Libre unleashes gamma bomb on Be Beautiful, BL world

Gee, I wanted to take a few days off from blogging, and the manga world explodes.  And no no, this isn’t *just* nuclear… it’s gamma.

Yaoi Suki broke the story that Libre, the company that acquired almost all of bankrupt BL publisher Biblos’ assets, issued a notice on its website accusing CPM/Be Beautiful of copyright infringement, and asking fans not to purchase any of their titles. 

The message in full:

Thank you very much for your continued interest in our publications.
Please note that we also offer copyright licensing service for translations of our own publications to foreign publishers. These are commissioned by each of the cartoonists and authors.

Recently, it has come to our attention that some translations of our publications have been published and some are to be published by Central Park Media (Label: Be Beautiful) in the United States. We wish to make it known that these publications are considered illegal because they have not been authorized by us. It should also be known that the cartoonists and authors are being victimized by this illegal act, and they are very annoyed by it.

We strongly protest this illegal infringement of our property and issuing a strong order for CPM to cease their illegal acts. We also wish our faithful readers to refrain from purchasing, loaning, or sharing any and all of these illegal publications. Thank you.

Libre Publishing Co.,Ltd.

More information and analysis here, here, here, here, and eventually here.

I feel sort of icky speculating on any of this, as there are so many unanswered questions… which books currently published by Be Beautiful, if not all of them, are affected?  If this is a contractual dispute, when did CPM lose those contracts?  Was it when Biblos became bankrupt, or did they never officially have them at all?  If Libre did not know CPM was publishing these books originally, when did they find out?  Was there a representative from Libre at NYCC, where CPM made upbeat announcements on their manga line?

For a Japanese licensor to make such an announcement so publically, and in English too, is quite extraordinary.  I don’t remember anything quite like this ever happening in manga publishing, such embarrassing revelations usually only whispered within the industry, although one can draw parallels between this and the Ken Groove/Nu Tech fiasco from last year.  At first glance, the announcement from Libre appears vague, naming no titles and giving no specific reasons, yet there is still a lot of information that can be gleamed from between the lines.

1. The very first paragraph is practically a call to all North American BL licensees that yes, these books (whichever they are) are up for grabs.  Given just how competitive the NA BL market has become, Libre will have no shortage of suitors.
2. The second paragraph gives the impression that Libre was unaware that Be Beautiful was publishing their books until recently (hence my guess that they learned about it at NYCC.)  That’s not to say Libre and CPM weren’t in negotiation since Biblos’ bankruptcy, but obviously the t’s were not crossed and the i’s were not dotted yet if Libre can make such a claim.  Also significant is the sentence: “It should also be known that the cartoonists and authors are being victimized by this illegal act, and they are very annoyed by it.”
3. The third paragraph may be interpreted as an indirect plea, or perhaps even a threat, to CPM’s distributors… which includes Diamond Comics Distributors and Consortium Book Distribution.

All of this suggest that the issue is not merely one of late or non-payment, but that contracts were never finalized, which makes it far less likely to be resolved quickly and amicably… even if CPM had money to throw at the problem (and all signs point to no), this isn’t the kind of problem that can be hushed away by money alone.  In the meantime, any other BL publisher: DramaQueen, Kitty, Blu, Yaoi Press, Iris, or even a new publisher… could swoop in and build up a solid relationship that CPM/Be Beautiful may have irrevocably destroyed.

Edit: Related discussions at Manga Jouhou and AoD.

Edit 2: The same on Anime News Network forums.

Edit 3: Don’t know how I managed to leave this out in the original posting, but Yaoi Suki was tipped off by the Yamane_Ayano Livejournal Community, where a lively discussion is also taking place.  My apologies.

Edit 4: CPM tells Yaoi Suki: We’re working on it.