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 |
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. Odex also sells programs to television stations in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, such as NTV7, MediaCorp TV12 Central, MediaCorp TV Channel U and StarHub TV E-City Channel 111. Other than licensing, Odex also does English dubbing, translation and/or subtitling for other companies. Odex also deals in anime merchandise sales.
Odex is most well known for taking legal action in 2007-2008 against home users who were allegedly illegally downloading anime videos from the Internet. The actions received extensive press and blog coverage, especially as they roughly coincided with similar attempts in the United States by the music industry RIAA to enforce against file sharing by home users. Issues of intellectual property, copyright protections, privacy and freedom of speech underlie these events.
History
Odex was founded in 1998 in Singapore to license and bring into the region videos ranging from drama to animation of all kinds.[2] The company started importing and selling anime from Hong Kong and Taiwan licensees at the company’s games retail arm called Games Mart.[1]
However at 1999, police raided GamesMart for peddling counterfeit game controllers and other accessories, and GamesMart closed down on year 2000. [1][3] But the games retail department was operated as a separate entity from the anime business so it did not affect the anime business. Due to this incident, Odex formed its own animation department and started to license and bring Japanese animation into the region.
In year 2003, with the support of Japanese licensors, the Anti-Video Piracy Association of Singapore (AVPAS) is created to fight video piracy in Singapore. AVPAS's committee-in-charge is led by Dr. Toh See Kiat, followed by Odex directors Peter Go and Stephen Sing.[4]
AVPAS, together with Odex, obtained their 1st success in fighting video piracy when they raided the warehouses of a major video retail chain selling pirated anime VCD in Singapore with the Singapore Police Force in year 2004. [5]
In order to continue in its fight againest video piracy, AVPAS created its official website.[6] AVPAS did not fight video piracy that involved non-anime or non-Japanese films. After a month, they started to take actions against illegal downloaders.
After the 2007 legal actions, the company focused more on anime events. In 2007 and 2008, Odex joined Anime Festival Asia (AFA), took up a big space in the event. Odex also participated in SGTCC selling Bakugan.
In year 2010,Odex started its business in MobTV. The company brought its website back up, but only to provide a link to the MobTV website so that visitors can learn more about the Animetrix service that Odex is providing on MobTV. Odex brought the Gundam 00 movie - Awakening of the Trailblazer into Singapore theatre, released on the same day as Japan. There were two screening venues, which are at Alliance Francaise and at Sinema after the first day premiere in Singapore.
Odex made a grand presence in AFA X, being one of the two largest booths in the event hall. They brought in a wide range of anime cushions and anime apparel under their license. They also worked with AFA X organisers to put up the screening of the Gundam 00 movie - Awakening of the Trailblazer and the The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya during AFA X.
Odex continued its participation in AFA 2011, focusing on merchandise sales and movie screening. Movie shown included: Sora no Otoshimono the Movie: The Angeloid of Clockwork, Detective Conan: Quarter of Silence, Naruto the Movie: Blood Prison, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos and Ryūjin Mabuyer The Movie Nanatsu no Mabui.
Business model
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.
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 and Animax.
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.
Pricing
Odex anime are generally priced below those of United States or Japanese counterparts.
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 including SGCafe, XedoDefense and HardwareZone pointed out that reduced prices applied to only a few (handful) of the Odex anime titles. Further, critics asserted the anime were so old or relatively unpopular that nobody bothered about them. In addition, Odex did little promotion of the reduced prices, so few people knew about them as well.[7]
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.[8]
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.
Reception from anime community
 | This article's "criticism" or "controversy" section may compromise the article's neutrality. (November 2010) |
Legal action towards downloaders
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 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 30 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[update], Odex had not released detailed information on its use of funds collected, although it stated it had to pay the ISPs for their work. Netizens pointed out articles on XedoDefense.org that analyzed costs related to the cases and gave the possibility that Odex was making millions in profits by making downloaders pay them sums of between SGD$3000 to SGD$5000. [12]
There was extensive press and online community coverage of the actions by Odex. The anime community criticized it.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]
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.[25] 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 January 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.[25]
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.
Odex blames the censorship laws in Singapore for inaccurate subbing. Odex stated that they had to tweak subtitles to conform to the Board of Film Censors' (BFC) requirements. However, a BFC spokesperson denied this, saying the board preferred that subtitles be accurate.[26][dead link]
There has also been controversy on the statements provided by Odex on its website's FAQ page[27][28] regarding the issue of its subtitles. The statements provided by Odex vastly deviated from the questions asked and did not make sense or provide proper answers. The original statements are as quoted below:
FAQ 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.
Odex's 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[*].
Website and customer service
Following criticism of its anti-piracy actions, Odex set up a forum 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 web-pages have been blacklisted and blocked by IP-blocker programs that block malicious sites. They further asserted that Odex's forum used an IP unmasker to check on users. This raised privacy concerns.
After a hacker defaced the website, the company made its official website inaccessible to the public and the forum ended.
Odex's licensed anime
See:Category:Odex
Notes and references
- ^ a b c 'We learnt to be more humble...Yes, we've made mistakes, Chua Hian Hou, The Straits Times/The Star (Malaysia), 2 September 2007
- ^ Odex - About Us
- ^ The Straits Times, 29 Aug 2007
- ^ AVPAS members list
- ^ Successful Defence Against Major Local Video Chain Fails To Overturn Criminal Search Warrants
- ^ AVPAS website created on 21 April 2007
- ^ 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
- ^ "...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, 2 September 2007
- ^ XedoDefense on "Odex:The Number Game - Conclusion"
- ^ "Parents get shock letter", Liew Hanqing, The New Paper, 2 August 2007
- ^ Kicking kids for profit?, Michael Tan, CNet Asia, 16 August 2007
- ^ Anime firm boss gets online death threats, Chua Hian Hou, The Straits Times, 16 August 2007, p. 4
- ^ Victoria Ho (17 August 2007). "S'porean incurs wrath after prosecuting downloaders". ZDNet Asia. Retrieved 11 July 2008.
- ^ Ansley Ng (24 August 2007). "Odex loses case against PacNet". Today.
- ^ Chua Hian Hou (2 September 2007). "Online lynch mob". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 11 July 2008.
- ^ "No challenge is too big for her". The New Paper. 13 February 2009. Retrieved 28 February 2009.
- ^ Serene Luo (31 August 2007). "Odex defends 'enforcement action'". The Straits Times.
- ^ Liew Hanqing (21 August 2007). "Trash that CD and buy a T-shirt". The New Paper. Retrieved 11 July 2008.
- ^ Cheryl Fox (15 October 2007). Get Rea! - Somebody’s Watching You. Channel NewsAsia (TV-Series). Singapore.
- ^ Liew Hanqing (16 August 2007). "Most hated most wanted". The New Paper. Retrieved 11 July 2008.
- ^ "Angry anime fans plan defence against legal crackdown: Beware". The Earth Times. Deutsche Presse-Agentur. 17 August 2007. Retrieved 11 July 2008.
- ^ a b Full text of judgment against Odex
- ^ Comment by Senior Asst. Director of BFC on inaccurate subbing
- ^ Odex FAQ Page
- ^ Odex FAQ Page on the Internet Archive
External links
- Odex Homepage
- Official AVPAS - Authorized Anime Titles for Singapore
- Template:Wayback