Herald Views

Herald Views: Libre Sending Out C&D Orders to Scanlators


ANN reports that Libre Publishing is sending cease-and-desist letters to scanlators. In particular, Libre’s official statement is that “protecting the authors’ rights goes hand-in-hand with producing their works,” both in Japan and abroad.

Frankly, I’m curious about the coming reactions abroad. After all, fans have claimed for years that Japan didn’t mind their translations, and would gladly cease their work if the Japanese expressed dissatisfaction with the distributions. Well, Japan has reacted. Several times, in fact. And each time, the reaction’s grown more and more virulent and selfish.

It’s definitley good to see that some of the groups are complying and removing their translations from the web. However, I am a bit curious now. Will we see another outcry from the subculture, or will we begin to start seeing an understanding that the “grey area” is becoming more and more black by the day, at this point? I’m leaning toward a mix of both – some people will get it, but we’ll still hear tons of people whining about the “big bad industry” that their free fix has been cut off. The latter group will be obnoxious and childish, as expected. But hey, that makes these situations fun to watch.

After all – what is property protection without a little vitriol and drama?

About the author

Samantha Ferreira

Samantha Ferreira is Anime Herald’s founder and editor-in-chief. A Rhode Island native, Samantha has been an anime fan since 1992, and an active member of the anime press since 2002, when she began working as a reviewer for Anime Dream. She launched Anime Herald in 2010, and continues to oversee its operations to this day. Outside of journalism, Samantha actively studies the history of the North American anime fandom and industry, with a particular focus on the 2000s anime boom and bust. She’s a huge fan of all things Sakura Wars, and maintains series fansite Combat Revue Review when she has free time available. When not in the Anime Herald Discord, Samantha can typically be found on Bluesky.

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