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Canon ink DRM: Difference between revisions

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== Overview ==
{{#seo:
DRM (Digital Rights Management) is a practice used by many major printer manufacturers including HP<ref>https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/11/23635168/hp-printer-update-brick-third-party-ink-dynamic-security</ref>, Dymo<ref>https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/02/worst-timeline-printer-company-putting-drm-paper-now</ref>, Lexmark<ref>https://www.vice.com/en/article/hp-remotely-kills-perfectly-good-ink-cartridge-with-drm/</ref> and Canon. The manufacturers include silicon chips as part of the ink cartridges that can identify a cartridge as coming directly from the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) as opposed to an aftermarket (usually much cheaper) alternative. When aftermarket cartridges are inserted, some printers will display a message suggesting the supposed dangers of using non-genuine ink and have in the past outright disabled functionality.<ref>https://www.wired.com/2016/09/hp-printer-drm/</ref>
|description=Canon shipped toner without DRM chips during the 2022 chip shortage, telling customers to bypass authentication warnings.
}}
{{IncidentCargo
|Company=Canon
|StartDate=2021-12
|EndDate=
|Status=Active
|ProductLine=imageRUNNER
|Product=
|ArticleType=Product
|Type=DRM, Third-party
|Description=Canon uses authentication chips in toner cartridges to block third-party use; a chip shortage forced Canon to bypass its own DRM in 2022
}}
During the global semiconductor shortage, [[Canon]] shipped toner cartridges for its business multifunction printers without [[digital rights management|DRM]] authentication chips and published support pages instructing customers to dismiss the resulting counterfeit warnings.<ref name="vice">{{Cite web |last=Gault |first=Matthew |date=11 Jan 2022 |title=Canon Tells Customers to Break Its Printer Cartridge DRM Due to Chip Shortage |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/canon-tells-customers-to-break-its-printer-cartridge-drm-due-to-chip-shortage/ |url-status=live |access-date=26 Mar 2026 |website=Vice |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260221011034/https://www.vice.com/en/article/canon-tells-customers-to-break-its-printer-cartridge-drm-due-to-chip-shortage/ |archive-date=21 Feb 2026}}</ref> Canon's own documentation stated there was "no negative impact on print quality" when using cartridges without the electronic components, an admission that consumer advocates and media outlets noted contradicted the industry's longstanding claims that DRM chips were necessary for quality assurance and device protection.<ref name="canon-de">{{Cite web |title=Interim-Toner: Auswirkungen der Halbleiterknappheit auf die Verbrauchsmaterialien des MFP von Canon |url=https://www.canon.de/support/business/interim-toner/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231231021849/https://www.canon.de/support/business/interim-toner/ |archive-date=31 Dec 2023 |access-date=26 Mar 2026 |website=Canon Deutschland |language=de}}</ref><ref name="vice" /> The incident affected 19 model lines in Canon's imageRUNNER series of enterprise multifunction printers across Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and other markets.<ref name="petapixel">{{Cite web |last=Schneider |first=Jaron |date=9 Jan 2022 |title=Canon Printers Think Canon Ink is Fake Due to Chip Shortage |url=https://petapixel.com/2022/01/09/canon-printers-think-genuine-ink-is-counterfeit-due-to-chip-shortage/ |access-date=26 Mar 2026 |website=PetaPixel}}</ref>


== Incident ==
== Background ==
During the global chip shortage from 2020-2023, Canon faced difficulty obtaining chips used in their printer ink cartridges. This resulted in genuine Canon ink cartridges appearing as if they were aftermarket cartridges when inserted to some Canon printers. A support page<ref>Original: [https://www.canon.de/support/business/interim-toner/ Canon Support - Germany] Archived Dec 31st 2023: [https://web.archive.org/web/20231231021849/https://www.canon.de/support/business/interim-toner/ archive.org]</ref> on the Canon website was created instructing customers to ignore the warning/error messages that appeared as a result, stating this would cause "no negative effects on print quality".


