That pouch is really cute! I would also want one of those tote bags.
The t-shirt is okay.

Not a fan of the design because it looks like hawaian souvenir for tourist or something like that. But at least she tried something else and it's refreshing in a certain way.
However I really like the T-shirt. It's really cool.

And please people, stop to slander someone when you don't know what happened behind the scenes.

Supposing that these are legit (which I think they are, the person who put it on Twitter said they weren't sure if they were released officially yet), this would be the third time in a year that she has used fan works as inspiration. I do wonder if they talked to any of the parties involved like that Chinese fan who did the Cirque logo or AyuAngel's owner who made that sixxxxxx banner that Ayu used as her Twitter banner for twoish weeks before the covers were revealed.

This all started initially with the A BEST LIVE logo being 'inspired' by a Chinese fan's design and I'm not sure if I like that Ayu's using fan works so easily and frequently lately. I hope that the next release or concert logo (TA or CDL) doesn't end up being fan influenced as well.

AyuAngel's owner can answer us since she's a member here! I don't think they asked though, didn't the guy who did the CdM logo say he was surprised when he saw they used his work?

She did say that she had good intuition on Twitter when she saw the covers revealed, but something tells me that Ayu liked it and had her designer (Takuma Noriage) mock up something similar but 'different' for the actual release.

Here's the banner that was used on AyuAngel's Twitter/Tumblr, later used as Ayu's official Twitter banner:
http://i.imgur.com/gux29x3.jpg

And then the handwritten (unique letters, all Xs are different) type that was used on sixxxxxx's cover:
http://i.imgur.com/0ylpDBC.jpg

I assume they roughly traced over the banner and we got what was used on the cover.

I never knew about that banner. No wonder I like the typeface they used for sixxxxxx...HER TEAM DIDN'T EVEN DO IT.

No one is slandering anyone. I'm saying that I have a problem with Ayu making a profit off the creativity of her fans when she has a team of people that are employed to design this stuff for her.

And whether it would hold up in a court of law regarding the fans' initial use of images that technically don't belong to them is irrelevant IMO. This isn't Skyward Sword, and gratitude crystals are not a legal form of currency. For her to use fan art on, for example, tour merchandise means that logo ended up on millions of yen worth of merch over the course of a tour--and the person that designed the entire logo of the tour never saw a dime. The fans didn't consent to that and, from what I remember, were never approached by avex to discuss the official use of their works.

^ I agree.
A part of the popularity of an artist is the devotion of their fans. If fans create fan works and spread them over the internet it means they're doing some kind of free promotion. I mean, fandoms wouldn't be the same and for a lot of people not as half as interesting if they wouldn't be able to share and to discuss fanmade graphics, videos etc. If fans wouldn't create some kind of "hype" themselves within the scene, a lot of people would lose interest really quick.
Therefore it doesn't matter for me if the original photo or whatever belongs to avex trax as a company or not. Fans put a lot of work, time and devotion into creating their fanworks just to show their love for an artist and Ayu shamelessly takes those works and uses them without even asking and makes a lot of money out of it.
I know there where people in the past who were saying we wouldn't know if she maybe paid them. But we have the guy who said that he was surprised and didn't knew.
I find it just plain disrespectful to use fanworks without even crediting them. Even in forums and such creators of fanworks don't want their work shared without crediting them. Most of us have a little sentence in our signatures to give credtit to the one who created our avatar and signature. Ayu didn't even mentioned ones which work or idea it was.
Ayu and avex can use those works as much as they want from a legal point of view, but I think of it as disrespectful nontheless.

Idk, I see where it isn't courteous but the extent to which that is a problem is very subjective. But I don't really get some of these expectations. Like what, people want ayu to pay people? I guess.

Ayu and avex probably don't see it as a big deal. And in reality it isn't. They own it. And laws are not solely how you should judge issues, but here I think they're reasonable. Especially because the arts are so complicated. Fanart wouldn't even exist without originals. The owners can edit fanart to fit what they want and it's morally okay IMO. But people have feelings and they can feel however they want about it.

