[duoikari]

I have a problem and i'm not sure how to deal with it.

I recently created a anime T-shirt for myself, and i posted it on a gallery site called sheezyart and it seems that alot of people are interested in buying the T-shirt if it's made. But since the image on the t-shirt is from the comic, mixed with some other stuff i done to it (see the image below), so i would really love to sell the t-shirt but i am afraid that i will get sued.

The anime and comic itself is licensed in America and will be available soon in the u.k, so i don't know if i would be allowed to sell the t-shirt legally. Or would i have to ask the publishers if i could sell them.

btw T-shirt is below, opinions would be greatly loved ^_^

[art_director]

if it's someone else's art, it's someone else's art. iow, no, you can't just use it legally.

you could take a chance and start selling it. if you get caught you could be in deep fertilizer.

the best and honest thing to do is contact the creator and ask permission. prepare to cough up some scrilla for using their art. it won't be a small charge.

on the other hand, why not create your own from scratch?

[duoikari]

i would do but i am afraid my art isn't good enough for t-shirts yet

But i do understand what you mean, however is it true that if i changed the character somewhat or draw it in my own style it then becomes fan art thus becoming my version of that character.

[art_director]

that all depends upon what changed it means.

iow, it all depends upon what your definition of is is.

[yugyug]

I"m familiar with the character and I'm pretty sure your t-shrt fans are responding to the use of his name, right? So even if you did re-draw t as fan art, it wouldn't make much difference to the copyright situation unless you removed the "L".

[duoikari]

so if i take the L off and redraw it myself it wouldn't conflict with the copyright law?
I was wondering about whether to contact the creater or the publisher. The actual comic where this pic i used was taken from, is liscenced by a company called Viz or Viz media. But it seems that only have the copyright laws to the comic itself and from what i have read i need to contact them, but they say that the creator holds the big trademark, so i don't know whether i would be able to contact him about it.

Since i have used the L and the logo from the comic (which is the death note writting on the back) i would still like to keep them. There is an Scfi and anime convention in may in london where 1,000 of anime and scfi fans come together, so i would love to sell them there. I evern have about 21 people interested in buying

[andi*pandi]

how popular is this cartoon? I've heard of tshirt makers who DIDN'T even use the movie logo or images being sued, if it felt "movie related". So, YMMV.

[yugyug]

Originally Posted by duoikari 

so if i take the L off and redraw it myself it wouldn't conflict with the copyright law?

No it probably still would. I just meant that the use of the characters name was the biggest indication you were infringing copyright.

[duoikari]

ah ok then, thank you all for your help.

I asked my graphics teacher, he's worked for some big companies, and he has advised to contact the creators or the Viz media, but he said they won't let me off light, and will ask for about 1k or around that, or take a certain percent of what i make. But other then that he also said that if i changed 30 % of the character i can make him use it, but that also means no one would buy the t-shirt at all.

how popular is this cartoon? I've heard of tshirt makers who DIDN'T even use the movie logo or images being sued, if it felt "movie related". So, YMMV.

It's very in at the moment, america seems to have discovered it and licensed it as fast as they could, but it's still not been liscensed over here so i will have to contact them and ask them if i can make a deal with them.

I will either agree to give them a percentage or try to sell my ideas to them, at least that's what i am hoping for.

I will however make one for personally use, which according to there laws is fine as long as i don't make a profit on them basically.

[andi*pandi]

Originally Posted by duoikari 

It's very in at the moment, america seems to have discovered it and licensed it as fast as they could, but it's still not been liscensed over here so i will have to contact them and ask them if i can make a deal with them.

hopefully you can sell it to them.

this is an example of art that got a cease and desist, once the product got popular:

http://home.att.net/~the11thhour/swirl-back-sml.jpg

It's nothing like the official logo:

http://files.blog-city.com/files/J05...y_logo_001.jpg

but this chick got hit with a lawsuit anyhow--despite, in this instance, the movie studio asking the fans to create guerilla marketing materials themselves. Once it got popular they bit the fans hands.

watch yourself.

[art_director]

Originally Posted by duoikari 

ah ok then, thank you all for your help.

