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Studiocanal UK and Wild Bunch Intl in UK High Court Dispute Over Ghibli
posted on by Andrew Osmond
A legal dispute will take place in the UK High Court over rights to the films of Studio Ghibli, between StudioCanal UK and Wild Bunch International (WBI). .
Deadline reports that "StudioCanal UK has taken issue with the 2019 Netflix deal brokered by WBI giving the platform worldwide streaming rights to much of the Studio Ghibli catalogue." Neither Netflix nor Studio Ghibli are involved in the dispute.
StudioCanal UK, which filed a legal claim on November 3, says that the Netflix deal impacted its ability to exploit 15 Studio Ghibli films in the UK. The company claims that the Netflix deal breached an agreement between StudioCanal and Wild Bunch relating to VOD rights.
The trade paper Variety reports, "StudioCanal says its agreement with Wild Bunch included exclusive 'non-internet VOD rights,' and the Netflix deal caused StudioCanal to 'suffer loss and damage' via diminished sales as well as the inability to secure Studio Ghibli internet streaming rights for itself.
StudioCanal is asking for a sum of money reflecting its losses to be determined by the court. Wild Bunch and Wild Bunch International counter that 'non-internet VOD rights' do not exist in the UK or Ireland as there aren't any streaming services that do not use the internet.
They also claim that Studio Ghibli was not interested in streaming deals territory by territory, only in the near-worldwide deal with Netflix; and moreover, that the Netflix deal would have raised the profile of Studio Ghibli's films in ways that would have benefited StudioCanal.
Deadline's report claims, "Sources close to the case, say that none of the original Optimum Releasing contracts or the renewed StudioCanal UK deals in 2015 and 2017 included streaming rights. They add that none of the distributors in other territories, who held home entertainment licenses for the Studio Ghibli titles, had raised objections to the Netflix deal."
Wild Bunch International has handled international rights to all Studio Ghibli films since 2002, when it handled Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away (pictured).
In 2006, Studicanal in Paris acquired the company Optimum Releasing, which was rebranded as StudioCanal UK in 2011. Optimum Releasing had been distributing Ghibli films in the UK since the early 2000s, starting with Spirited Away.
After it was rebranded as StudioCanal UK, the company continued to distribute Ghibli films in the UK, although Ghibli's CG film Earwig and the Witch was distributed by the Elysian Film Group, which was co-founded by Perkins, the former UK CEO of Studio Canal.
WBI has countered StudioCanal UK by launching its own lawsuit to claim back royalty payments for the Studio Ghibli films that it says StudioCanal owes WBI.