We have our nice internet etiquette. But ayu doesn't need to give money to any fan for coloring a photo or adding some designs to the A logo. It would be the same if she were only making a little money as well. It's the same for authors who literally sue fans for fan fiction. They could afford to let the fans sell the fan fiction they worked hard on, and they appreciate fans making fan fiction because it's free publicity, but they feel entitled to the original work they put out and therefore, any derivative that only exists with that work.

It would be nice for ayu to give credit just based on common manners, but she sure as hell doesn't owe anyone money lol. And most likely, she just isn't even thinking about that as some sort of issue and doesn't view it as rude out of ignorance of that point of view.

Y'all can complain to her though since it's such a problem and she's so disrespectful. It's happened multiple times, so if you feel some type of way about it, now would be a good time. Or complain about how cheap it is. In all seriousness though, if you do think she should maybe consider another viewpoint, you could tell her. It's just nothing to make her seem like a villain over.

I'm agree with Koumori !


To be honest when I wrote that it was a" good intuition" it was ironical, because I know it isn't really a coincidence haha =D

But it's not a problem, it was pretty exciting!

But I think it would be better to thank the fans who made the fanart for the arena logo or the a-nation goods for example, not necessarily with an official credit, but just a few words, it is not about money just no lie (everyone knows that fan art are the inspiration), everyone would be happy, avex look like a "collaborative" company who care about fans (haha) and the fans would be super proud! (they had been forced to do it for the logo of the A BEST LIVE isn't?)

Well, in real life, I'm graphic designer so you can imagine I'd love to really work for Ayumi but hey! it's already great to know that sometimes Ayumi love my little graphics!

It's not as if the logo was the element that sells the goods. It's the name of Ayumi Hamasaki that make fans buying them. Fans are buying and wearing goods to show to Ayu their support and their love. It would be different if we were talking about a cheap clothes shop that were selling a T-shirt with a pic or a design found on Internet and that this T-shirt was popular. In this case, it would be the design itself that make people buying it and the shop that were really making money off the author.

There are things in this world that are better and more important than money. The interest of Ayu for your work and the happiness that goes along with it, have certainly more value than all the gold in the world.

When Ayu used the fan video made by AHS members in her concert and didn't give credits to them in the DVD or money, nobody cried foul. I wonder why it is creating problems now?

There are people on Ayu's team who, on avex's dime, are receiving compensation to design things. And instead of putting out original designs, they're getting paid to...trace over fan made artwork? Yeah, I would say there's cause for concern there. But discussing compensation would be a long way down the road when the reality of the situation isn't really being acknowledged.

Of course it's a big deal.

I'm gonna reiterate my point above about how there are people on her team that get paid to "add some designs to the A logo" and would, rightfully, expect to get paid for it as part of what they do to fulfill their job duties.

Definitely not a coincidence, lol...especially since it's markedly different from every other typeface she's used for her releases. But thanks for picking a cool font :P

In some cases, of course the logo is the deciding factor. Who would have bought the keychain from this last tour, for example, if they didn't like the logo?

It's depressing how often this happens with larger corporations--they steal artwork from lesser known artists, mass produce it, and then act surprised when the artist serves them a cease-and-desist letter or stands up to defend their right to credit and compensation. This entire situation is just another variant that shows how tricky things can get.

She should have given them credit--it absolutely would have been the right thing to do. But in that particular situation, they called a spade a spade, and everyone knew it was a fanmade video. It's her team taking other people's designs and passing them off as their own that I have a problem with.

The whole situation gives me Beyoncé songwriting vibes.
If they truly copied fan art/were highly inspired by fan art, then the person(s) who made that fan art should be credited at the very least. It's how things should go. We were taught this in school.

I hope everyone who takes issue with this in this thread, buys all their CDs and DVDs and don't pirate any content.

It's just a little off putting to see fan works end up 'official' without being acknowledged as such. Though A BEST LIVE ended up with the *inspired by a fan design* addition when the logo debuted.

I'd like to see credit where it is due if they do take inspiration. I think the issue of content piracy like videos/music is really blurry especially lately with lots of full versions of things available on YouTube or other streaming options and generally doesn't really have much to do with this.

