# Copyrighted Characters and Commissions



## Snickers (Aug 23, 2008)

Iv seen people who have commissioned others for copyrighted characters like from mickey mouse and such...
Yet iv seen another person state in their commission bid that paying for commissioned characters is illegal and such, breaks the law.
So, ...if someone commissions me to do copyrighted characters, what do I do? o.0


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## Anbessa (Aug 24, 2008)

if I understood US laws right, characters are not realyl copyrighted unless spcifically registered. a cathegory into which Disney's characters, those used by large comic companies and those from movies, games and animated's which are supposed to sell merchandise would fall into. since these companies have money, one shouldn't use them. at least not to make money from them. some companies doesn't seem to mind, though...
I don't feel well using characters some other artists. no matter which genre, originally came up with without explicit permission. it's something like abuse, although eventually not really illegal... it shouldn't be done, is all.
if an artis approach me for a treade or comission, that's fine with me. if a third party comes with such a request, I usually decline, unless I have the means to ask said character owner; but that's a rarity, anyway.

to answer your question, be careful which characters you use. most game companies seem not to mind, seeing fan-art as cheap advertising. but Paramount pictures is infamous for sueing fan writers for using their copyrighted names and such. I don't know about Disney, but judging by the legion of TLK fanart I'd say it is rather safe.
if you are unsure, send 'em elsewhere, I'd say.


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## M. LeRenard (Aug 24, 2008)

I'm looking over the law (because holy cow am I bored right now), and these are the things that seem to indicate that it's not okay:


> Subject to sections 107 through 122, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:
> 
> (1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;
> 
> (2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;


In other words, only the copyright owner is allowed to make artwork of the copyrighted material and distribute that artwork (I'm assuming derivative works would include artwork based on a copyrighted character, though I couldn't see that specified anywhere).  There are stipulations, of course, under Fair Use, but one of the considerations is:


> (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.


So in other words, it is technically possible that someone might think your selling of cheaper artwork of a copyrighted character would affect the marketability of that character (because people tend to go for the cheaper alternative).

I'm not a law expert, by any means, but that's how I'm interpreting it.  You can always browse http://www.copyright.gov if you want to look it over yourself.  It sounds like you'd be walking a fine legal line, though.  I don't do it myself for that reason.


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## Nylak (Aug 25, 2008)

Don't do it.  >_>  Ever hear of the daycare center (or whatever) that Disney shut down because they had painted the Mickey Mouse cast of characters on their walls?  Scary shit, man.  XD

But yeah, as Renard said, bad idea, illegal stuff.  People still _do_ it, it's just....not a good idea.  >_>;  Are you going to get sued?  Pff, hell no.  Should you do it anyway?  Eh, probably not.  X3  If only out of respect for the creators.


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## Kattywampus (Aug 27, 2008)

Play it safe; don't F with Disney.  Trust me.


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## Beastcub (Aug 27, 2008)

with drawings its hard to get around copyright

i think "inspired by" is okay AKA a green lion whoes style is similar to (not exact to ) the lion king

fursuiters fear making cosplay fursuits for the same reason, and even i will only make the costume if the character is really generic looking (like kiba from wolves rain as he is just a plain realistic white wolf) 

stay away from US characters, but from what i understand the japanese do not mind and even maybe encourage fan work of anime and video games and i have heard that even "fanfiction mangas" are published and sold to the puplic (key word "have heard" i have not confirmed this)


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## pretty-omi (Aug 27, 2008)

Beastcub said:


> i have heard that even "fanfiction mangas" are published and sold to the puplic (key word "have heard" i have not confirmed this)



Isn't that what a doujinshi would be considered? Those are always huge sellers at cons, and they are fan-made published comics


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## Werewolfhero (Aug 27, 2008)

I think as long the "Fan art" is free there shouldnt be any issue. Look at how much fanart there is of any anime/video game plastered all over the internet. For the most part fanart probably helps to sell games and anime merchandise since its basically free advertising for them X'D .

Its when the non-official artists draw/sell the fanart for money is when i think the legality of it comes into play since I seriously doubt the artist doing the fanart is going to share the commission profits with the company that licences the characters / anime / manga /videogames or what have you.


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## Quiet269 (Aug 28, 2008)

From what I can find online it appears that you cannot sell reproductions of copyright work, and you can not expressly state that you are offering drawings of say simba from TLK, but you can do fan drawings of the work under the Fair use or Derivative work heading. This could also be considered a parody of the original work, which would not be copyrighted. You could not, however, claim ownership over the characters you drew.

This is a slippery slope though, so if you are not ok with it, don't do it. Not so much for fear of them actually filing against you, but simply because you do not want the added stress of always thinking about it.

links:
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wwp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_art
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derivative_work
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parody


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