Say Hello To Black Jack is not what you think it is. This has nothing to do with Osamu Tezuka other than a cheeky reference. But the original manga has everything to do with the public domain. With Fables going through a similar situation, now’s a good time to see what the creator did differently from Bill Willingham.
Say Hello To Black Jack
This manga was created by Shuho Sato for Kodansha‘s Morning magazine. Basically mature audience manga for one of Shonen Jump’s biggest competitors.
The plot follows medical intern Eijiro Saito as he goes through the process to find his place as a doctor. But the enthusiastic graduate has a rough awakening when he experiences the realities of the medical world. Like how messed up clinical training can get, the bureaucracy of medical offices, and dealing with the fallout from patients’ families. While it shakes him, some of Eijiro’s coworkers regain some of their lost passions through his devotion to do good. Of course, things are still pretty hard in the hospital and Eijiro needs to find the niche field he’ll thrive in.
The Realities of the Manga World
Say Hello To Black Jack was very successful, winning a couple of awards and getting a TV adaptation a year after publishing. The last third of the original run is an important point because this is when things change. In story, psychiatry is the focus, a mostly taboo subject since mental health isn’t looked too fondly on in Japan.
As for real life, Sato ended the original run due to a fallout with Kodansha. Manga might be better marketed than comics, but it still has a lot of the same payment problems. So Sato went to Shonen Jump’s rival and occasional business partner, Shogakukan with (New) Say Hello To Black Jack. But things didn’t get much better with Sato not even bothering to illustrate the cover for the last album. Why work on something when the company won’t pay you to do it? Until Sato livestreamed the phantom cover on some Japanese YouTube alternatives. NicoNico and Ustream… one of those is probably still a thing…
Say Hello To The Public Domain
In 2012, Sato did the unthinkable and canceled his original publishing contract with Kodansha before it expired. Because of this, the original series is now in the public domain. The entire 13 volume series is available for free on the Wayback Machine archive… in Japanese. If that sounded too complicated, Japanese e-book retailers give this series for free too. Except for Kindle, Sato found a loophole that he had to get creative to exploit. It’s a complete edition Sato completely owns with new covers, it even has English Edition volumes that’re 2 bucks each! That’s about as cheap as the physical stuff since nobody has to pay royalties!
Fracadactyl: Man, you can tell from that cover that someone’s trying sucker people into thinking this is Tezuka stuff.
(Anticipated reaction): Why does it say: Give My Regards to Black Jack?
Fracadactyl: That’s the American title. Translations are more art than science.
Secondary Usages
Basically anybody can use the classic material. And I do mean anybody can use it.
That includes making Adult Videos… (I sound nervous but relieved that this link is just to a reaction video.)
But also parodies, a stage play, novels, and an anti-tuberculous campaign. All Japanese of course.
For the English side, there’s an audio play made by fans for fans! It’s basically Netflix’s One Piece, but it can be played on YouTube without fear of copyright strikes!
Of course, that also means you can read those scanlations that creators hate so much and not feel guilty. Not that Sato minds the free advertising! The sales went over 100 million yen!
Audience: What is that in…
Fracadactyl: I don’t know if you’re American, English, Canadian, or whatever. I’m still waiting for the day everybody uses Ethereum.
Say Hello to Black Jack Disclaimers
Now that we’ve got the good stuff out of the way, let’s go into the details people might miss. Remember that sequel with Shogakukan? Yeah, that’s not in the public domain; neither is that Live-Action TV drama.
I’m not a lawyer and two lawyers that I know don’t specialize in copyright so take this with a grain of salt. Because the show was a licensed production via Kodansha, Sato cancelling his contract leave the rights in limbo. Again, not a lawyer and I don’t have the documents to know what I’m talking about.
As for the Say Hello to Black Jack: Transplant Edition, the copyright is co-owned with Sato and Shogakukan. Unlike Marvel or DC, that’s standard Japanese copyright practice. Don’t need to be a lawyer if plenty of people on the internet share the details. It’s comparable to say DC’s Vertigo imprint before it folded. But the only thing that people should know about this stuff is: something that’s creator-owned isn’t always creator-controlled.
Is This Manga’s Fables?
Now for the moment we’ve all been waiting for. The bestselling comic from Vertigo, Fables is in a very similar situation as Say Hello to Black Jack. The creator and copyright co-owner Bill Willingham made his share public domain after fallouts with DC. But unlike with Sato and his publishers, DC isn’t as willing to give its share of the IP.
What’s the main difference? It comes down to contracts and cultural differences. Japanese copyright law doesn’t seem as strict as the American version. At the very least Kodansha couldn’t monopolize the IP. But maybe that has something to do with the publisher’s parent companies. Kodansha is owned by the Noma family, with the majority share owned by the Noma Cultural Foundation. Unlike DC that’s owned by the conglomerate Warner Bros. Discovery and its majority shareholder Advance Publications Inc.
What does that mean? I dunno, I’m not a lawyer; I’m just setting the stage.
Business Cultural Differences
All that you need to know is that the contracts are fundamentally different. Sato could cancel his contract to put the classic Say Hello to Black Jack in the public domain. It helps that he did the art and scripts. As for Bill Willingham, he was just the script writer. Basically the only thing in the public domain are Fables‘ blueprints: dialogue, how the artist ought to present stuff, etc. Anything like character designs and licensing rights are a matter of the contracts’ fine prints. Something that DC is not willing to share unless an expensive case brings them to light. Which Willingham does not have the resources for.
Say Hello To Black Jack For Your Use
Welcome to the reality of copyrights and the public domain. Some places are a bit more lenient with their IPs, whether that be cultural or practical. Turns out you can use these loopholes to get around Amazon of all places. Combine that with free advertising thanks to the fans he struck a chord with, Sato remains successful. Yeah, you can still make profit when you don’t own the IP. But then again, Sato doesn’t rely entirely on Say Hello to Black Jack.
Other creators can only be so lucky due to the conglomerate nature of their publishers. Or maybe Sato just got lucky because Kodansha didn’t organize their paperwork. Who knows, maybe they changed policies to prevent stuff like this happening again. DC definitely wants to keep whatever IP makes them money unlike the only one I know that slipped through their fingers.
Thanks for coming to the end and as always, remember to look between the panels.