Yeap... This so much.

This is like comparing apples with bananas.
In one case Ayu and her team took the work another graphic designer made and used it as their own. So Ayu's team gets paid for the work another graphic designer made and Ayu gets lots of money from merchandise.
In the other case people download videos/songs just to watch/listen to them. No one here would claim having composed or sung those songs and sell them as their own to make money out of it.
Stealing intellectual property and downloading piracy are two completely different issues.

AHS probably isn't the place to argue this considering the subforum full of links to DVD rips, album rips and so forth of Ayu's published work.

Both strongly lack integrity and honesty, which is at the core of the issues.

On both cases the artist (or "artist", sorry, I can't call someone who only produces fanart an artist, maybe a "fanartist") aren't getting the money from their work. Ayumi (or any other artist) doesn't work to make you happy, she works for money (even because, producing Ayumi Hamasaki is an expensive task by itself), and when someone relies on piracy to get her releases, she isn't paid by her work. Nor her musicians, her dancers, her producers, her stylists, the guys who construct the stage or even the graphic designers people are claiming to defend here. So, the final outcome of both actions aren pretty much the same.

Also, the fanart people are getting her work, changing it and posting it on the internet for free... So, not only are they messing with someone else's intellectual propoerty (and trust me, painting color on an already taken photo is easier than taking the photo, and producing a temporary logo based on a logo that was already done by professionals is far, far easier than producing the original logo, that is so well made it has been around and totally effective for almost two decades), they are demanding rights over it.

Not to say those people shouldn't produce their own take on her stuff, they can do whatever they want... And I believe a lot of really good artists can come out of this process, by copying and editing someone else's stuff until they are able to do their own thing... But even if I agree some kind of shout out would be the best thing for Ayu to do, it's not like there's anything that could really be protected over here. In the end of the day, the fanart producers are the ones messing it up with her work, not the other way around.

Lol... No comment...

There is still a diffrence between stealing someones intellectual property and making money out of it and music piracy. And in all honesty, artist profit from people illegal downloading their music. The musicians and dancers and so on get paid nonetheless, it doesn't matter how many copies for example sixxxxxx can sell. And if people wouldn't download the music illegal they also wouldn't buy it. But because people like to listen to her music they go to her concerts, buy her merch and so on. If people wouldn't download, they wouldn't listen to her at all and therefore not going to any concert and not buying merch.
And sorry that I only own half of her discography and wanted to buy another book for university instead of buying sixxxxxx. Oh and sorry that I had to pay my rent also. If that really disqualifies me to have an opinion about Ayu and her team stealing intellectual property I will say I'm sorry that I'm not rich enough.

And I already explained why I think that an active and devoted fan scene in which people make fan arts is importand for the artist. So saying people who create fan art are messing Ayu's work up is a bit mean.
Not to mention that Ayu's team stole the idea of the font for sixxxxxx from AyuAngel. It was her idea and she didn't used a font Ayu's team invented and just altered it. It was her idea and her design. AyuAngel also mentioned that she's in real life a graphic designer, that means people took the work of an actual graphic designer and get paid for a job they should have done. I don't know how AyuAngel thinks about it but I think it's simply wrong.
And honestly, what would have been the problem by just asking AyuAngel or the other people if it's ok for Ayu's team to use their ideas? I'm pretty sure none of them would have said no. And it would have been great marketing if Ayu would have made a single little post or whatever saying they she liked the work of a fan that much that they asked and now use it. It would have been the work of a few minutes to write one simple email to those people. But they didn't even bothered to do that.

I simply CAN'T at people comparing artistic plagiarism and piracy.

Yes, both are 'dishonest' acts, but the difference is in one case people still call Ayu's work Ayu's, and in the other, people apart from the international fans in this forum will never know who was responsible for the logo design, and assume that Ayu (and her team) should take all the credit for it. It's a pretty dicky move. Not to mention that the loss of artistic credit to an unknown graphic designer is probably a lot more hurtful than the loss of profits to a multi-million dollar record company/recording artist.

Absolutly!