I asked my graphics teacher, he's worked for some big companies, and he has advised to contact the creators or the Viz media, but he said they won't let me off light, and will ask for about 1k or around that, or take a certain percent of what i make. But other then that he also said that if i changed 30 % of the character i can make him use it, but that also means no one would buy the t-shirt at all.


It's very in at the moment, america seems to have discovered it and licensed it as fast as they could, but it's still not been liscensed over here so i will have to contact them and ask them if i can make a deal with them.

I will either agree to give them a percentage or try to sell my ideas to them, at least that's what i am hoping for.

I will however make one for personally use, which according to there laws is fine as long as i don't make a profit on them basically.

1. it's not your art, whether you change it 5% or 30%. ask your teacher how he would go about convincing a court that you changed the character 30%. without a quantifiable measure you'd lose your rear end in court as well as a substantial sum of money on legal fees in the process.


2. assuming that some role in the design of that shirt was yours and that you didn't swipe the essence of the design, you have talent. WHY in the name of christ are you wasting time and energy nicking someone else's design rather than creating your own? if your teacher were worth his salt he'd have asked you this question long ago.


3. why would the creators / owners want to cut you in on their work / profit? chances are they'd take your design, if interested, and repurpose the idea and cut you out. then as a student, you're fooked because they know you won't have the $ to fight them in court.

the people who created and market that character run a business and part of that business is the brand that is this character. you don't fit into their plans / strategy for that brand. to them you're a snot-nosed kid with a copy of illustrator who just wants to tread on their turf.


4. technically, creating one of these shirts for yourself is not legal -- you do not own the art. plain and simple. that said, it would be a losing proposition for the owners of the art to pursue legal action against you for one swipe.


5. i freelanced my way through college. along the way i asked my instructors for career advice as well as business advice. in both cases i was given miserable direction. today i'm in a good spot profesionally. the instructors i had either are still teaching and receiving low wages for doing so. three of them tried freelancing and fell on their faces. another started a design shop that quickly went under. my point? those who can't, teach. that's an old saying that rings true in my experience.

[duoikari]

errrmmm ok ....thanks for the advise Art director? o.o

Can i also remind you that i don't live in america therfore american law is not applicable to me, there is also no market for anime in england or the majority of europe. So i only really wanted to wider the market more and maybe start a little company for designing. Or at least try and get company interested in my work.

....so thanks...you've just crushed all of my hopes and dreams...i guess as long as i don't listen to my teacher who has worked for microsoft and Lucozade....i'll do well?

[art_director]

Originally Posted by duoikari 

errrmmm ok ....thanks for the advise Art director? o.o

Can i also remind you that i don't live in america therfore american law is not applicable to me, there is also no market for anime in england or the majority of europe. So i only really wanted to wider the market more and maybe start a little company for designing. Or at least try and get company interested in my work.

....so thanks...you've just crushed all of my hopes and dreams...i guess as long as i don't listen to my teacher who has worked for microsoft and Lucozade....i'll do well?

sorry for trying to set you straight. it was inappropriate for me to assume my many years of professional advertising and design experience would be a match for a student. how very wrong of me to assume what i've learned by working on the accounts of multiple mulitnational corporations would, in any way, be more telling of international laws and regulations with respect to copyright.

as for your hopes and dreams, do they include creating your own work or just ripping off / modifying the ideas of others?

any designer worth his / her salt should be able to do create their own, unique work. but then that assumes talent.

[Westbo]

Duoiarki

OK, after reading all of this, let me see if I got this right:

1. You want to copy art work that is most likely owned by someone else. Use it as a tee-shirt design, produce a quantity of tee shirts with this design, selling them and I would expect, make a profit.

2. Whatever copyrights that exist for this art, you feel they are not applicible to you due to where you live. You also feel that since there is "no market for anime in england or the majority of europe", you should rightly be able to pursue your dream to start a design company which includes producing and selling this tee shirt.

3. Base on the feed back here, your hopes and dreams are now "crushed" (A-D you big meany).

Oh please... grow up. The simple fact is you want to profit from using someone else's property and without their permission. Copyright laws aside, no matter how much justification you can conjure up, it is simply stealing. In a world oversaturated with unscrupulous behavior at all levels, it doesn't hurt to have at least some kind of morals and ethics.

