The C/FO was at its height between 1985 and 1989 with over three dozen chapters throughout the US. John Renault helped lead the C/FO chapter in Japan and played a key role throughout fansub history due to his ability with Japanese, anime industry contacts, and military background. Renault helped exchange raws from Japan, wrote informative articles about production, translated booklets, introduced military techniques to anime distribution, provided plot synopses that proved invaluable for watching Japanese only anime. Fan distribution through C/FO’s efforts, particularly C/FO Rising Sun, sought to keep anime free but keep anime controlled within the C/FO organization in order to promote Japanese animation. Bootlegging at the time was economically infeasible. However a growing divide in fandom between the "haves" and "have-nots" limited access to anime as a function of who you knew. In 1989 members began to accuse Patten of disloyalty for writing articles for general magazines rather than the perpetually behind schedule C/FO fanzine. However Patten felt that in writing for popular magazines he was furthering their cause to proselytize and promote anime. With no clear succession route left behind after Patten stepped down, the C/FO began to break apart, and eventually ceased to exist as a conglomerate in July 1989.