As I say in my previous message, it's not about money of course, it's about principle, I think nobody want request a contract or money from avex, it would be ridiculous, (the "A" mark or picture belong to avex, they let us use them, and they turn a blind eyes about a lot of not really legal stuff)

Ayumi and all her work are the inspiration of fan art , and then her team takes fan art as inspiration, well, that's a good exchange!

but why avex doesn't write "logo inspired by *put your name here* stuff"? it's not a big deal
that's a little bit disrespectful to do as if nothing had happened, especially when it's so obvious and repeated (3 times in one year, well...they want a new graphic designers team? I think they are a lot of candidates here =D )

Well, but we should stay humble too, even if sometimes it's so exciting haha

at the end what remains is that I was happy, really, and I hope that Ayu will use some of my graphics, for her twitter or anything else, in the future =)


(unfortunately my clients don't care about the argument "Did you realize that Ayumi Hamasaki love my work?!" haha)

it may be the only point that bothers me when I think of her lazy (and probably really good) graphic team that violates this important principle in the field.


Well, it's a interesting and complex debate !

Agree.
Unfortunately people are greatly influenced by movies, medias, etc that always portrays the demoniac firm that stole the little artist since more than 50 years now.
But in this case, we're not in the same affair as the fan is the one who is using at first something that doesn't belong to him and never asked the firm to use it. So if the fan didn't have the respect to ask to Avex and Ayu to use her face or her logo in one of his work, why Avex should do it? When you're doing thinks in such way don't complain if the other do the same thing to you because implicitly you send the message that you don't care about that.
People think that they can do whatever they want just because he is a fan or he make it for its personal use. But the reality of the law and the copyright is different from what you're thinking. Try to do a copy of Rene Magritte's paintings for you personnal use and you'll see quickly that you can't without asking the society that is responsible for right of authors.

I can't with all this arguing. It might look a little "weird" from the outside, but at the end of the day, avex OWNS all the images released. This is why there are clear laws about these things. Not saying it's absolutely right, but from a business/legal standpoint, there's nothing wrong with it. Besides, people are always tweeting images to ayu. So she likes some of them. What do you expect her to do? Would a tweet back saying thank you be enough?

Obviously ayu would never do anything in a malicious manner, BUT after, what, three times using fan-made or fan-altered images, she should really be questioning the relevance of the team she/avex employs to do these types of things.

Anyway, a-nation is coming up! I can't wait for more info, like set lists and such! :D

Very deep indeed....
Then...do you want to attend a nation?

^I'd love to! But since I was just in Japan in June, I don't know if I could swing it...besides, I have three trips coming up between September and October anyway! haha. I wouldn't enjoy the entire show anyway. I'd only be going for ayu, and maybe like kumi or ai if they were performing.

More artistes announced that will take part next weekend . New additions indicated in bold

【a-nation stadium fes.】

◆Osaka

22nd & 23rd Aug 2015 (Sat & Sun)
Venue ：Yanmar Stadium Nagai (Nagai Stadium)
Time：1pm Doors Open / 3pm Concert starts

Artistes performing :

＜22nd Aug＞
Headliner：BIGBANG

AAA / E-girls / Hamasaki Ayumi / Koda Kumi / Sonar Pocket / TRF

Shooting Act : MACO

Opening Act : FUTURE BOYZ / Raychell feat. RICKEY＆RABBIE / Zushi San Kyodai

＜23rd Aug＞
Headliner：Sandaime J Soul Brothers from EXILE TRIBE

Acid Black Cherry / Crystal Kay / Hamasaki Ayumi / Naoto・Inti Raymi / SHINee / Shonan no Kaze

Shooting Act : Da-iCE / Dream5

Opening Act : Hirai Dai / lol / PrizmaX

◆Tokyo

29th & 30th Aug 2015 (Sat & Sun)
Venue：Ajinomoto Stadium
Time：1pm Doors Open / 3.30pm Concert starts

Artistes performing :

＜29th Aug＞
Headliner： SUPER JUNIOR

Every Little Thing / Golden Bomber / Koda Kumi / VAMPS / Do As Infinity / f(x) / Tsuruno Takeshi

