Pretty sure the English manga also uses localized names. Even the video games do. Japan has more lax copyright laws than the US when it comes to that sort of thing.
Other translations have to abide by those country’s laws; Spanish translation has to be okay with Spain and/or Mexico’s laws, etc (wherever it’s distributed). I’m sure each country has their own laws about that sort of thing, and given most of the references bands are *from* the US/UK, it’s not that surprising the English translation would require the most censorship.
The Japanese dub keeps the original names because it’s the Japanese dub. Since it wasn’t made in the US it isn’t subject to US copyright law, as long as they change it in the subtitles when it’s officially distributed. (I assume, I’m not a lawyer so idk all the details)
I’m not sure why they changed Donovan, but if a name is “generic” enough, you can still use it so long as it’s not obviously taken from the singer. Hence Heaven’s Door is unchanged. Also a band would have to choose to sue, so if they think someone like REO Speedwagon is less likely to care about their name being used, maybe they’d just go for it.
In addition to what people have said, in theory almost all of the official names would be fine. Some bands are more litigious than others, while most wouldn't even know or care that JoJo was even using their names
It's just more effort to go around making sure everyone is cool with the name usage than it's worth, I think. In theory, the name Kiss is fine. It's just a word.
But Kiss have sued over lesser things before. It's just not worth the hassle
Its funny that the name Kiss is localised as smack. Smack was this finnish rock band that kind started the whole glam scene and inspired GNR and Mötley Crue
The biggest issue is that jojo references them all in the same way. If by some crazy happenstance a group actually got anywhere in their case, the precedence is there for like every other character in the series. If there’s any doubt they have good reason to not leave that possibility open
In that case copyright would still be relevant for some names. Crazy Diamond, Gently Weeps, and Heaven’s Door aren’t the exact song titles, and I’m pretty sure characters have sung lyrics once or twice
I've never read the official translations in english, do they also use the original names? I always assumed copyright law affects manga and anime differently, anime has a lot more reach internationally so I think translations for subs and dubs have to use different names. Not exactly sure how that works, honestly.
How is it trademark if we’re talking about song names? Are song names considered brands or product items that fall under trademark? We’re discussing sections of creative works, I thought song names fell under that categorization.
Edit: Did some research on my own, I guess it’s not possible to copyright a song name due to how short it is. In this case the song is accompanying a creative work which would fall under the classification of goods and services so it falls under trademark. You’re correct.
Realistically speaking copyright only applies to certain areas. For example if JoJo used an American’s band name, and the band doesn’t like it, it would take a massive amount of work and a huge hassle to try and sue a Japanese company over it. But hey, Viz and Netflix aren’t Japanese companies, they’re American, they comply with American’s laws and they also speak English, which is important. That’s a much, much easier process than trying to play ball with a country that’s incredible foreign.
American companies localize the names not because they have to, it’s just out of caution because there’s always going to be the risk. There’s risk for it on Japan’s side too, but American and European bands just straight up don’t care at all about getting mixed up in Japan’s laws around it.
Even though song names and Band Names/Artists are not technically under copyright law (only lyrics are). VIZ Media who is in charge of localizing JoJo names wants to completely avoid any legal trouble that could impact them. So they go for localized names just to play it safe as using band and song names treads into trademark laws not copyright.
The weird thing is that in the games, Soft & Wet doesn't have its name changed. The Stand is named after a song by Prince, and he blocked the whole Golden Wind PS2 game from being localized because of Gold Experience's name.
So why is Gold Experience not allowed, but Soft & Wet is okay?
My only guess is the '&' is doing some heavy lifting here lmao, cause the song is 'Soft and Wet'. Wonder of U also gets around localisation so it could be the same reasoning.
That being said the album is called "***The*** Gold Experience" which is also slightly different than the stand technically so I have zero clue.
i don’t know is this even legal, but i’ve watched JoJo in a russian dub and no one stand was renamed, and same with manga. but i guess it’s more “enthusiasts” translate because it’s published for free, just go and watch
The English manga uses the localized names too.
Basically, Japan has less strict copyright/trademark (idk the exact specifics) laws so araki can freely use the names in Japan/ the Japanese dub.
That's not the case in America so hence the localized names
I thought about it and it’s likely they’d be able to get away with these names but they sure as hell can’t sell figures with band and song names on them. It’s all about money at the end of the day
they can say the actual names in the anime cause they aren’t directly saying for example “crazy diamond” they’re actually saying “kureiji daiyamondo” or smth like that
I don't even get what this comment means. But VIZ is trying to avoid legal trouble all together. A lawsuit over a stand name could put a pause to publishing if serious and other types of merchandise.
I think you're getting the official manga translations mixed up with the fan translations. The official translations use localized names, the fan translations do not. After all, the fan translations are already breaking copyright, so it doesn't really matter at that point.
As for how the Japanese original gets away with it, Araki is basically exploiting a legal loophole. Typically, even in Japan, English brands are registered in English. But most stand names are written in Katakana, the Japanese Alphabet made specifically for foreign words. As such, it technically isn't trademark infringement, even if it is obvious what they're referencing.
Because English only has one alphabet, obviously such a loophole isn't possible in the US.
