Sasameki Koto
I talked to Crunchyroll's VP of licensing, Rob Pereyda, and he said that their getting the show at all was the result of TV Tokyo pulling some serious strings-- and the only way that they could get it was to make it for Anime Member subscribers only, and such that each episode will only be available for 30 days. So unlike most of Crunchyroll's anime simulcasts, you've got to have the paid subscription. (You can also earn a subscription by signing up for a bunch of junk to get "CR Bucks.")
It's a shame, of course, that Fairy Tail couldn't be released for everyone-- but then, it's a shame that we can't all just enjoy everything freely and legally and that it doesn't rain gumdrops, too. Pereyda told me to "think of it not as 'sorry free users, too bad for you, you get something less,' but rather as 'hey subscribers, here is a nice bonus for you that came together." He also promised that this is not a trend that Crunchyroll is leaning towards, but rather a concession to get a really cool-lookin' show.
A few other CR updates: Pereyda pointed out that recently a lot of their series have started to be available in Scandinavia, which makes up 8% of their releases now. Miracle Train, for example, is available in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, plus Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and the United Arab Emirates.
Pretty cool moves forward here, in my opinion. But I'm biased-- I'm already a subscribing member.
I'd rather have CR go straight and deliver what anime fans have been wanting for years, then for them to be shut down, or worse, still broadcasting fansubs. Besides, if the anime companies don't mind, who are we to complain?
For any readers unfamiliar, most anime are put together via a committee, consisting of various companies that all front some of the cash and/or the intellectual property being animated. The companies can include voice actor talent agencies, animation studios, distributors, CD labels, etc, and an anime is usually made by a committee of 20-40 of them. Each company is given certain rights by which they can make money off the show. Lantis, a music company, makes money off of the soundtracks; Sony Home Video (or its Japanese equivalent) makes money off of the DVD sales, TV Tokyo makes money off of the advertising when they broadcast it, etc.
As I understand it, in this case TV Tokyo did not actually have the Internet broadcast rights to the show, and were only able to get them to Crunchyroll via a lot of negotiating. No one wants to give up their own rights, but they all want the show to do as well as possible-- it's a tough situation to negotiate between 40 companies @_@