Shooting Act : Dream5

Opening Act : Kaji Hitomi / Leola / SOLIDEMO

＜30th Aug＞
Headliner：Hamasaki Ayumi

AAA / Acid Black Cherry / E-girls / XO / Sonar Pocket / TRF

Shooting Act : Da-iCE / SUPER☆GiRLS

Opening Act : Meiri Alaha / Cheeky Parade・GEM / Kobayashi Yutaka / lol

http://a-nation.net/stadium_fes/

I can't wait! I still can't believe I'll be attending both days in Osaka. �� I hope she performs Sayonara and the usual: July 1st, Boys and girls, Greatful days, blue bird and/or You & Me.

edit: What's a shooting act?

Will her performances be broadcasted ?

Ah thanks though �� Would you happen to know if there are breaks between acts or if they're consecutive?

I'm sure there will be intermission breaks given to the artistes , especially for some like VAMPS and Acid Black Cherry who needs time to get their instruments set up and be tested before they perform their set

eh...not missing anything with those new acts added. lol

Last year there was a break around 10 - 15 minutes for each artist.. So i'm sure it will be the same for this year..

When did that happen? I've been out of it.

POWER of MUSIC.

^ Thank you! I'm sorry for making a lot of questions, but can you tell me exactly in which performance she used a video made by a fan? I only watched the POWER of MUSIC once so I don't really remember much of this concert... :no

No worries lol. They showed the video either before or during the encore...I can't quite remember. It wasn't used in an actual performance.

^ Thank you, guys! :)

Can anyone tell me if the shows are going to be broadcasted and in which channel(s)?

She's performing!

Yep!! She performed Wake me Up and Sayonara ft. SpeXial. What else?

^^ I saw a clip of End roll on twitter

omg!!! she performed End Roll!!

wow, that.s nice. She hasn.t performed this song since 2008.

WHAT?!? End roll?!? OMG

This is the Sayonara performance (horrible quality) https://t.co/nH4WdUzs1w

SpeXial lypsinching for their lives LOL

Hm, her voice isn't really good here.
But at least she's singing live compared to SpeXial, lol.
Yay for End roll!
Love for rare songs!

How did you know that ?

Yeah, this is the clip I was talking about https://twitter.com/kazuya_kitty/sta...31815388991489

Was it broadcasted or something? Because judging by the change of angles it doesn't seem like a fancam?

Yes, it is boradcasted by m-on.
http://www.m-on.jp/a-nation2015/
All 4 dates, but just partially. So we don't know what they show and what not.

It's being broadcasted on FujiTV.

Thanx for the video of End roll ♥

and yes, it's a broadcast... you can see the M-ON logo :)

Hmmm..End Roll sounds promising judging from that short clip.
Both Sayonara and Wake me up sound kinda awful live but its understandable. How does ayu manage to do that chains trick in Wake me up? Its amazing.

Oh, cool, I thought only one date would be broadcasted :D Thanks for the info! I hope someone uploads a decent quality rip eventually, I couldn't handle watching the Sayonara performance because of the lag XD

That's disappointing, but at least they looked hot.

I'm so glad she performed End Roll :)

She performed Movin on without you ! =D

I couldn't tell they were lip syncing cos of the lag etc. But I guess they lip syncing cos they aren't good with japanese?

Movin Movin Movin Movin Movin ... movin forever... :gun

Just got back from Nagai. Everything was amazing. Ayu was also the only artist with wardrobe changes, band introductions and interludes.

Setlist
Opening: Wake me up (remo con rmx)
Wake me up
Movin' on without you
Sayonara
Interlude (don't know which one)
End roll
Step by step
Blue bird
Greatful days
Evolution
July1st

Somehow I feel like I forgot a song though. Looking forward to tomorrow!

What's the chain trick?
I actually quite like Movin' on without you. >.< Ayu's voice sounds good singing it too.
Also, I've kind of missed the feather fans!

