Brother printers causing issues with third party inks

Brother is a printer company that has allowed the use of third-party toner cartridges with their printer devices. Recent firmware updates have changed this practice by displaying an error message when consumers attempt to install their third-party toner that was previously allowed. When using the Brother printer with the toner of their choice, some users report a significant decrease in print quality, functionally disabling the printer unless OEM toner is installed.

Relevant practices

• Post-Sale Function Removal – Firmware updates retroactively remove previously available features, such as automatic color registration, for users using non-OEM toner.
• Vendor lock-in via DRM – Printers continue to function with third-party toner but print at lower quality unless OEM toner is installed.
• Anti-consumer software practices – Firmware updates cannot be easily rolled back, preventing consumers from restoring lost functionality.
• Deceptive practices – Printers do not reject third-party toner but intentionally cause a toner failure, which discourages use of third party toners.

How it works

1. Consumers purchase a Brother laser printer that previously accepted third-party toner.

2. A firmware update (e.g., W1.56) is pushed and does not notify users of any major changes in core functionality.

3. After updating, users report:

• Color registration fails by default, causing misaligned prints.

4. Brother support acknowledges that installing OEM toner will immediately resolve the issue.

• Older firmware versions are removed from Brother’s servers, preventing firmware downgrades that would fix the issue while also allowing consumers to use their preferred toner.

Impact on consumer protection

• Consumers may no longer use the ink provider of their choice without compromising the functionality of their printer.
• Consumers previously able to save money by purchasing third-party toner are now required to purchase OEM toner at a higher cost to maintain printer functionality.
• No prior warning of change in the printer's core functionality had been given before these firmware updates were installed.
• Workarounds tend to involve blocking the firmware updates or attempting downgrading the firmware, both of which Brother actively discourages.

Brother's response

On March 5th 2025, following the publication of a video on the Louis Rossmann YouTube channel, Brother addressed the issue in a response given to Ars Technica and stated the following:

"We are aware of the recent false claims suggesting that a Brother firmware update may have restricted the use of third-party ink cartridges. Please be assured that Brother firmware updates do not block the use of third-party ink in our machines."

They also detailed that:

"Brother printers do not intentionally degrade print quality based on whether a Brother Genuine or non-genuine ink/ toner cartridge is used. Brother cannot verify the quality of printing that will result when using a third-party compatible with a Brother printer."

In their conclusion, they've attributed consumers' confusion and frustration to the following:

"Brother encourages the use of Brother Genuine ink and toner for optimal performance and reliability, and it is standard practice that we perform a Brother Genuine check when troubleshooting a Brother printer. Compatible supplies may range in quality, and in order to verify that a printer is working properly, we like to troubleshoot with Brother Genuine supplies. We believe this check in the process may have led to a misunderstanding[,] but as we confirmed, the firmware update would not be responsible for the degradation of quality or removal of printer features."

User evidence & reports

Hacker News Discussion (2022)

• Users have noticed that Brother's printers do accept third-party toner instead of outright rejection. This leads some to suspect the consequential loss of print quality may be a deliberate act. One user stated:

Brother seems to be apparently accepting the ink, but then purposefully making the print quality poorer.

Reddit reports (r/printers)

• A firmware update on the Brother MFC-3750 disabled automatic color registration when third-party toner was detected.
• A Brother support agent confirmed that installing OEM toner would "fix" the issue instantly, supporting user claims that the printer was being artificially restricted.

GitHub developer investigation

• A project analyzing Brother firmware updates discovered that older firmware versions were removed from Brother’s servers, making it impossible for users to roll back to a working version.
• Another GitHub discussion showed that Brother firmware updates continue to lock out more non-Brother toner cartridges with each update.
• This is similar to HP Dynamic Security, which blocks non-OEM cartridges.

Quality example

Brother HL-L9310CDW 1.69 1.32, before deletion of color registration.

Comparison to other industry decisions

Company	Tactic Used
HP	"Dynamic Security" firmware updates blocking non-OEM ink
Epson	Ink expiration DRM, even when cartridges are full
Canon	Firmware updates that disable scanning when ink is low
Brother	Print degradation for non-OEM toner users

Mitigations available to users

1. Avoid Firmware Updates – Disable auto-updates to prevent forced function removal. This may, however, lead to security risks.
2. Attempt to downgrade – Some users have managed to roll back firmware, though this is becoming increasingly difficult.
3. HL-L9310CDW (with firmware main 1.69, sub 1.31): On the menu of the printer, delete the color registration to improve quality by reducing the misalignment of the individual colors. However, the best solution is to have a configuration option to set the offset individual (X, Y) for each color with the smallest possible increment, perhaps through an external (CUPS) printer driver.