== Aftermath ==
Canon, like other major printer manufacturers including [[HP Inc.|HP]], [[Epson]], and [[Lexmark]], uses authentication chips embedded in its toner and ink cartridges to verify that a cartridge is a genuine Canon product.<ref name="enterprise-times">{{Cite web |date=10 Jan 2022 |title=Chip shortage hit Canon ink cartridges |url=https://www.enterprisetimes.co.uk/2022/01/10/chip-shortage-hit-canon-ink-cartridges/ |access-date=26 Mar 2026 |website=Enterprise Times}}</ref> Canon introduced these chips over a decade ago, stating they were designed to stop counterfeit and grey-market cartridges; however, Canon never provided evidence that third-party cartridges caused damage to printers.<ref name="enterprise-times" /> When a printer polls a cartridge chip and doesn't receive a valid authentication response, it displays warnings about counterfeit or unrecognized consumables and disables toner level tracking.<ref name="vice" />
The publishing of support material directly from Canon instructing customers to ignore the warning against aftermarket print cartridges drew attention on social media and from tech news outlets who considered the practice one that "consumers have long condemned as being anti-competitive"<ref>https://gizmodo.com/printer-cartridge-debacle-forces-canon-to-tell-customer-1848332901</ref> with Vice stating: "as consumers and digital rights activists have been pointing out for ages, Canon essentially admits that its own DRM is absolutely not necessary, writing that “there is no negative impact on print quality when using consumables without electronic components.”<ref>https://www.vice.com/en/article/canon-tells-customers-to-break-its-printer-cartridge-drm-due-to-chip-shortage/</ref>
 
This authentication system also prevents the use of less expensive third-party cartridges.<ref name="gizmodo">{{Cite web |last=Tracy |first=Phillip |date=10 Jan 2022 |title=Printer Cartridge Debacle Forces Canon to Tell Customers How to Break DRM |url=https://gizmodo.com/printer-cartridge-debacle-forces-canon-to-tell-customer-1848332901 |url-status=live |access-date=26 Mar 2026 |website=Gizmodo |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250708172734/https://gizmodo.com/printer-cartridge-debacle-forces-canon-to-tell-customer-1848332901 |archive-date=8 Jul 2025}}</ref> Canon has aggressively protected this revenue stream through litigation: in February 2018, Canon filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission against 49 manufacturers and distributors of third-party toner cartridges and photosensitive drum units, and by February 2023 had secured the removal of 30,263 third-party cartridge listings from Amazon in Europe.<ref name="canon-itc">{{Cite web |date=2 Mar 2018 |title=Canon files toner cartridge-related complaints with U.S. International Trade Commission and in U.S. district courts |url=https://global.canon/en/news/2018/20180302a.html |access-date=26 Mar 2026 |website=Canon Inc.}}</ref><ref name="petapixel-suing">{{Cite web |last=Schneider |first=Jaron |date=7 Feb 2023 |title=Canon Aggressively Removing Amazon Listings and Suing Printer Toner Makers |url=https://petapixel.com/2023/02/07/canon-aggressively-removing-amazon-listings-and-suing-printer-toner-makers/ |access-date=26 Mar 2026 |website=PetaPixel}}</ref>
 
== Chip shortage and DRM bypass ==
 
From mid-December 2021, Canon began shipping toner cartridges without authentication chips for its imageRUNNER and imageRUNNER ADVANCE series of enterprise multifunction printers.<ref name="eejournal">{{Cite web |date=4 Apr 2022 |title=Printer Manufacturers Hoist By Their Own Petard |url=https://www.eejournal.com/article/printer-manufacturers-hoist-by-their-own-petard/ |access-date=26 Mar 2026 |website=EE Journal}}</ref> Canon could manufacture the toner and plastic cartridge housings but could not source the specialized semiconductor chips used for authentication.<ref name="pcmag">{{Cite web |date=11 Jan 2022 |title=Canon Helps Customers Break Toner Cartridge Restrictions |url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/canon-helps-customers-break-toner-cartridge-restrictions |access-date=26 Mar 2026 |website=PCMag}}</ref> The affected consumables were toner products for 19 model lines in the imageRUNNER series; inkjet printer cartridges and standard laser printer toner were not affected.<ref name="canon-de" />
 
The affected models included the imageRUNNER 1435i/1435iF, imageRUNNER 2625i/2630i/2645i, imageRUNNER ADVANCE 4525i through 4551i (including II and III variants), imageRUNNER ADVANCE C-series models from the C250i through C5560i, and several imageRUNNER ADVANCE DX models including the DX 4725i through 4751i and the DX 6000i.<ref name="canon-de" />
 
Without the authentication chip, Canon's own genuine cartridges triggered the same warnings that normally appear when a third-party cartridge is inserted. Toner level displays jumped from 100% to 0% without warning, because the chip that tracks toner levels was absent.<ref name="gizmodo" /> Canon published support pages instructing customers to press "Close," "I Agree," or "OK" depending on their printer model to dismiss the warning and continue printing.<ref name="canon-de" />
 
