To what extent does SEGA have the rights to Shenmue's name?

H

HeyArnold

Joined
Mar 27, 2019
Hello. I was wondering if it is possible to continue the Shenmue story without using the name Shenmue for the game.

I'm asking because Metropolis Street Racer on the Dreamcast and Project Gotham Racing 1 on the Xbox are the exact games with only a name change due to licensing issues. They both use the Kudos system.

Is the same with Shenmue, where SEGA has the rights to the name of the game, but may not the storyline?
So, I do wonder if it is possible for Yu Suzuki to carry on the storyline without using the Shenmue brand name.

Any thoughts?
 
HeyArnold said:
Hello. I was wondering if it is possible to continue the Shenmue story without using the name Shenmue for the game.

I'm asking because Metropolis Street Racer on the Dreamcast and Project Gotham Racing 1 on the Xbox are the exact games with only a name change due to licensing issues. They both use the Kudos system.

Is the same with Shenmue, where SEGA has the rights to the name of the game, but may not the storyline?
So, I do wonder if it is possible for Yu Suzuki to carry on the storyline without using the Shenmue brand name.

Any thoughts?
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SEGA literally own it all. It was all written on SEGA's time and money.

Now whether they could buy the story and assets but not the name itself? Maybe but I think they're very much tied.
 
Do we know what percentage of Shenmue 3's revenue SEGA took, if any? Because I was under the impression that SEGA was allowing Yu to use the IP either for free or at a negligible cost. I assume the hold-up is more so related to getting someone to actually fund a new installment rather than licensing, but I suppose the two could be related if SEGA is requiring a larger cut than I realized.
 
spud1897 said:
SEGA literally own it all. It was all written on SEGA's time and money.

Now whether they could buy the story and assets but not the name itself? Maybe but I think they're very much tied.
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I'm not so sure it was written on Sega's time and money.

Yu Suzuki spent so much time at the office that he likely created Shenmue while technically off the clock.

Sega, being the miserly bastards they are, never paid YS his overtime so legally don't own Shenmue.
 
SMDzero said:
I'm not so sure it was written on Sega's time and money.

Yu Suzuki spent so much time at the office that he likely created Shenmue while technically off the clock.

Sega, being the miserly bastards they are, never paid YS his overtime so legally don't own Shenmue.
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They paid his wages and own all the facilties used to make the originals. So yeah they own it.

Say that to the signed contracts they have.
 
spud1897 said:
They paid his wages and own all the facilties used to make the originals. So yeah they own it.

Say that to the signed contracts they have.
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How do we know Sega actually paid YS his full wages?

YS is such an affable and easy going guy that Sega likely took advantage of him by shorting his overtime pay.

If fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if YS donated his base wage to Shenmue budget which gives him a legal claim to ownership.

Regarding the facilities, there is precedent to legally recognize Shenmue as being owned by YS- remember the Id Software guys made their games on computers owned by their employer but nevertheless they still retained ownership of their creations.
 
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SMDzero said:
How do we know Sega actually paid YS his full wages?

YS is such an affable and easy going guy that Sega likely took advantage of him by shorting his overtime pay.

If fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if YS donated his base wage to Shenmue budget which gives him a legal claim to ownership.

Regarding the facilities, there is precedent to legally recognize Shenmue as being owned by YS- remember the Id Software guys made their games on computers owned by their employer but nevertheless they still retained ownership of their creations.
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No there is not. SEGA own it and YSNET have to license it. They literally all signed contracts for it. How do I know that because its the same for the musicians who make no royalties on the tracks because they got paid for their work by SEGA.

He was paid very handsomely for his time at SEGA. How do you think he started up YSNET? On an IOU?
 
spud1897 said:
No there is not. SEGA own it and YSNET have to license it. They literally all signed contracts for it. How do I know that because its the same for the musicians who make no royalties on the tracks because they got paid for their work by SEGA.

He was paid very handsomely for his time at SEGA. How do you think he started up YSNET? On an IOU?
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Was YS paid well by Sega?

Given the insane hours he spent at the office, his average per-hour wage was probably only $30 at best.

YsNet had to make a dang mobile game just to pay the utility bill at their recently reduced offices so it's not like they have much money.
 