Indeed, you would not be the first nor last to rip off someone else's property. It really doesn't matter if it's a "big or little thing"... it's wrong and you know it, otherwise you wouldn't have posted this drivel in the first place.

I don't pretend to be pure of sin – far from it. But, I do have a pretty good idea of what's right and wrong. And when you think it through, you do too.

W2

[art_director]

Originally Posted by Westbo 

Duoiarki

OK, after reading all of this, let me see if I got this right:

1. You want to copy art work that is most likely owned by someone else. Use it as a tee-shirt design, produce a quantity of tee shirts with this design, selling them and I would expect, make a profit.

2. Whatever copyrights that exist for this art, you feel they are not applicible to you due to where you live. You also feel that since there is "no market for anime in england or the majority of europe", you should rightly be able to pursue your dream to start a design company which includes producing and selling this tee shirt.

3. Base on the feed back here, your hopes and dreams are now "crushed" (A-D you big meany).

Oh please... grow up. The simple fact is you want to profit from using someone else's property and without their permission. Copyright laws aside, no matter how much justification you can conjure up, it is simply stealing. In a world oversaturated with unscrupulous behavior at all levels, it doesn't hurt to have at least some kind of morals and ethics.

Indeed, you would not be the first nor last to rip off someone else's property. It really doesn't matter if it's a "big or little thing"... it's wrong and you know it, otherwise you wouldn't have posted this drivel in the first place.

I don't pretend to be pure of sin – far from it. But, I do have a pretty good idea of what's right and wrong. And when you think it through, you do too.

W2

Well said.

[mitchell_pgh]

IMHO, the design you posted is a little thin to start with. I doubt that they would even be able to print it well.

Why not simply come up with your own artwork?

[duoikari]

lol fine you big men you all deal with everything i shall just goback to my graphics course like the good girl i am.

[art_director]

Originally Posted by duoikari 

lol fine you big men you all deal with everything i shall just goback to my graphics course like the good girl i am.

Correction: Like the good sexist girl you are. Nobody ever said so much as one word about your gender.

You obviously don't like people disagreeing with you. That will make you either a miserable failure in this business, a monumental pain in the a55 or a combination of the two.

Oh, and here's a hint: use the Google to lookup international copyright law as it applies to "your design." Once you've learned a few things on the subject come on back and give the users of this forum -- male and female alike -- an apology.

[Westbo]

Originally Posted by duoikari 

lol fine you big men you all deal with everything i shall just goback to my graphics course like the good girl i am.

Great idea... Maybe this time you'll actually learn something.

[art_director]

I didn't pay attention to duoikari's sig until just now. It sums up the chip-on-her-shoulder attitude.

[andi*pandi]

For the record, she's not the only female in the thread, and I don't feel her chip is justified. Honest advice was freely given. Perhaps the friends in school wouldn't be so honest, and be OMG it is TEH AWESOME!, but folks don't come here for lip service.

We're from the Internet. We're here to help.™

[art_director]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

We're from the Internet. We're here to help.™

Brilliant!

[th3ph17]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

We're from the Internet. We're here to help.™

mind if i make a t-shirt out of that?

[Westbo]

Originally Posted by th3ph17 

mind if i make a t-shirt out of that?

[th3ph17]

seriously though, don't take all this the wrong way. this isn't just about what you do for personal projects, clients will ask you to do shady things. They don't want to pay for stock photography and will tell you to remove the watermark, or copyright notice from an image. Bad clients anyways. And it is just best to learn when young what to do, best for you and for your future clients.

if you don't read BoingBoing.net, you may have missed sites like this which track stolen artwork, layouts and IDEAS.

You thought we wouldnt notice...

and really popular right now:

Todd Goldman: Art Thief?

