Is It Ok to Put Fan Art on Redbubble

Is selling fan art illegal?

Are fan art commissions of copyright characters illegal? The answer is, if you are creating fan fine art whether for turn a profit or not, any copyrighted character or use of trademark in a clarification or title without prior written consent from the copyright owner, then selling fan art is illegal just making fan art is not illegal.

Confused? Then you can thank copyright police.

Keep reading to brand sure you exercise not risk getting sued for millions.

In fine art and constabulary at that place are many ways 1 can translate the significant and accept their chances if they are ever pursued by the copyright owner for illegal fan art.

Continue reading if yous need a deeper understanding of what is fan art, how to get permission to sell fan art, why is selling fan art illegal and the like.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, I have never practiced law and this opinion slice is not to be considered legal advice. If you require professional person legal advice please contact a registered legal practitioner in your city or land who specializes in copyright law.

My first fan art committee as an creative person was as an 8 year onetime. My classmates had paid me in chocolate to draw Marine Male child. An early anime Japanese cartoon from the 1960'south, Marine boy was about a niggling male child who could swim underwater. The drawing had a revival in the 80'due south when I was a kid.

Little did I know, I could have been sued by the copyright owners. Luckily I was only 6 and nobody apart from a few happy classmates knew I did the drawings.

Never did I ask myself "is information technology legal to sell fan art""?

Pssst.. only quickly, if all you want to know is how to get permission to sell fan art and so read my other mail that goes into this topic in more particular – How To Get Permission to Sell Fan Art.

Otherwise, read on!

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What is Fan Art?

Fan art is whatsoever artwork on any medium (digital and physical products) that features characters or scenery not originally invented or created past the artist selling the artwork.

This tin can exist fine art, novels, brusque stories, merchandise featuring well known comic book characters. Fifty-fifty game, flick and drawing characters in new environment or fifty-fifty a complete re-create of a known prototype reworked by the creative person.

Fan Art Commissions accept been around since manner before Betty Boop appeared on the sides of Earth War 2 Bomber aircraft so why the business concern now?

What are Commissions?

In elementary terms, commissions are when someone like a collector, art fan, someone wanting to give someone a gift of art, will seek an creative person out and pay them to specifically create a work of art for them based on their specification.

The creative person and buyer usually negotiate the price and terms such as what art work will be created. Commissioned art is typically a one-off piece and non bachelor for re-sale unless the artist keeps the image rights for prints.

In the case of fan art, a heir-apparent may appoint an creative person to create a unique piece of work of art based on a popular grapheme or scene from a flick, cartoon, popular item, cars etc.

One instance would be when I would receive commissions for musculus cars from popular models and brands.

One twenty-four hour period I received a notice requesting that I have downward my drawings for sale of all my Chevy Camaro's from the 1960's.

I thought these would never exist a trouble, most of the cars I was drawing were from the 1960's and 1970'southward and were function of pop civilisation.

Chevrolet and GM did not brand this request directly, they had hired an agency to track down annihilation for sale online that matched certain keywords.

If they are not licensed and so they demand a take-down for alienation of copyright or confront legal activity.

I did not take this trouble with other GM brands such as Pontiac, Corvette or Holden nor did I accept this problem with Ford.

Why Is Selling Fan Fine art illegal?

The primary effect with selling fan fine art commissions is not only that they are illegal, it is that the creation of fan art can hurt the sales of officially sanctioned and licensed trade.

The illegal part is non paying royalties or request permission.

Some art copyright owners permit a piddling room to motion for fans to create art without demanding anything.

When a copyright image or trademark are used in a way not originally intended then this becomes an consequence.

This could be swapping out words in a trademark with an offensive word simply keeping the same blueprint or portraying a wholesome cartoon character in a non so wholesome mode.

Some sites that let you upload art for sale such as Redbubble via their Fan Art Partner Plan now have an agreement with a certain number of copyright holders to pay a royalty for fan fine art on behalf of the creative person whenever a sale is made.

For more info visit redbubble.com/partner-program

The Legalities of Art and Fan Art

Fine art falls into one, possibly two of the categories of intellectual belongings. Fine art can fall into Copyright as well equally Trademarks. The other two categories which art will typically not autumn into are Trade Secrets and Patents.

Copyright

According to Wiki which has fatigued on principal sources of information: "The copyright law of the The states is intended to encourage the creation of art and culture by rewarding authors and artists with a gear up of exclusive rights. Copyright law grants authors and artists the exclusive correct to make and sell copies of their works, the correct to create derivative works, and the correct to perform or display their works publicly. These exclusive rights are subject field to a time limit, and by and large expire 70 years afterward the author'southward decease. In the United States, any music composed before January one, 1924, is generally considered public domain."

So while an artist is alive or their estate is managing the rights up to lxx years later their death, you have many limits regarding the use of creating fan art. This lxx yr period tin can also be extended, accept the Disney corporation as an instance. If the police force was strictly black and white then will anyone be able to copy Mickey Mouse after the year 2024? Nope!

They will just be able to copy the first version of Mickey Mouse merely not the subsequently versions!

According to this arstechnica.com article; "The expiration of copyrights for characters similar Mickey Mouse and Batman volition raise tricky new legal questions. After 2024, Disney won't have whatsoever copyright protection for Mickey's original incarnation. Merely Disney will nonetheless ain copyrights for afterwards incarnations of the character—and it volition also own Mickey-related trademarks." Which leads us to…

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Trademarks

Once again, according to Wiki which has drawn on primary legal sources of information: "A trademark (also written trade marker or trade-mark) is a blazon of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression which identifies products or services of a item source from those of others, although trademarks used to identify services are usually called service marks.The trademark possessor tin can exist an individual, business organisation organization, or any legal entity. A trademark may be located on a package, a characterization, a voucher, or on the production itself. For the sake of corporate identity, trademarks are oftentimes displayed on company buildings. It is legally recognized every bit a blazon of intellectual property."

