Odex
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| File:Odex logo.jpg | |
| Company type | Private Limited |
|---|---|
| Industry | Animation-related distribution |
| Founded |  Singapore (1998) |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Peter Go, CEO/Director Stephen Sing, Enforcement Division |
| Products | Video VCD / DVD |
| Revenue | Approx. S$1m[1] |
Number of employees | 20[1] |
| Website | www.odex.com.sg |
ODEX Pte. Ltd. is a Singapore-based company that licenses and releases anime for local and regional (Southeast Asian) consumption. It was registered in 1998 to license, import and release overseas drama and animation into Singapore. It began distribution in 2000.
In 2007-2008 ODEX pursued legal action against home users who were allegedly illegally downloading the company's anime videos from the Internet. In the course of ODEX's attempt to enforce actions against home users, the ruling in 2008 by District Judge Ernest Lau's rejecting ODEX's request that Pacific Internet (PacNet) release subscriber data may have established important precedents for protecting online privacy of Internet users.
The actions received extensive press and blog coverage, especially as they roughly coincided with similar attempts in the United States by the music industry to enforce against file sharing by home users. Issues of intellectual property, copyright protections and freedom of speech underlie these events.
Pricing
ODEX anime are generally priced below those of United States or Japanese counterparts. Some fans believe this is due to poorer video quality. Another reason is that Odex boxed sets do not include extra materials such as posters.[2]
ODEX claimed to have attempted to fight anime piracy by offering lower prices for their anime boxed sets. During this promotional period, a 13-episode VCD boxed set was sold for SGD$10 while a DVD boxed set went for SGD$20. However, users on numerous forums (SGCafe, XedoDefense, Hardwarezone) pointed out that reduced prices applied to only a few of the ODEX anime titles. Further, critics asserted the anime were old or relatively unpopular. In addition, ODEX did little promotion of the reduced prices. [3]
ODEX claimed that revenues for 2006 were half that of 2005, which the company attributed to anime download piracy. ODEX said that such piracy led to the company's decision in 2007 to enforce actions against downloaders.[4]
Product packaging
Odex VCD packaging has two silver strips at the top and bottom, with the words Original Japanese Animation along the side with its logo. The VCDs are packaged as square boxed sets, with a CD folder containing six discs with 13 episodes each.
The DVD boxed set is not packaged like the R1 and R2 sets, which come in one disc with two episodes, but as three discs with 12 episodes, using dual-layer DVDs.
Dubbing and subtitling
Odex's VCDs contain Japanese-language audio. Some releases also include Chinese dubbing. Subtitles are written in both English and Chinese.
Their DVD releases include Japanese-language audio. Some titles also ship with Chinese dubbing, and occasionally with dubbing done in English. Subtitling is also available for the DVD releases, containing English, Chinese and Malay subtitling.
History
1998 - The company was founded in 1998 in Singapore to license and bring into the region videos ranging from drama to animation of all kinds.[5]
1999 - Police raided GamesMart for peddling counterfeit game controllers and other accessories. Games Mart was set up in 1994 by 5 individuals. By 1997, the company has split into 2 business divisions: games and video operating independently of each other, at 2 separate business locations. The games division was by headed by Mr Adrian Yap while the video was headed by Mr Peter Go. Mr Go was not involved in the games business and was unaffected by the raid. Subsequently, Mr Go left Games Mart to set up his own company, ODEX.
2000 - ODEX formed the animation section, to license and bring Japanese animation into the region. This changed the company's direction.
