Japanese BL publisher Libre Publishing has posted a notice on its website claiming that Be Beautiful, CPM's yaoi imprint, has been illegally publishing its properties in the U.S. The notice encourages fans to refrain from buying Be Beautiful products.

An English version of the notice is available on Libre's website:

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Bang Gyeong-su, writter of the story for the Korean comic Bbongjjak, has filed a lawsuit against Lee Hyon-se, chairman of the Korean Cartoonists Association. Lee Hyon-se claims that he was the writor for the story of Bbongjjak, but Lee took all the credits for making the comic and went on to make profits off of the work. According to the report, Bang is supported by an association of other comics story writers.

Source: The Hankyoreh

Last month Shogakukan requested a doujinshi artist to cease publication of his work, a doujinshi titled Doraemon - Final Episode. The doujinshi was released at Comiket 69 (Winter 2005). The work was drawn and written so well that many fans thought it was the official conclusion to Doraemon.

Although the doujinshi's author has stopped distributing the work, the Mandarake store in Akihabara has put up a poster that says: "Doraemon - Final Episode for 8,000 yen."

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According to Japan Economic Times, Kadokawa Group Holdings has announced its plan to establish a new content management division, which will handle content copyrights.

From a translation by ANS:

The new company will handle the copyright of about 500 titles, including Tokikake, to start off with. A game unit spin-off will produce the first ever Haruhi Suzumiya video game adaptation as its initial project.

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On March 14th, 11 manga artists filed a 22 million yen lawsuit for "illegally distributing copyrighted works without permission." against the 2 men who operated the manga download site 464.jp.

The website, 464.jp, hosted manga scans that amounted to over 17,000 volumes, including 1,300 titles by nearly 700 authors. In February 2006 the men were arrested and later found guilty of copyright infringement. In June 2006, 464.jp was relaunched as a website that aims to raise new manga artists.

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Sankei Web recently published a multi-part article on the famous anime and manga creator Leiji Matsumoto, who talks about the importance of copyrights. In Part 3, the article sums up its points and discuss what the future holds for both the industry and the consumers.

The Fear of Falling into the Abyss

"Big brother is similar to dad and both are silent /
Wonder if they sometimes drink together"

A line from a classic enka (Japanese ballard) song, "Kitaguni no haru."

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Sankei Web recently published a multi-part article on the famous anime and manga creator Leiji Matsumoto, who talks about the importance of copyrights. In Part 2, Leiji Matsumoto discusses the differences between imitation and creativity.

Battles on Copyright - Mimicry is not Creativity

Matsumoto, who is currently in charge of copyright issues at the Japan Cartoonists Association, is proposing to extend the copyright limit from 50 years to 70 years.

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Sankei Web recently published a multi-part article on the famous anime and manga creator Leiji Matsumoto, who talks about the importance of copyrights. In Part 1, Leiji Matsumoto discusses the pains and burdens a manga creator and his or her family faces, and the importance of copyright protection.

Battles on Copyright - Leiji Matsumoto Talks about Creators' Thoughts

"Creators fall dead in front of the wall of creativity." Veteran manga creator Leiji Matsumoto expresses the "labor pains" of creators in these words.

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A doujinshi titled Doraemon - Final Episode was released at the end of 2005. Since then the work has sold over 15,500 copies and received many praises. However, recently Shogakukan, the copyrights holder of Doraemon, has announced that this doujinshi work is infringing their copyrights, and requested the doujin group to cease publication of their work. Moreover, Shogakukan is also claiming compensation, and even considering prosecution.

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Police Japan has published an article commenting on Leiji Matsumoto's accusation of J-Pop Singer Noriyuki Makihara plagiarizing Galaxy Express 999 lyrics. In the article, Matsumoto was quoted saying both Gundam and Star Wars were inspired by his works.

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