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08-22-2009, 02:25 AM | #1 |
Cobra Medic
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Williamsport, PA
Posts: 990
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Hi everyone! I have a question I would like to ask any and all tankers here concerning copyrights, patents, and rights to properties. My question is so...Okay there are quite a few artists on here in different mediums. We've got the 2D artsits, and the 3D artists being the figure customizers. I have already seen many, many, custom figures being sold at places primarily like e-bay. I have seen everything from repaints of Duke, Resolute Zartan, SE's, etc. to original characters being sold. Obviously, this is legal to do so as there are so many custom figures for sale. So then, is it also legal to sell artwork in the same manner then?
I apologize if this topic has been brought up before or the answers are somwhere else, but if anyone willing would point me in the right direction it would be most helpful. Thanks guys!!
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08-22-2009, 02:37 AM | #2 |
Cobra Medic
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Williamsport, PA
Posts: 990
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Nobody to help a fellow out? Not even with wity sarcasm?
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Want to own one of my custom figures? Follow the link!! http://www.ebay.com/sch/stronox117/m...p2047675.l2562 To see more of my work... https://www.facebook.com/StronoxCust..._type=bookmark |
08-22-2009, 02:39 AM | #3 |
The Chaos Bringer
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Skid Row Yo!!!
Posts: 2,506
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Fan art is legal to sell, as long as it is made clear in the auction that it is original art and not something traced or reproduced from existing art. There are tons of Comic book artists who do "fan art" of mainstream characters that they themselves may not have the rights to, and still charge money for this. For example I purchased an awesome lithograph of Storm and Rogue, in Savage Land bikinis with spears, and a T-Rex in the distance. This artist had no affiliation with Marvel what so ever. However, if you take existing art out there and try to sell it as your own that is illegal.
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08-22-2009, 02:41 AM | #4 |
Cobra Medic
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Williamsport, PA
Posts: 990
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Thank you for the clarification. I can now settle this debate with my friends...
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Want to own one of my custom figures? Follow the link!! http://www.ebay.com/sch/stronox117/m...p2047675.l2562 To see more of my work... https://www.facebook.com/StronoxCust..._type=bookmark |
08-22-2009, 04:27 PM | #5 |
EQ-Viper
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 4,343
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It's actually not so clear-cut. From a technical standpoint, selling art (even so-called "original art") featuring characters, logos and brands copyrighted and/or trademarked by somebody else is in breach of intellectual property law.
Most major publishers and property holders let it slide, though, as prosecuting every artist out there who sells fan art is more trouble than it's worth and can potentially backfire as bad publicity: I remember a case many years ago when Disney filed a million-dollar lawsuit against a small daycare center for painting their playroom with Disney characters and forced the daycare directors to paint over the walls. There was such a public outcry against Disney that they backed off of the lawsuit and even sent their own artists to repaint new Disney figures on the walls. In the case of professional comic book artists who sell art featuring characters they have no rights to, they have stipulations in their contract detailing what they can and can't sell. Back in the day, most any penciler could take the pages he drew for a comic book and put them on sale for a neat sum of money. These days, it's a case-to-case basis depending on an artist's contract (some are allowed to sell anything, some have to pay a certain percentage to the publisher past a certain net profit, etc.) or if he/she isn't currently under contract with a given publisher, it depends on his/her standing with a particular publisher or company (if they acknowledge him/her at all). The general rule of thumb is, if you don't really attract that much attention and if you're a relatively minor artist who makes just a little commission money on the side with fan art sales, the big dogs in all likelihood won't go after you, it's just not worth their time, effort, money, and PR points. If you're a registered business (such as a professional art studio) selling depictions of copyrighted characters, you're probably going to get a cease-and-desist letter, if not an outright lawsuit filed against you if your work and profit margin is significant enough to get noticed by a property holder's legal team. But technically speaking, even if you're just an amateur artist or a "small-time" professional artist, you don't really have a legal leg to stand on if a copyright/trademark holder decides to file suit against you for selling fan art featuring their characters (unless you're doing it for the purpose of parody or research, which is protected under free speech/fair use laws, but proving that you've done an art piece as a parody/in pursuit of research is a whole other legal matter altogether). In any event, it's always better to consult a copyright lawyer before going into any fan art merchandising venture and to check with companies to see what their policy is towards the sale of fan art based on their characters. Last edited by zuludelta; 08-22-2009 at 05:12 PM.. |
08-22-2009, 04:39 PM | #6 |
Banned
Join Date: May 2008
Location: On break
Posts: 4,659
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Blaster is incorrect (sorry Blaster) and Zulu is 100% on target.
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