Who knows the answer to my question?

[aruarian_dancer]

I just saw this post over at the fandom created stuff community on LJ about a sale of keychains with chibi version of the character (not her original character, mind you) by a fanartist.

My simple question is "Isn't that illegal?"

I mean, they may not come after you for selling a keychain for $4 a pop here and there, but in principle, to sell a

Comments

[aruarian_dancer]

I know Disney is pretty touchy about it.

[bftly]

Aside from the merchandise created for the purpose of skimming profit from the mangaka - if it was just plainly fanart for non-commercial purposes and for consumption amongst other fans, wouldn't a strict enforcement of the law be impinging on the freedom of expression and other people's artistic freedom? How similar does the artwork have to be to the original for it to qualify as a copyright infringement? I've seen some fanart that is quite far removed from the original mangaka's style etc but it can still be "identified" as fanart through other features. There are also other works that were not intended to be fanart of any particular mangaka but yet due to the generic features and style, the work could still be considered "similar"... so much of the basis of 'infringement' seems somewhat subjective?

[aruarian_dancer]

From what I've researched, a lot of the copyright law falls in the so-called "grey area" (=subjective). Fanart, however, so long as recognizable (so if a fan can see a fanart and know it's a certain character despite different style, etc.)as such-and-such copyrighted character in existance, will be considered a "derivative" work. Freedom of expression (it certainly allows you to create your fanart and share online for example) does not protect you in the case of making derivative works (be it copying/tracing, dupilicating, or fanart) of other people's creations and making money off of it. However, "parody" (another grey area) is allowed according to the law. It seems the lack of enforcement in this particular area is mainly due to impracticality of bringing law suits against small-time violators. Once again, "breaking a law" and "getting caught" being two different things.