between Ghibli and Buena Vista. So I decided to file a suit against the distributor. During the lawsuit, Buena Vista could insist that it is only selling the DVD as Ghibli instructed. I would like to ask Mr. Miyazaki in court about what he thinks of the issue.