Legality of making fan art

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LoveToLaugh

@LoveToLaugh

Voyager

Posted: 10 years ago

This is not so much a debate topic as something that has often been a source of confusion to me, and something I seek clarification on.

(I'll overlook my signature box 😛)

So yeah, IF is a very graphics-heavy site. If you take a look around, you'll notice that most of the graphics are some or the other form of fan-art. You'll see avatars, siggies, gifs and other transformative works like VMs and fanfictions everywhere. I am sure that all the images, video clips, music clips required to make them are copyrighted. Even if you don't make them for commercial reasons, it would still be copyright infringement.

So is it okay to make them? What bothers me even more is that some people attach their own copyrights to it. Isn't that risky? Yes, the chaces of getting caught is extremely thin but I am not bothered about that. My question is if the copyright owners wanted, could they slap a case against you?

And if they could, then come to think of it, every single meme that circulates the net, the gifs that we associate with tumblr and scoopwhoop, heck even that Sheldon Cooper photo you probably put up as your fb dp would be illegal, right?

Please comment.

Edited by LoveToLaugh - 10 years ago

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Mini

@iMini

Sparkler

+ 3

Posted: 10 years ago

I don't copyright my work because I have used someone else's.It's wrong to copyright such siggies and VMs IMO. It's not wrong to make fan art I believe because it's different from piracy-the original makers don't suffer a loss from what we make as siggies/VMs.

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souro

@souro

Alumni

+ 2

Posted: 10 years ago

I have no idea whether the original copyright holder can slap charges or not, someone with legal knowledge will be in a better position to answer that. But I agree with IMini, that the original maker doesn't suffer any loss because of these avis and siggies, if anything, these avis and siggies are actually helping in promoting those TV serials and making them more popular. However, if the original makers are to launch their own line of avis and siggies (which might sound ridiculous, but just for argument's sake), then obviously these avis and siggies made by fans will be a source of revenue loss for them and they will try to curb them.

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Sevenstreaks

@Sevenstreaks

Trailblazer

+ 42

Posted: 10 years ago

i guess unless u make profit with that ...its safe😊

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Mini

@iMini

Sparkler

+ 3

Posted: 10 years ago

I remember the show CID once used our(Cid forum members') copyrighted siggies ...one of it's makers on our forum got offended😳 because in the show they portrayed the siggies being used by one psycho-girl madly in love with Abhijeet(a character of that show).
So these guys actually can use our siggies without any fear even if they are copyrighted... because any legal action will only backfire😆

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not.here

@not.here

Inactive

Posted: 10 years ago

^No way! That's quite unusual.

The fan artists on forums and here on IF don't copyright the image but how the images are put together, what effects and what textures and texts they have used. This is their copyright - their idea on how everything goes. so that other fans don't take it and flaunt it as their creations and gain praise for something they did not do - making siggies/vm takes a lot of time and patience

Now as for the image itself - everyone clearly knows who the copyright belongs to - for example if it is a harry potter picture then everyone knows that the original copyright holder for harry potter owns that.

If the fans were to make the image themselves e.g. hand drawn cartoons/painting etc then that would be their own because they made that picture themselves even if it was of harry potter . (That's what I think, I am not a lawyer or anything 😆) Again in that case, every one knows who harry potter belongs too but that image belongs to that person.

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not.here

@not.here

Inactive

Posted: 10 years ago

you can always make non fan related stuff from creative common license images or royalty and copyright free images too. people out there take pictures and make stuff for free for people to use without any copyright problems. aren't they nice? 😊

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LoveToLaugh

@LoveToLaugh

Voyager

Posted: 10 years ago

Originally posted by: souro
I have no idea whether the original copyright holder can slap charges or not, someone with legal knowledge will be in a better position to answer that. But I agree with IMini, that the original maker doesn't suffer any loss because of these avis and siggies, if anything, these avis and siggies are actually helping in promoting those TV serials and making them more popular. However, if the original makers are to launch their own line of avis and siggies (which might sound ridiculous, but just for argument's sake), then obviously these avis and siggies made by fans will be a source of revenue loss for them and they will try to curb them.

Personally I don't think anything can stop the original copyright holder from slapping a case if they wish. You just might be in a better position to win the case. 😛

The thought of makers launching their own line of siggies made me laugh out loud. Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen.

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LoveToLaugh

@LoveToLaugh

Voyager

Posted: 10 years ago

Originally posted by: -sevenstreaks-
i guess unless u make profit with that ...its safe😊

I don't think that argument truly holds. Otherwise, all the copyrighted stuff that is commonly shared through say, Torrent wouldn't be illegal, because I don't think people make a profit from sharing and downloading these works. But it is piracy, nonetheless.

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LoveToLaugh

@LoveToLaugh

Voyager

Posted: 10 years ago

#10

Originally posted by: iMini
I remember the show CID once used our(Cid forum members') copyrighted siggies ...one of it's makers on our forum got offended😳 because in the show they portrayed the siggies being used by one psycho-girl madly in love with Abhijeet(a character of that show).
So these guys actually can use our siggies without any fear even if they are copyrighted... because any legal action will only backfire😆

Seriously? That is honestly weird, but using a fan-made siggy without permission and certainly not in the way it was intended to be used, seems to me very wrong too. I do not know where it falls on the legal spectrum, but ethically it seems wrong. At least with fan-art, you know it is fan-art. But in this case the siggy was a part of the storyline and it was definitely commercial use. I don't know.. But I do think the member had a right to get offended.

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Legality of making fan art

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