The issue first gained public attention on January 7, 2022, when a Twitter user flagged Canon's German support page.<ref name="techdirt">{{Cite web |last=Bode |first=Karl |date=11 Jan 2022 |title=Chip Shortage Forces Canon To Issue Workarounds For Its Own Obnoxious DRM |url=https://www.techdirt.com/2022/01/11/chip-shortage-forces-canon-to-issue-workarounds-own-obnoxious-drm/ |access-date=26 Mar 2026 |website=Techdirt}}</ref> Within days, Canon had published support pages across its regional websites in Germany, Europe-wide, Australia, and New Zealand.<ref name="canon-de" /><ref name="itpro">{{Cite web |last=Marzouk |first=Zach |date=10 Jan 2022 |title=Canon to sell chip-free printer cartridges as semiconductor shortage bites |url=https://www.itpro.com/hardware/components/361931/canon-hit-global-chip-shortage |access-date=26 Mar 2026 |website=IT Pro}}</ref> Canon's Australia and New Zealand operations estimated chipless toner cartridges would be supplied in those countries from February 2022 onward.<ref name="itpro" />
 
=== Canon's response ===
 
Canon's official statement attributed the issue to "the ongoing global shortage of semiconductor components" and said the company had chosen to "supply consumable products without the semiconductor component until normal supply resumes."<ref name="vice" /> The statement noted the chips' intended function was to detect remaining toner levels and to confirm that the toner was a genuine Canon product.<ref name="techdirt" />
 
Canon explicitly stated that there was "no negative impact on print quality when using consumables without electronic components," but warned that "certain additional functions, such as the detection of the toner level, may be impaired."<ref name="canon-de" /> The company framed the chipless supply as temporary and indicated it would resume chip-based authentication once semiconductor supply normalized.<ref name="gizmodo" />
 
== Consumer and media reaction ==
 
The media response was widely critical. Gizmodo described the incident as an "embarrassing self-own" in which Canon was instructing customers to bypass "the same erroneous error messages consumers have long condemned as being anti-competitive."<ref name="gizmodo" /> Vice noted that "consumers and digital rights activists have been pointing out for ages" that printer DRM served no quality purpose, and that Canon had now "essentially admits that its own DRM is absolutely not necessary."<ref name="vice" />
 
Techdirt characterized Canon's DRM bypass instructions as ironic, given that Canon had been sued just months earlier for disabling all functions in its multifunction printers when ink ran out.<ref name="techdirt" /> Vice observed that Canon could not credibly resume claiming the chips were needed for print quality after publicly documenting that they weren't.<ref name="vice" />
 
Canon has stated the chipless supply was temporary and resumed chip-based authentication once semiconductor supply normalized. As of 2026, Canon continues to release firmware updates that can reject third-party cartridges.<ref name="enterprise-times" />
 
== Related litigation ==
 
In October 2021, David Leacraft filed a class action lawsuit against Canon USA (''Leacraft v. Canon U.S.A., Inc.'', No. 2:21-cv-05688, E.D.N.Y.) alleging that Canon's PIXMA "all-in-one" printers disabled scanning and faxing when ink cartridges were low or empty, despite those functions not requiring ink.<ref name="classaction">{{Cite web |date=18 Oct 2021 |title=Canon Concealed that 'All-in-One' Printers Can't Scan, Fax When Ink Is Low or Empty, Class Action Claims |url=https://www.classaction.org/blog/canon-concealed-that-all-in-one-printers-cant-scan-fax-when-ink-is-low-or-empty-class-action-claims |access-date=26 Mar 2026 |website=ClassAction.org}}</ref> The complaint named over 20 PIXMA and MAXIFY printer models and alleged violations of New York General Business Law Sections 349-350, breach of express warranty, and unjust enrichment.<ref name="classaction" /> The case was resolved through a private settlement and dismissed with prejudice in early 2023.<ref name="action-intell">{{Cite web |date=16 Nov 2022 |title=Canon to Settle Lawsuit over Printers That Won't Scan with Empty Inkjet Cartridges |url=https://www.action-intell.com/2022/11/16/canon-to-settle-lawsuit-over-printers-that-wont-scan-with-empty-inkjet-cartridges/ |access-date=26 Mar 2026 |website=Actionable Intelligence}}</ref>
 
A second class action with the same allegations, ''Bozyk v. Canon U.S.A., Inc.'' (No. 2:23-cv-06554, E.D.N.Y.), was filed in August 2023 and voluntarily dismissed later that year.<ref name="topclassactions">{{Cite web |date=8 Sep 2023 |title=Canon class action alleges company falsely advertises all-in-one printers |url=https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/electronics/canon-class-action-alleges-company-falsely-advertises-all-in-one-printers/ |access-date=26 Mar 2026 |website=Top Class Actions}}</ref>


== References ==
== References ==
<references />
{{reflist}}
 
[[Category:Canon]]
[[Category:Digital rights management]]
[[Category:Right to repair]]
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