Quoting xradman:

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Quoting hal9g:

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The company that originally brought the movie out is far more important to me than some company who years later buys the rights to distribute it in another country....any other country.

Show me, by way of a non-Criterion release of one of these films, that Janus is credited, and I might consider your position.  Otherwise, I consider them to have merely collaborated with Criterion and are the same... a distributor (media company).

On the non-Janus Criterions that I reveiwed, if there was a second credit before the actual film began, it was always a distribution company, e.g., Miramax Home Entertainment for Chasing Amy.

Since The Criterion Collection was created as a private company by Janus Films and Voyager Co in 1984 (bought out by Home Video Entertainment which was subsequently purchased by Image Entertainment) to distribute home media of their film, I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon.  Just because Warner Home Video releases all of Warner Bros films on DVD in the US, are you going to call Warner Bros Studio just ... a distributor (media company)?

Not a valid comparison.  Warner Studios did not buy their movies from someone else.

Quoting xradman:

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Quoting dee1959jay:

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Quoting xradman:

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But question still remains on whether Janus Films has any place in the Studios listing.

Does your blu-ray have a menu? (Possibly you have to access it specifically - I also have some BDs that just start the film by default and where you have to make an effort to access the disc menu)) If there is, I'd suggest starting the film itself from that menu - use scene selection if necessary to start at the beginning - and see what comes up as Studios. If indeed Janus is on the print of the film itself, then I'd say yes.

It does as I've previously posted.

But so does The Criterion Collection and no one is arguing that it belongs in the studio list.

Quoting hal9g:

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Not a valid comparison.  Warner Studios did not buy their movies from someone else.

That's not completely true...Warner does own, quite a bit, of the MGM/UA library.  So, technically, they did buy some of their movies from someone else.  Whether or not they have stripped MGM from the credits, I don't know, but I do know that some companies do...just look at Logan's Run.  It was distributed by United Artists, yet there is no mention of it on the film or the packaging.

Anyway, this is a bit off topic and does nothing to address the issue at hand.

Quoting TheMadMartian:

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Quoting hal9g:

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Not a valid comparison.  Warner Studios did not buy their movies from someone else.

That's not completely true...Warner does own, quite a bit, of the MGM/UA library.  So, technically, they did buy some of their movies from someone else.  Whether or not they have stripped MGM from the credits, I don't know, but I do know that some companies do...just look at Logan's Run.  It was distributed by United Artists, yet there is no mention of it on the film or the packaging.

Anyway, this is a bit off topic and does nothing to address the issue at hand.

Just because Warner bought some of MGM/UA library, does not mean Warner should be entered as the Theatrical Release studio for those titles.

And yes it is relevant, because that's what it appears that Janus Films has done.  They've purchased the right to distribute a bunch of foreign films in the U.S.  That doesn't make them the Theatrical Release Studio for those films.  Those already have a theatrical release studio which cannot be usurped at a later date simply through the purchase of the right to distribute.

Quoting hal9g:

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Just because Warner bought some of MGM/UA library, does not mean Warner should be entered as the Theatrical Release studio for those titles.

And I never said it did.

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And yes it is relevant, because that's what it appears that Janus Films has done.  They've purchased the right to distribute a bunch of foreign films in the U.S.  That doesn't make them the Theatrical Release Studio for those films.  Those already have a theatrical release studio which cannot be usurped at a later date simply through the purchase of the right to distribute.

The key here, at least for me, is that Janus Films has purchased the US distribution rights.  That means, here in the US, they are the ones who released the films to the theaters.  Since they did, in my opinion, they are the theatrical release studio.

At this point, we are just going around in circles, so we will have to agree to disagree.

Quoting TheMadMartian:

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Ah, but there is the rub, while a theatrical release studio might have been involved in the making of a film, it isn't always the case.

I never said it was the case.

Quoting hal9g:

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But they didn't make them, and they had nothing to do with their original release

As I said earlier, without providing proof that Janus Films actually distributed these particular films, I would have to vote no to putting them in the Studio field, since doing so is little more than a guess, and replacing the original theatrical release (or giving Janus the same credit) would be a gross misrepresentation.

Quoting gardibolt:

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I wouldn't include Janus Films.  Their theatrical distribution is not really germane to the original theatrical runs of movies.  OTOH, excluding them when they appear on the leader makes it difficult to enunciate exactly why they shouldn't be, so I'm sympathetic to the position that would include them as a studio.  I don't get them as being a media company, though.

Point was made that they are the "License Holder" for the US home media distribution.  Therefore they should be #2 on the Media Company field per rules.

The Criterion Collection would be #1 on the list as Publisher
Janus Films (when applicable as not all films in The Criterion Collection have Janus Films logo) would be #2 on the list as License Holder
Image Entertainment would be #3 on the list as the Distributor.

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Media Companies
The company(ies) responsible for the publishing (creating, assembling and ordering of the DVD/HD/BD content) and/or physical distribution of the media.

Enter in the following order:

    * Publisher (Content) - Usually found as a logo on the bottom of the back cover or in the credit block, often containing the words "home video" or "home entertainment. Secondary publishers (eg. The Criterion Collection's Eclipse label) may also be listed.
    * Licensor (Home Video Rights) - Usually found (dated with the year of the DVD release) on the back of the box or in the credit block with words words regarding "under license from...".
    * Distributor - Usually found as a logo on the bottom of the back cover or in the credit block with words regarding distribution.

Quoting xradman:

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Quoting gardibolt:

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I wouldn't include Janus Films.  Their theatrical distribution is not really germane to the original theatrical runs of movies.  OTOH, excluding them when they appear on the leader makes it difficult to enunciate exactly why they shouldn't be, so I'm sympathetic to the position that would include them as a studio.  I don't get them as being a media company, though.

Point was made that they are the "License Holder" for the US home media distribution.  Therefore they should be #2 on the Media Company field per rules.

The Criterion Collection would be #1 on the list as Publisher
Janus Films (when applicable as not all films in The Criterion Collection have Janus Films logo) would be #2 on the list as License Holder
Image Entertainment would be #3 on the list as the Distributor.

Quote:

Media Companies
The company(ies) responsible for the publishing (creating, assembling and ordering of the DVD/HD/BD content) and/or physical distribution of the media.

Enter in the following order:

    * Publisher (Content) - Usually found as a logo on the bottom of the back cover or in the credit block, often containing the words "home video" or "home entertainment. Secondary publishers (eg. The Criterion Collection's Eclipse label) may also be listed.
    * Licensor (Home Video Rights) - Usually found (dated with the year of the DVD release) on the back of the box or in the credit block with words words regarding "under license from...".
    * Distributor - Usually found as a logo on the bottom of the back cover or in the credit block with words regarding distribution.

Bumping this old thread.

I don't agree with Janus being listed as a licensor. A different licensor is usually listed when Janus' logo appears on the cover. I believe Janus' logo simply appears because they were the US theatrical distributor for the film at some point in time (whether initially, for a brief cinema revival, or currently). It's more of a nod to Criterion's history (having been co-founded and holding ties to Janus) than anything. Janus only has theatrical distribution rights to films, not home video so it's not really a media company. Criterion still has to license the film from the home video rights holder.

If at all, Janus should be listed as a studio, but they're involvement in the original US release can be questionable. Starting in the 1950s, they worked to import foreign films to the US. But they often pick up rights for theatrical revivals (the Chaplins) and Criterion includes their logo on the DVD/Blu-ray release anyway. I know they were the US release studio for "Revanche" as it was a rare example of Janus dipping their fingers into first-run theatrical release market again. The Criterion release for that title still lists a separate licensor.