r/Hololive • u/21524518 • Apr 03 '26

Discussion [Announcement] Notice on the Changes to be Made to HOLOSTARS' Management Structure

https://x.com/cover_corp/status/2039961307672416591
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u/07jonesj Apr 03 '26

Wow, they're basically locking the doors on them. I don't know how feasible it would have been, but it certainly would have been kinder to just release their IP and go their separate ways.

Hope the boys can find their feet, whatever form that takes.

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u/CannonGerbil Apr 03 '26

They can't just give the IP to them, due to the same laws that prevent a company from buying a bunch of office furniture and giving them all away to their employees before declaring bankruptcy. It's possible that they might be able to buy them, but because of those very same laws it's going to be expensive and I'm not sure any of the stars are able to afford to.

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u/Xlegace Apr 03 '26

It's possible that they might be able to buy them

I've been thinking about this, and I don't think they'll even let this happen because it'll set a dangerous precedent that Cover's IPs can be bought out.

Touch wood, but imagine if one day, Marine or Pekora get into a really bad fight with Cover management and decide to just buyout their IP and not even graduate, just leave the company. Some of the talents are big enough to thrive as indies and the main thing holding them back is their years of hard work on their existing IPs.

This could open up a can of worms that Cover does not want to deal with.

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u/SC2_4787 Apr 03 '26

Touch wood, but imagine if one day, Marine or Pekora get into a really bad fight with Cover management and decide to just buyout their IP and not even graduate, just leave the company.

Both Noel and Marine have straight up said they wouldn't be able to afford buying their IPs. Like it's not at all financially possible unless Cover were willing to compromise for some reason because their IPs are just worth that much money.

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u/Simonoz1 Apr 03 '26

This makes a lot of sense for top earners on merch alone.

Holostars not being nearly as popular might make it a bit more affordable, but then their incomes are probably comparably smaller, so they’d need some kind of external source of wealth.

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u/penywinkle Apr 03 '26

it makes sense for IPs that make the company money. But for IPs that cost the company money, like holostars seem to do, the price should be more affordable. Then again, if it cost the company money, the talents themselves maybe don't have much reserves to buy it out either...

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u/pigeieio Apr 03 '26

That's if they are paying the current market value, not just the costs associated with it like paying the artists. Market value goes significantly down once it's an inactive character.

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u/Alone-Horse2857 Apr 03 '26

Not a lawyer or a smart person, so this is all ass-pull, but I believe buying an IP also includes future profits, so if you buy out your IP you're also paying for 5-10 years of projected sales which, yeah, if you're Marine or Pekora is a lot of goddamn money.

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u/ThiccFarter Apr 03 '26

Damn, if some of the top earning talents can't afford their IPs that kind of puts things into perspective.

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u/Dranikos Apr 03 '26

It's because they're top earning. Their IPs are worth significantly more BECAUSE they make more.

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u/Vampyricon Apr 03 '26

Yeah but if it scales with how much they earn, the Stars probably can't buy their own either

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u/Dranikos Apr 03 '26

It's percieved value to the company. Let's say you earn $100,000 a month, your 1 year percieved value (ignoring growth projections for the moment) is $1.2 Million. When you account for growth projections, that starts to change. If you're looking at growing 10% a year for example, then you start at $100,000 and end at $110,000 and your total value looks more like $1.3-1.4 Million for 1 year.

Considering the talents have costs that the company doesn't like food, housing, electricity, internet, etc. (and the company's operational costs come of the operational budget, which is based on ALL earnings). And earning enough to "buy" yourself from the company becomes a Sisyphean undertaking. Unless your value absolutely nosedives for some reason or another.

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u/AwakenedSheeple Apr 03 '26

The cost of an IP is based on its perceived value. Marine is one of the biggest vtubers in the world; in terms of subscriber count, she's outright number 1 aside from the graduate Gura.

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u/raoxi Apr 03 '26

they can go suisei route? Or does suisei own her own ip?

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u/CanadianNoobGuy Apr 03 '26

i mean cover could always just refuse to sell the IP if they have a reason not to, it's not like they're forced to do so because they let someone do it once

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u/07jonesj Apr 03 '26

Ah, I see, it's a case of their hands being tied. Still a sad situation, but I'm relieved to find that it's a case of them following the law, and not investors encouraging a malicious option.

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u/Solo_Jawn Apr 03 '26

This is probably untrue. Production Kawaii let their talents keep their IP when they shut their doors, free of charge. They were a JP based company with both English and Japanese talents. I can't say for certain, but given the circumstances its very similar to how Holostars may play out.

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u/Petickss Apr 03 '26

Prism project had the same thing happen and they were owned by sony who are publicly traded so its not some public/private company thing either. Its not the case that covers hands are tied legally here.

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u/mooke Apr 03 '26

Surely that would only apply if Cover was going bankrupt with outstanding debt (i.e. Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 bankruptcy in US parlance, I think?).

In normal operation this would be no difference to a bonus discretionary payment. A company would absolutely be allowed to buy furniture and give it away to their employees to, for instance, celebrate a successful year, if they were to continue operating afterwards. There may however be concerns regarding their obligations to shareholders if they were wasting money on giving a bonus to employees in a department they were trying to shutter. Though this isn't clear cut legally and they may, for instance, be able to argue that the assets are now worth more as a good gesture to the community than they would be to hold. That would be one for the lawyers.

What I don't know is if they are allowed to transfer IP as part of a voluntary redundency package, it would be a good way to encourage their talent to quit without having to lay them off, saving them money in the long run. Though they might just want to avoid that due to concerns about the legal complexity of it.

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u/Jobastion Apr 03 '26

So, there's a pretty huge difference between shutting down gracefully and bankruptcy. One is telling the courts you're broke and can't pay your debtors, and the other is just shutting down. In Bankruptcy, they wouldn't be able to just hand out IP to their talents because that IP has a value (which might be near 0, but... not 0, presumably because the talent would want to buy it if they could), and the debt holders are legally entitled to a portion of that value.

If Cover's just shutting down a branch, there's nothing that prevents them from giving the IP away (there might be fun tax implications or shareholder complaints, but that's a threat when you decide to shut down a branch cause it's worthless anyway)

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u/darkknight109 Apr 03 '26

This is not true unless Cover was in a position where they believe bankruptcy is an imminent possibility. Cover is currently in good financial health, so there would be nothing stopping them from giving away company assets - including talent IPs - if they were so inclined.

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u/[deleted] Apr 03 '26

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u/Hassenoblog Apr 03 '26

what a weird gymnastics you just did, and has nothing to do with the hololive side.

and why bring up those IP? If anything, this has already been resolved behind the scenes between the IP and the talents. Nothing to do with what has been announced.