2003 - Formed the Anti-Video Piracy Association of Singapore (AVPAS) to fight video piracy. The Office of AVPAS resides in ODEX's headquarters. AVPAS's committee-in-charge is led by ODEX directors Peter Go and Stephen Sing.[6]
2007 - AVPAS created a website.[7] ODEX sent out letters to alleged downloaders of their licensed anime. The company did not fight video piracy that involved non-anime or non-Japanese films. [8]
Controversy
 | This article's "criticism" or "controversy" section may compromise the article's neutrality. |
In reaction to falling sales and evidence of home users' downloading anime videos without payment, in 2007 ODEX initiated actions to track users and demand settlement or litigation. It succeeded in gaining court orders for subpoenas for two Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to provide them with subscriber data for certain IP accounts. ODEX settled out of court with many downloaders, who paid fees in lieu of litigation, ranging from about SGD$3000 to SGD$5000.[9]
In a press conference held on the 30th of August 2007, Odex claimed that the crackdown "was meant to be just an enforcement" and not "a profiteering mission to get as much money from everybody." Odex also claimed that there was no fine involved, but about a third of the recipients preferred to settle with Odex for an undisclosed sum.[10] This caused a huge uproar among the online community, as many downloaders claimed that ODEX had "threatened them with legal action" should they choose not to pay the fees. On 2 September 2007, The Straits Times stated that the money ODEX claimed from downloaders was for "compensation" and that there could be possible profit made.[11] As of February 2008, ODEX had not released detailed information on its use of funds collected, although it stated it had to pay the ISPs for their work.
There was extensive press and online community coverage of the actions by ODEX. The anime community criticized it. Some fans claimed in articles on XedoDefense.org to have analyzed costs related to the cases. They speculated that ODEX was making money off its process. [12] Many netizens - anime viewers and non-anime viewers alike - allege that Odex was seizing the opportunity to cover up for the losses it claimed to have suffered over the past few years.
Initial court hearings between Odex and the first two ISPs (SingNet and StarHub) were done behind closed doors. The newspapers reported that ODEX had hired another firm to trace downloaders and their IPs. ODEX was successful in gaining a court order for subscriber data from these two ISPs.
In its third request for a court-ordered subpoena, for records of Pacific Internet (PacNet), ODEX was rejected by District Judge Ernest Lau, who ruled on 23 Aug 2007 they did not have standing as a plaintiff to seek the subscriber records under Singapore's Copyright Act, as they were neither an exclusive licensee nor copyright holder. Lau related the discovery sought to the power of the Anton Piller order, and stated his belief that it should not be easily granted.[13] Lawyers believe this may constitute an important precedent for online privacy, not otherwise specifically protected in Singapore.
ODEX appealed to a higher court. On 29 Jan 2008, Justice Woo Bih Li upheld the lower court ruling regarding lack of standing as a plaintiff by ODEX. But he directed PacNet to release subscriber data directly to Japanese anime companies and copyright holders who were party to the case so they could undertake their own enforcement actions.[14]
Criticisms
Dubbing and subtitles
Odex's subtitling has been criticized by fans of anime for having font with lower quality and sometimes inaccurate translations, as compared to fansubs or imports. Many fans assume that all anime video products available then were by Odex. In fact, the fans quoted titles that were not distributed by Odex, misleading the general public into thinking that the subtitling work by Odex was inferior, when it was not true.
Odex was pro-active in ensuring that subtitles do not cause disturbance to the social fabric by ensuring that expletives be replaced with phrases that may not convey the same intensity, which was criticised by fans for the inaccuracies. In addition, it is not always possible to translate japanese verbatim into another language, and re-scripting is necessary to ensure that the contextual meaning is not lost. Odex thought by so doing, it is also adhering to the requirements of the censorship laws in Singapore but was misunderstood and thought to be blaming the censorship requirements. This resulted in a BFC spokesperson saying the board preferred that subtitles be accurate.[15]
There has also been controvsery on the statements provided by Odex as they do not match. The statements were found on the Odex website's FAQ page[16]:
[Question]Some people say the frustration with Odex is that its versions have grammatical errors, inaccurate translations and poor video quality and that the fansubs are better.
[Answer]In any translation work, there are slightly different ways to say the same thing and our goal is to provide the most accurate translations possible. We believe we have the most advanced video transfer equipment available in Singapore. Odex respects the guidelines laid down by the Board of Film Censor and thus we also believe in providing subtitles that do not cause any discomfort to the various religious and racial groups in Singapore and thus would take the extra mile to remove vulgarities and tone down any offensive language.
The company hires outside translators, which may result in limited control over the quality of translations, whose quality are checked by an editor.
