Last week, Corocoro magazine released a manga tie-in with Sonic X Shadow Generations featuring Shadow The Hedgehog.

As one might expect, full scans of the manga have since started circling online. This has prompted Corocoro to issue a public statement in Japan about the matter. In the statement, Corocoro states that this action is a “violation of copyright” that hurts the manga industry, and asks that fans stop spreading and reposting links to the scanned manga, which could be subject to criminal penalties.

You can read the relevant passage below via Machine Translation:

Manga works can continue to exist thanks to the support of many readers. Even if you do it lightly, posting screenshots of manga on social media or blogs without the permission of the copyright holder is a violation of copyright. If copyright infringement continues, manga artists will not be able to draw new manga.

In order to protect manga, please do not post images without the permission of the copyright holder (except in cases of quotation under copyright law). We also ask for your understanding and cooperation in not reposting malicious posts that infringe copyright or spreading links to them. Please note that copyright infringement may be subject to criminal penalties and/or claims for damages.

While some are supportive of Corocoro’s assessment, others have called the publication out for not making it more accessible to fans. Currently, the manga is only available in Japanese, meaning that English-speaking fans have no way to experience it without resorting to fan-translations derived from the scans.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.