Today, select CDJapan customers checked their inbox to find a very depressing email. Publishing company Avex Pictures (owned by Avex Group) has suddenly decided to place an export ban on Blu-ray, DVD, and CDs. This means that they cannot be sold outside of Japan. Avex Pictures is responsible for publishing a plethora of popular anime including YURI!!! on ICE, ONE PIECE, and Mr. Osomatsu.

Every single online shop in Japan has to abide by these new rules. The restriction begins promptly at 6:00PM (Japan Time UTC+9) on Feburary 15th, 2017. Customer service reps from CDJapan, and other popular online shops including Amazon.jp has said they will try to fulfill as many orders as possible before the deadline. There is currently no explanation from Avex Pictures as to why they are enforcing this new rule.

It is currently unknown if the restriction will also apply to artists and movies published under Avex Pictures. A full list of the anime titles, as well as other media published by Avex Pictures can be seen here.

The full email from CDJapan can be seen below

(screenshot via @yoshi_xtsu on twitter)

Update

It seems this export ban now applies to other subsidiaries of Avex Group, so anything published by Avex will possibly not be able to be shipped overseas. Screenshots can be seen below.

(screenshots courtesy of haretexsora)

Update #2

According to CDJapan this does NOT apply to Avex’s other subsidiaries. As mentioned in the original article, only products published by Avex Pictures will be affected.