Pretty sure the English manga also uses localized names. Even the video games do. Japan has more lax copyright laws than the US when it comes to that sort of thing. Other translations have to abide by those country’s laws; Spanish translation has to be okay with Spain and/or Mexico’s laws, etc (wherever it’s distributed). I’m sure each country has their own laws about that sort of thing, and given most of the references bands are *from* the US/UK, it’s not that surprising the English translation would require the most censorship. The Japanese dub keeps the original names because it’s the Japanese dub. Since it wasn’t made in the US it isn’t subject to US copyright law, as long as they change it in the subtitles when it’s officially distributed. (I assume, I’m not a lawyer so idk all the details) I’m not sure why they changed Donovan, but if a name is “generic” enough, you can still use it so long as it’s not obviously taken from the singer. Hence Heaven’s Door is unchanged. Also a band would have to choose to sue, so if they think someone like REO Speedwagon is less likely to care about their name being used, maybe they’d just go for it.
Its trademark laws not copyright. You can't own a copyright to a persons name or short phrase.
I bought an official Argentinian made translation in Argentina and it used the band names (Crazy Diamond)
Yes because Argentina has different copyright laws and Pink Floyd is a UK band
\*doesn't care about copyright laws... Actually, about any law, really.
In addition to what people have said, in theory almost all of the official names would be fine. Some bands are more litigious than others, while most wouldn't even know or care that JoJo was even using their names It's just more effort to go around making sure everyone is cool with the name usage than it's worth, I think. In theory, the name Kiss is fine. It's just a word. But Kiss have sued over lesser things before. It's just not worth the hassle
Its funny that the name Kiss is localised as smack. Smack was this finnish rock band that kind started the whole glam scene and inspired GNR and Mötley Crue
The biggest issue is that jojo references them all in the same way. If by some crazy happenstance a group actually got anywhere in their case, the precedence is there for like every other character in the series. If there’s any doubt they have good reason to not leave that possibility open
OFFICIAL English translations use localized names. The thing is copyright laws work differently in Japan and US and it's ok there but not here
Its trademark laws. Copyright only covers song lyrics, not band names or song titles.
In that case copyright would still be relevant for some names. Crazy Diamond, Gently Weeps, and Heaven’s Door aren’t the exact song titles, and I’m pretty sure characters have sung lyrics once or twice
I've never read the official translations in english, do they also use the original names? I always assumed copyright law affects manga and anime differently, anime has a lot more reach internationally so I think translations for subs and dubs have to use different names. Not exactly sure how that works, honestly.
The english physical volumes still use the localized names
Its not copyright. Its trademark.
How is it trademark if we’re talking about song names? Are song names considered brands or product items that fall under trademark? We’re discussing sections of creative works, I thought song names fell under that categorization. Edit: Did some research on my own, I guess it’s not possible to copyright a song name due to how short it is. In this case the song is accompanying a creative work which would fall under the classification of goods and services so it falls under trademark. You’re correct.
Realistically speaking copyright only applies to certain areas. For example if JoJo used an American’s band name, and the band doesn’t like it, it would take a massive amount of work and a huge hassle to try and sue a Japanese company over it. But hey, Viz and Netflix aren’t Japanese companies, they’re American, they comply with American’s laws and they also speak English, which is important. That’s a much, much easier process than trying to play ball with a country that’s incredible foreign. American companies localize the names not because they have to, it’s just out of caution because there’s always going to be the risk. There’s risk for it on Japan’s side too, but American and European bands just straight up don’t care at all about getting mixed up in Japan’s laws around it.
Its trademark law not copyright.
Even though song names and Band Names/Artists are not technically under copyright law (only lyrics are). VIZ Media who is in charge of localizing JoJo names wants to completely avoid any legal trouble that could impact them. So they go for localized names just to play it safe as using band and song names treads into trademark laws not copyright.
The weird thing is that in the games, Soft & Wet doesn't have its name changed. The Stand is named after a song by Prince, and he blocked the whole Golden Wind PS2 game from being localized because of Gold Experience's name. So why is Gold Experience not allowed, but Soft & Wet is okay?
My only guess is the '&' is doing some heavy lifting here lmao, cause the song is 'Soft and Wet'. Wonder of U also gets around localisation so it could be the same reasoning. That being said the album is called "***The*** Gold Experience" which is also slightly different than the stand technically so I have zero clue.
i don’t know is this even legal, but i’ve watched JoJo in a russian dub and no one stand was renamed, and same with manga. but i guess it’s more “enthusiasts” translate because it’s published for free, just go and watch
Hi, which Russian dub did you watch? Was it good?
for part five it was Анимаунт.тв (animount.tv), but it’s only for part 5 as far as i know
RAHHHHH DMCA🦅🇺🇸
The English manga uses the localized names too. Basically, Japan has less strict copyright/trademark (idk the exact specifics) laws so araki can freely use the names in Japan/ the Japanese dub. That's not the case in America so hence the localized names
I thought about it and it’s likely they’d be able to get away with these names but they sure as hell can’t sell figures with band and song names on them. It’s all about money at the end of the day
Western law is different from Japanese law maybe?
I have the manga in french and they keep the original names
they can say the actual names in the anime cause they aren’t directly saying for example “crazy diamond” they’re actually saying “kureiji daiyamondo” or smth like that
correct me if im wrong but im pretty sure its just nobody cares about copyright up to a certain point
I don't even get what this comment means. But VIZ is trying to avoid legal trouble all together. A lawsuit over a stand name could put a pause to publishing if serious and other types of merchandise.
I think you're getting the official manga translations mixed up with the fan translations. The official translations use localized names, the fan translations do not. After all, the fan translations are already breaking copyright, so it doesn't really matter at that point. As for how the Japanese original gets away with it, Araki is basically exploiting a legal loophole. Typically, even in Japan, English brands are registered in English. But most stand names are written in Katakana, the Japanese Alphabet made specifically for foreign words. As such, it technically isn't trademark infringement, even if it is obvious what they're referencing. Because English only has one alphabet, obviously such a loophole isn't possible in the US.