Salary contracts almost always entails overtime, and considering he was doing his life's passion, I don't think he regrets the extra office hours.

-Coming from a very devout leftist labour advocate. Believe me I don't want anyone working unpaid overtime or poor life balance or subpar wages, but we aren't talking a food industry or retail manager here, it is 90s Sega and Yu Suzuki...
 
SMDzero said:
Was YS paid well by Sega?

Given the insane hours he spent at the office, his average per-hour wage was probably only $30 at best.

YsNet had to make a dang mobile game just to pay the utility bill at their recently reduced offices so it's not like they have much money.
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Any evidence of the wages?
 
spud1897 said:
No there is not. SEGA own it and YSNET have to license it. They literally all signed contracts for it. How do I know that because its the same for the musicians who make no royalties on the tracks because they got paid for their work by SEGA.

He was paid very handsomely for his time at SEGA. How do you think he started up YSNET? On an IOU?
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This is true. He was paid well at SEGA. That how Yu Suzuki bought a brand new Ferrari F355.
 
HeyArnold said:
This is true. He was paid well at SEGA. That how Yu Suzuki bought a brand new Ferrari F355.
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For all we know that Ferrari was a company car and considered part of Yu's compensation package.

shadowreaper said:
It isn’t a matter of conditions or wages or who came up with the story. Sega owns the IP. When someone works for a company any work they do while “on the clock” for the company belongs to that company.
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My point is that YS was likely "off the clock" when he created Shenmue and wasn't getting paid for his time.

Do you really think that after killing himself working 22 hour days 7 days a week making Shenmue (being forced to brush his teeth and wash his hair in the office break room subsisting on miserable vending machine pastries and dirty coffee water) he would actually put up a fuss to get his overtime from Sega?

YS should hire a good lawyer because I believe he has a legal claim to Shenmue and is deserving of back-pay for his time at Sega.
 
Humoring the above speculation for a minute, it's a huge assumption to say YS has any real ground to stand on within the context of the Japanese legal system. But let's say he did: statutes of limitations still apply in Japan and the creation of Shenmue alone is well over 20 years ago.

Why would YS even go through all this trouble? He never alluded to having a bad relationship with SEGA nor does he seem to harbor any resentment or bitterness toward them. As if his public image hasn't suffered enough these past few years.

And even if he owned 100% of the rights to the IP, that wouldn't suddenly make more installments appear.

Either Shenmue IV happens or it won't, but I just don't see its likeliness being affected by SEGA owning the rights, especially since S3 already happened and we know YS Net has been shopping an early version/concept of S4 around.
 
You Arcade Clerk said:
Humoring the above speculation for a minute, it's a huge assumption to say YS has any real ground to stand on within the context of the Japanese legal system. But let's say he did: statutes of limitations still apply in Japan and the creation of Shenmue alone is well over 20 years ago.

Why would YS even go through all this trouble? He never alluded to having a bad relationship with SEGA nor does he seem to harbor any resentment or bitterness toward them. As if his public image hasn't suffered enough these past few years.

And even if he owned 100% of the rights to the IP, that wouldn't suddenly make more installments appear.

Either Shenmue IV happens or it won't, but I just don't see its likeliness being affected by SEGA owning the rights, especially since S3 already happened and we know YS Net has been shopping an early version/concept of S4 around.
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Well I think that YS could sue Sega for not only the rights to Shenmue but also for significant damages due to lost wages and opportunity cost of developing/selling more Shenmue sequels back in the early 00’s when it was a relevant mass market series.

YS should sue Sega for everything they’ve got-we the fans could pitch in for fund the retainers of an army of lawyers that will force Sega to settle and pay YS $100 million.
 
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SMDzero said:
Well I think that YS could sue Sega for not only the rights to Shenmue but also for significant damages due to lost wages and opportunity cost of developing/selling more Shenmue sequels back in the early 00’s when it was a relevant mass market series.

YS should sue Sega for everything they’ve got-we the fans could pitch in for fund the retainers of an army of lawyers that will force Sega to settle and pay YS $100 million.
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If that court case ever happened and actually won I'll buy everyone on this forum a drink of their choice.
 
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