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Business Copyright Basics Protecting and Sharing Your Work Don't Worry

Janis Celms
Janis Celms
44,170 Points
Posted by Janis Celms
Janis Celms
44,170 Points

Fan Art

So i want to use Fan Art of famous video game characters (made by me) or even a brand logo fan art (made by me) for my commercial website as design elements. Whats happening here with the copyrights?

And in making fan arts - how close to original can my "interpretation" be and when and where can i use it?

Thank you in advance

4 Answers

Josiah Dawley
Josiah Dawley
9,129 Points

It is my understanding that fan art falls under fair use. However, having it on a commercial website is where you could run into issues. Even if you are not selling the art the copyright owner could say that you are benefiting from their original work(s)' likeness. The old saying, "don't ask for permission, ask for forgiveness" should NOT be applied when dealing with copyrights.

I would get in contact with the company who owns the copyright. Some companies have become more flexible over the years and might be willing to work with you. The worst thing that could happen would be being told you cannot do it -- at least you would then know a definite answer.

Best of luck!

Ken Alger
STAFF
Ken Alger
Treehouse Teacher
Ken Alger
Ken Alger
Treehouse Teacher

Janis;

Copyright law is not something you want to mess around with, especially when it comes to taking on companies with larger legal and financial resources than yourself. If, for example, you wanted to make Fan Art of Nintendo's Mario and they found out about it, the best you could hope for would be a polite "Cease & Desist" letter from their legal department. Worse case, well, how much do you like only being able to afford bread & water?

I would highly recommend discussing your intentions in greater detail with an attorney who specializes in copyright law. I have worked for businesses that have flagrantly disregarded the protections offered by copyrighted material and those businesses are now gone. Similarly I have worked for companies who have, through legal channels, gained permission to use copyrighted material, logos, etc.

The Copyright Basics Course here at Treehouse does a good job of covering the basics, but I still think a discussion with a copyright attorney prior to spending a lot of time on Fan Art will save you a lot of headaches in the long run.

Just my thoughts,

Ken

Jim Withington
Jim Withington
12,025 Points
Jim Withington
Jim Withington
12,025 Points

A lot of this also depends on the country where you live.

Ken Alger
Ken Alger
Treehouse Teacher
Ken Alger
Ken Alger
Treehouse Teacher

Jim;

Absolutely, yes. I would still think that if you start splashing the Nike "Swoosh" symbol around your site, or a reasonable likeness, and the folks at Nike found it, the legal team there would be on you regardless if you were in the US or on a Martian colony.

Again, contact an attorney in your area, better safe than sorry.

Ken

Janis Celms
Janis Celms
44,170 Points
Janis Celms
Janis Celms
44,170 Points

Thank you for answers - i have seen Copyright basics course (great course - i found a lot of info i didn't knew about) and this was question i was still not able to answer to myself after watching it.

I wanted to create eSports themed website that would be relevant across the globe.

Fan art is basically main content in deviantART, there are unofficial fan pages (for games and whatnot) etc. I just want to better understand how all that works globally as my country is irrelevant for what i want to do and even experienced lawyers in my country cant really answer my questions (the ones that might know are wayyyyyy to expensive for me).