[duoikari]

As i said before i checked with the publisher's copyright laws and if i make one for myself and a friend then it's classed as personally use (besides i created for my ill friend since she loves the anime as well as me). But i was checking around the site today for a contact email, so that i could ask persmission, and i came aross something called a 'image request form', i;m not sure what exactly this means and if it counts for the animation i and doing. link below

VIZ Media . about . faq

[Westbo]

Originally Posted by duoikari 

As i said before i checked with the publisher's copyright laws and if i make one for myself and a friend then it's classed as personally use (besides i created for my ill friend since she loves the anime as well as me). But i was checking around the site today for a contact email, so that i could ask persmission, and i came aross something called a 'image request form', i;m not sure what exactly this means and if it counts for the animation i and doing. link below

VIZ Media . about . faq

For copyright information, go to: http://www.viz.com/copyrights
For terms of use, go to: http://www.viz.com/termsofuse
For information on how to contact VIZ, go to: http://www.viz.com/about/contact

"Image Request Form": It is common for companies that have licensed characters, brands or products (intellectual properties) such as Disney, Nickolodeon and VIZ Media to have an on-line library of downloadable art, images, characters, logotypes, ads, etc., available for use by advertising agencies, promotion and marketing companies or manufacturers (a toy company for example) that have a contract relationship and permission. Access/use is restricted. The primary reason for this is to control use, maintain brand (or product) integrity and identity standards.

[art_director]

Originally Posted by Westbo 

For copyright information, go to: http://www.viz.com/copyrights
For terms of use, go to: http://www.viz.com/termsofuse
For information on how to contact VIZ, go to: http://www.viz.com/about/contact

"Image Request Form": It is common for companies that have licensed characters, brands or products (intellectual properties) such as Disney, Nickolodeon and VIZ Media to have an on-line library of downloadable art, images, characters, logotypes, ads, etc., available for use by advertising agencies, promotion and marketing companies or manufacturers (a toy company for example) that have a contract relationship and permission. Access/use is restricted. The primary reason for this is to control use, maintain brand (or product) integrity and identity standards.

In addition, any use of such characters is almost always subject to internal brand police review. Any use outside established guidelines will be rejected.

For example, say you want to print the Speedy Gonzales on a condom. The brand police would undoubtedly deny you usage rights.

[Westbo]

Originally Posted by art_director 

In addition, any use of such characters is almost always subject to internal brand police review. Any use outside established guidelines will be rejected.

For example, say you want to print the Speedy Gonzales on a condom. The brand police would undoubtedly deny you usage rights.

Amen to that... Hanna Barbera were/are absolute Nazis.

[art_director]

No doubt.

Ever worked with the WB Looney Toons art? I once did for a co-branded project. They have the library well organized and easy to use but the rules are mind numbing. I avoid projects with such constraints. Too much pain.

[Westbo]

Originally Posted by art_director 

No doubt.

Ever worked with the WB Looney Toons art? I once did for a co-branded project. They have the library well organized and easy to use but the rules are mind numbing. I avoid projects with such constraints. Too much pain.

No A-D, I didn't have the pleasure of working with WB and I'm sure looney isn't the real word to describe them.

Years ago, a friend's uncle painted a couple (and I mean two) cartoon characters on a kiddie ride at a small local fun park to dress them up. He received a cease and desist letter from Disney. The renderings were of a duck in a sailor outfit... those guys are everywhere.

[art_director]

Originally Posted by Westbo 

No A-D, I didn't have the pleasure of working with WB and I'm sure looney isn't the real word to describe them.

Years ago, a friend's uncle painted a couple (and I mean two) cartoon characters on a kiddie ride at a small local fun park to dress them up. He received a cease and desist letter from Disney. The renderings were of a duck in a sailor outfit... those guys are everywhere.

Yes, they are everywhere.

A friend freelanced at Disney some years back. At the time the name used by contractors to describe the company was 'Mouseschwitz.' If that is any indication of the working conditions I'll be steering clear of Mickey's house.

[craazyhamster]

Yes the best is to create orignal artworks, it may be hard to rise at the start, but in the end, if you succeed, you have just created a BRAND. Get what I mean?

[jools]

Brand & Identity are everything - if your brand value is being diluted by others then surely your brand value will be reduced? Working with a specific sci-fi-focused media company, our designers are constantly having to ensure they meet brand expectations - in the long run we will both benefit.