In 2007 ODEX was criticized in relation to the release of The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya. Some fans claimed subtitles were taken from fansub group A.F.K.[17] Local anime fans noticed similarities between the fansub and the official release by ODEX. Some netizens alleged that Odex's crusade against downloaders was a facade, as the company downloaded fansubs. The local anime fans were bent on hitting out at Odex for taking action to protect intellectual property rights and took every opportunity to scrutinise and to hurt their only local anime company that aims to build up and strengthen the anime market in Singapore.
Timing of releases
The anime community criticized ODEX for lack of releases over the past months. Furthermore, many anime fans resented the fact that Odex did not release anime quickly after they had been aired on televisions in Japan. They disregard the fact that ODEX brought in many new and upcoming titles, and that business decisions would take time to be implemented. Odex helps the anime community by providing value-for-money DVD sets with about 12 episodes, instead of the typical Japanese four-episode release. The efforts by ODEX were grossly misconstrued as fans who were upset by Odex's step in protecting intellectual property rights continued to vent their frustration on the company.
Odex has also promised to release anime episodes via its Video-On-Demand (VOD) a few days after the Japanese release. and released Internet VOD titles such as D.Gray-man, Shakugan no Shana, Seto No Hanayome through MOBTV services. Odex is also the 1st company in the world to release Japanese anime on the local free TV network (Mediacorp Okto Channel) within the same week of Japan's TV broadcast, including D.Gray-man, Casshern Sins, Tora Dora, Zero No Tsukaima III, Tokyo Majin Gakuen to name a few.
Website and customer service
Following criticism of its "anti-piracy" actions, ODEX set up a forum[18] on its website, stating that the aim was to "foster and improve" relationships between the company and the anime community. Users complained that their questions and opinions were not answered. Also, visitors to the website wrote that ODEX's webpages have been blacklisted and blocked by IP-blocker programs that block malicious sites. They further asserted that ODEX's forum used an IP Unmasker[19] to check on users. This raised privacy concerns. This was raised in the forums by fans who were still engaging in unauthorised file-sharing activities and were concerned that their identities be revealed.
After a hacker defaced the website, the company made its official website inaccessible to the public and the forum ended. Some in the online community speculated that ODEX was either closing down or had already folded. Since the defacement, ODEX has yet to restore the website (as of July 2009). Instead, ODEX spent its efforts in more productive areas to build up the anime market in Singapore.
Other business
Other than licensing, Odex also does English dubbing, translation and/or subtitling for other companies.
Odex also sells programs to television stations in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, such as NTV7, MediaCorp TV12 Central, MediaCorp TV Channel U and Starhub E-City Channel 56.
ODEX's anime list
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED - only anime to which ODEX has exclusive license
Anime sub-licensed and released by ODEX
Anime sub-licensed but not on sale by ODEX
Notes and references
- ^ a b 'We learnt to be more humble...Yes, we've made mistakes, Chua Hian Hou, The Straits Times/The Star (Malaysia), 2 September 2007
- ^ An example of a typical DVD set from Odex.
- ^ http://sgcafe.com/forumdisplay.php?f=78, http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/
- ^ "Mr. Go added that the company had no choice, as he claimed that Odex's business had been severely hurt by illegal downloads. -The New Paper, 8 August 2007
- ^ Odex_web
- ^ AVPAS members list
- ^ AVPAS website created on 21 April 2007
- ^ ST Forum
- ^ "...were made to pay between $3,000 and $5,000 in reimbursement fees to Odex..." -The New Paper, 8 August 2007.
- ^ CNA report on press conference
- ^ To counter allegations of profiteering from compensation it had demanded from downloaders, Odex has said it would hire an external auditor to go through its accounts and donate any profit from the crackdown to charity. Straits Times, 2007 September 2
- ^ Xedo Defense : To Educate and Defend
- ^ Full text of judgment against Odex
- ^ Full text of judgment against Odex
- ^ Comment by Senior Asst. Director of BFC on inaccurate subbing
- ^ [1]
- ^ Fight Against Odex!
- ^ http://www.odex.com.sg/forums/index.php
- ^ http://www.odex.com.sg/forums/viewtopic.php?t=135
External links
- Odex Homepage
- Official AVPAS - Authorized Anime Titles for Singapore
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