What does trademark take to do with art? Well many people will accidently infringe on a trademark when they utilize trademarked words or logos in their description or in their fine art itself. Any logo like a Coke logo used in art is a no-no. The same applies if you use an X-Men logo on the chest of a character you drew.

Using Trademarks In Your Art Titles

Every bit mentioned earlier, ane of the areas where I was targeted was by a bot crawling the internet for specific keywords. The company using the crawler had come beyond my very specific keywords and without checking my art work, sent a demand to take down my art.

If I had non been and so specific well-nigh what brand and model motorcar it was, I am sure I would have not received the accept down notice. At the same time I am sure most buyers would never accept come across my drawings without the proper key words.

While you demand to be specific with your keywords in order to be found, be careful yous are non stepping on trademarks when y'all register a domain or list an particular for sale. The use of a trademark in your URL could even permit the trademark owner to take over your domain!

Fair Apply – Is fan art fair utilize?

There is a doctrine in the Usa and a version of this exists in about parts of the world to protect artists called Fair Employ.

"Off-white utilise is a doctrine in the law of the U.s.a. that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to kickoff acquire permission from the copyright holder."

If you are simply creating Fan Art and non selling Fan Art then you aren't profiting from the sale of copyright images, because you lot are doing them solely to promote your skills and edifice a portfolio and then your work would fall under Fair Utilise.

It's listed below in the official authorities website covering copyright.
https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html

Additionally, there is a code of practice existence put together specifically for artists and is accessible here https://world wide web.collegeart.org/programs/caa-fair-use/best-practices.

Hither is an extract:

..the correct to make fair utilise of copyrighted materials is a key tool for the visual arts customs, although its members may non always cull to take reward of it. They may still seek copyright permissions, for instance, to maintain relationships, to reward someone deemed deserving, or to obtain admission to material needed for their purposes. But, in certain other cases, including those described in the Code, they may choose instead to utilise fair use of copyrighted material in social club to reach their professional goals.

Where the law does sort of side with the artist is when the artists uses copyright material for inspiration or admiration and as long as information technology is not an exact copy, that is, the artist has made a substantial effort to describe inspiration from the artwork and not make a blatant copy then all should be well. The problem is, when you exercise this with fan art, the original fine art yous are wanting to copy will bare very little resemblance to the original.

Many members of the visual arts community employ fair apply in their professional practices and many do so regularly. For case, scholars and their editors employ off-white utilize in the context of analytic writing (for example, in using reproductions of copyrighted artworks and quotations). Teachers rely on it—along with other copyright exceptions—to show images of works being discussed during form sessions, and, even more heavily, to provide relevant images for student use outside grade. In the museum context, fair use may be employed in exhibitions and publications, and in a range of digital and educational projects. Artists may employ fair use to build on preexisting works, engage with contemporary culture, or provide artistic, political, or social commentary. And the entire visual arts community benefits from fair use when it enables enhanced access to archival materials. These are just some of the most common ways in which fair utilise is fundamental to visual arts practise.
https://world wide web.collegeart.org/programs/caa-off-white-use/best-practices

And then where does that go out you or me? Should you accept fan fine art commissions? I'll answer that below.

Should I Gamble Accepting Fan Art Commissions?

Personally, I still accept fan fine art commissions. And I do then knowing there are some risks if I manage to catch the attending of the copyright holders.

In almost cases I will be told to have down my fine art or stop selling it. I normally practise non charge enough to be a financial threat to the copyright holder and unless i'm making a substantial income from it I uncertainty I will ever end up in court. That said, I steer away from litigious copyright owners' works.

I am not advocating that you interruption the law and I am in no way going to be responsible if you lot get sued. I gave my personal opinion and that is my take a chance to have and not yours. Do keep in heed that when I receive a asking to take down an art work from a copyright owner, I do so right abroad.

(Even if you alive exterior of the Us, if the copyright holder is based in the USA or has an international trademark then they can yet pursue you for loss of income or serve a take downward.)

What is the TEACH Deed?

Under the TEACH Deed:

• Instructors or teachers may use a wider range of works in altitude learning environments.

• Students may participate in distance learning sessions from nearly any location.

• Participants savour greater latitude when it comes to storing, copying and digitizing materials.
https://www.copyright.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/CR-Teach-Human activity.pdf

Comply with Requests From Copyright and Trademark Owners

So when (not if but when) you received a notification to take downward any copyright or trademarked fan art, do not believe that you are likewise petty to be sued or smarter than the lawyers of a mega corporation. The effort to fight the asking is not worth it. Only have it downward.

How To Sell Fan Art Legally

There are a few things you can do to sell fan art legally and non fall foul of the police.

Yous can utilize to the copyright possessor for written permission or consent. The chances of this existence granted to a pocket-size operator is very small.
List your fine art for auction on a site such every bit Redbubble, who already take implemented the processes to collect royalties on your behalf for specific copyright owners.
Or and so what I do – I sell fan art in such small numbers that I stay below the radar. twenty years in, nobody has come for coin.
- If you lot do, observe out how to sell prints of your crawly work and see if making prints is worth your while

If you want to larn what to do to go permission to sell fan art then have a look at my other post that goes into this topic in more detail – How To Get Permission to Sell Fan Art

Are collages legal?

As most collages involve pasting images or texts from magazine or books or even images from other artists, this likewise can fall under the watchful legal optics of someone looking to claim theft. In this post, I go over the question – Is collage art legal?