Forum - View topicNEWS: Manga publisher claims US releases are illegal
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AstroNerdBoy
 Posts: 413 Location: Denver, CO |
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I was going to say something similar, but you beat me to the punch. Bankruptcy issues have caused many, many legal fallouts when it comes to copyrights and licensing agreements. Hand Maid Mai still hasn't been able to see its final two OAV episodes released after the distributor in Japan went bankrupt and that was a few years ago now. Since C&D letters are sent by lawyers, I suspect that the Japanese feel they have a strong case against CPM.
Unlike scanlators or fansub groups who clearly have no legal legs to stand on when it comes to C&D letters, BeBeautiful will have their own lawyers examine the C&D letter and examine the original contracts completely before they would take down references to said works on their site (that's assuming the lawyers agree that with the Japanese). If the lawyers disagree with the Japanese, then the titles will remain up and its off to the courts for a lawsuit. Question is, does CPM have the funds to fend off a lawsuit or to re-negotiate a license for higher fees?
It may have been an oversight on CPM's part. They aren't as with it these days in my opinion. I don't believe CPM is doing anything illegal on purpose. As for using this as a tactic to get higher fees from CPM, well Libre could only do that IF they have a legal leg to stand on. If CPM (BeBeautiful) has a license for an entire manga line and it is deemed that they are not in violation of copyright laws (because their license is still valid), then Libre can't do anything. They can scream all they want, but if they don't have a legal leg to stand on, tough. Now, if CPM has licensed the title(s) in segments, that's a different story. Libre could scream and if CPM is not violating copyright law, then CPM gets to keep publishing the titles up to the volume where the license agreement ends. No, the more I think about this, Libre wouldn't be doing any of this without feeling real sure CPM is in violation of copyright law. Once does not send C&D letters just to get more fees. |
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leongsh
 Posts: 181 |
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hahahha... *hurts my gut laughing at the comment* *wipes tear* Ahem... In the real world, if there is a possibility of squeezing more fees/money out of it, a legal action is often pursued. They may even be going on the basis that CPM is on the ropes, so to speak, and thus may not be able to afford a long dragged out legal battle over it. A C&D becomes a legal threat to CPM to negotiate what may have been a legitimate licensing contract to one where more fees are to be paid over what was agreed or else. Until we know what's really in the licensing contract signed by CPM, let's not even try to second guess what's in there. It is an unfortunate turn of events, in any case. |
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LordRobin
Posts: 354 Location: Akron, OH |
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I remember a bunch of years ago, at an Anime Expo, John O'Donnell of CPM was explaining the delay in getting the second half of the Utena series released. He complained that the Japanese had a different sense of what a contract meant. He said that the Japanese had the opinion that a contract should be renegotiated whenever one of the parties is no longer happy. The owners of Utena felt they had signed it away too cheaply and wanted to renegotiate. O'Donnell said they could sue and force them to uphold their end of the arrangement, but it would mean burning bridges. I can't help but wonder if they've gotten themselves into a similar mess.
------RM |
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leongsh
Posts: 181 |
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I do not think that there's anything different from everyone else. The licensors felt that they gave it away too cheaply and just made life difficult for the licensee by wanting to re-negotiate the contract. Just as you can hold others to the contract they signed, you can also hold the Japanese licensors to the contract they signed. However, CPM wanted to have continuing good relations with the licensor and thus, relented. It could be the same here. The successor licensor probably wants more money for the license and they informed CPM about it. CPM probably decided that the money requested is a bit steep. The successor did not want to negotiate downwards and decided to play hardball and go with a C&D. CPM is thus between a rock and a hard place. The successor is not going to release any further material at all to CPM unless its new terms are agreed to irrespective of what the contract says and if CPM fights them to abide with the terms of the contract and to compel release, they would thus burn bridges with a major source of content. Effectively, it's pay more or burn bridges. It's how the real world plays out - if you have the upper hand and/or more money, you can almost always get your way. You want a classic example? I give you the lobby groups and US Congress. I rest my case. |
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CCSYueh
 Posts: 2707 Location: San Diego, CA |
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Yeah, I immediately thought of our own ambulance chasers who take any case hoping the other party's insurance would prefer to settle rather than risk a million dollar pity jury settlement. A slip & fall in a grocery store was worth about $500 a few yrs back. I also figure it has to do with the new company thinking they can milk more money out of the contract. I just don't see it, though. I'm still able to purchase all the Japanese yaoi (as opposed to OEL) they're bringing over. I'm more interested in seeing the rest of Masca from CPM than any of their yaoi titles really. It's sort of stupid if Libre is doing this unless someone else has voiced interest in the titles because everyone else seems quite busy releasing scads of yaoi titles right now. I know I don't see Kizuna as a DMP title. Maybe Drama Queen, but they seem to prefer a bit more hardcore & I just wish they'd stop announcing titles they've licensed & start delivering the stuff I've had pre-ordered but the releases have been rescheduled for a year. Maybe Blu. |
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burzmali
Posts: 143 |
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Well, mailing someone a C&D letter is all well and good as a legal threat, but publishing it and asking people not to buy from them? If the C&D wasn't sent in good faith, CPM could easily turn around and sue for lost revenue, and the bad PR they received from this. |
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Deltakiral
 Posts: 3338 Location: Glendora, CA (Avatar Hei from Darker than BLACK) |
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Yeah but if CPM want to still do business with them, they would have to rework the contract. But since CPM still owns the rights they could do whatever they wanted, i.e. continue releasing the manga as planned, and sue for damages if they wanted too. |
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Beruda
Posts: 114 |
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On the YaoiSuki forums some folks have mentioned that Libre has had problems with other US publishers as well the French and Germans. Apparently Blu has had to renegotiate the contracts on some titles.
I think this c&d is really aimed at the consumer to try and put pressure on CPM. This whole thing smacks of negotiations not going to well between these two companies. I hope things can be worked out. I'd hate to see BB and CPM get bogged down and possibly go under because of some stupid and unnecessary legal battle. I'm not feeling to much love for Libre right now. B. |
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grgspunk
Posts: 136 |
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I definitely smell an extortion attempt on the part of Libre and I'm not liking it.
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Madame Bunni
 Posts: 9 Location: GA, USA |
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Damn...-_-;;
As popular as yaoi is, you'd think at least one yaoi-focused company could try to keep itself out of the crapper...>_> |
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