I wonder if Timmy's outfit will be the reason of new AHS meltdown. LOL
Set-list from Mixi:
Wake me up
Moving on without you
Sayonara
End roll
Step by Step
Summer medley (BLUE BIRD-glitter-You&Me-greatful days)
evolution
July 1st

I think this setlist is a bit weird but even great.
The only song I would cut is Wake me up.
To promote sixxxxxx a bit more it would be better if she also would perform Summer diary...
And I miss WARNING... i thought it would be in the setlist but nooo .__.

PS: a big YAY for glitter and End roll :D

Again a mix of Wake me up and his remix? I would like to hear the original song once.
The tracklist is great. I wonder which songs she'll change for the next date.

I love her makeup

Will have 3 setlists right?


AND THAT COREO FOR SAYONARA, OMFG, I LOVE IT

That mix works 100 times better live.

Leech now everyone:
http://jpopsuki.eu/torrents.php?id=186557

me too! And her hair omg, it looks gorgeous.

edit: I don't think this has been posted before. Pics of the TA exclusive goods: https://twitter.com/aina_1702/status...525888/photo/1

Guys shu-ya is back... But i don't know its forever or only one date... At least shu ya fans can be have a sweet dream tonight..

Printed versions of her Twitter pics? xD

^those goods are so pointless haha

Sayonara was amazing! *-*

Was hoping she'd perform Summer Diary. Looking forward to the setlist of the next shows!

Hopefully Summer diary will take Sayonara's place for the next shows.

If not...we're gonna have some srs problems :grumpy

I think ayu said that they prepare 3 setlist for the this year a-nation... So i think tomorrow and next week will have different setlist..

is there any DL or OL video available?

I loved the choreography for Sayonara! And so glad she performed End roll, that's one of my favorite songs of hers :yes I wish se could perform Summer diary too.

They're lip syncing because they're horrible singers live. After Sayonara was announced I checked them out. They just can't sing live. Studio is ok.

I think tehre is only a torrent at JPS so far, but it´s the whole broadcast, includes also Kumi, TRF + Bigbang.
I will try to cut and convert when I am finished downloading if noone has done it before^^

Anyone have the performance in MP3 form yet? Thanks!

^ maybe give people a chance to download the video first...

i realised they were lip-synching a second the narration part came on lol to me it was already clear they are not good with live vocals, cuz they don't sound very well in studio either.
though i cannot say Ayu sounded very good either.. A bit off key, but then again i couldn't handle the horrible lag of the video and turned off after the first line she sang so dunno how it went from there.

Wake me up doesn't sounds very good... the mic used were either too loud or she had placed it too far from her mouth that her voice wasn't being recorded... When she uses her regular microphone after, she seems a bit out of breath >___<

After the illusion trick, her microphone is out of control so she must scream to loud up her vocal and it became horrible ... Poor Ayu, so unfortunate !!!

Presumably where her male dancers are on the small circular platform wrapped in chains, the lights go out, and when they come back on the guys have switched places with Ayu and her female dancers, who are now trapped.

She first used it in the Ladies Night performance during AT2006 and again during Wake me up for A BEST Live.

There is what looks to be a tall back pole that the chains are connected to, but it's actually two poles that open from the back so one person can hop out and quickly switch places with another person without having to undo each chain. They usually make a big show of chaining up the dancers during the first half of the performance to show how much time it takes to attach each chain individually to make the "quick change" when the lights go out that more impactful.

From the few seconds of Sayonara and End Roll that i watched her vocals aren't so good, i'm actually worried that with the a-nation dates, the TA tour and the CDL her voice will suffer from too much singing (if that's not already the case), i hope she gets some rest soon.

Her voice got better after End roll and Step by step~

At least she sang live which is great.

Why a-nation artists mostly don't sound all that well in general? lol.

ayu did decently except for some hoops here and there.

I wonder how the setlists will be.

Good thing we get all 3 ayu dates tv recorded this time so we don't miss a thing right? or am I wrong?

^^ Alright, i'll watch the full performance once it gets uploaded so i can see that myself c:

Is every performance broadcasted? Or just a select few?

Maybe I will upload on Youtube in a few hours. Anyone needs Kuu's performances?

Yes, please.

thanks for the links waiting for the upload

That's all~ Hopefully account still available when I wake up lol...