CPM/Be Beautiful Titles Illegal?
Posted in Manga News on March 21, 2007 by JohannaVia MangaBlog comes news of a potential licensing scandal.
MangaCast has the details. In short, Japanese publisher Libre (which puts out BL, or boys’ love, manga) is claiming that the books of theirs translated and published by Central Park Media’s Be Beautiful line are unauthorized and thus illegal. They’re calling for a boycott.
Speculation ensues that CPM licensed the titles from previous publisher Biblos but didn’t renegotiate when that company went under, or maybe Libre’s trying to pressure CPM for better deals. For a Japanese company to put out that notice in English, though, suggests things are pretty serious.
Dirk Deppey sent a request for comment to CPM and got back the terse “We do not comment publicly on licensor issues.” Not a good way to quell speculation, that.
Simon at Icarus Publishing has a good roundup based on questions not yet answered — shame his site isn’t safe for work due to background images.
Similar Posts: More on CPM’s Licensing Struggles § Retailer Reacts to Viz Exclusive § Manga Review Copy Cutbacks § Early Morning LinkBlogging § Moresukine
03/21/2007 at 8:28 pm
Dirk Deppey sent a request for comment to CPM and got back the terse “We do not comment publicly on licensor issues.”
Which I bemusedly contrast with Jordan Marks’ coverage of CPM/Be Beautiful from last fall’s Yaoi Con. At one point, Marks’ asks about on CPM’s lack of communication to fans during their crisis of 2006, leading to this:
John O’Donnell said that he doesn’t “use corporate speak”. He likes to just tell things as they are. He has no intention of keeping any information secret. He re-iterated that they get too much email to reply to and that the way to reach them is by phone.
Oh, well…
03/29/2007 at 4:37 pm
[...] Several sites have been following up on the licensing dispute between CPM and Japanese publisher Libre in which Libre claimed CPM’s translated editions were illegal and asked fans not to buy [...]