copyright question

I am not familiar wit the US right..

So let's imagine I want to use some characters that weren't originally created by me in the manga for example.

Do you think a simple mention : characterX belongs to X and has been used with his/her permission can do the trick ?

Or would I need to ask the creator of the character if they are willing to somehow concede rights on them ?

I have not really thought about that so far.. now I see it can be a very tricky issue ^^;

It depends.

Baised on the Fair Use rights, you're free to use things belonging to another character so long as you credit who the owner is so long as it's not for anything designed to make money.

However, if the owner gives permission to use their character, it shouldn't be an issue.

I did some research the day I brought this issue up with you. Now, I'm not ENTIRELY certain, but I'm reasonably assured that what Flare says is true. So long as you put a disclaimer crediting the creator, then the creator should be able to, say, use that character in their own published works without breaking any laws.


Also, just a thought.... if you do use other people's characters, think it'd be cool if you drew them as a little chibi inside a trademark circle crediting the owner? You know, like how on the backs of Godzilla movies, they always have little monsters in circles illustrating who's copyrighted to Toho. XP

I would assume that, if you get permission, and credit the original owner, that would be enough. After all, if they know where and how you're going to be using their character, and they agree to it...

i would say that you have to get a written permission (like an e-mail) from the creator just to be sure there won't be any trouble^^'

You can find fanart and fanfics from many series and films all over the Internet, I doubt every one of them was done by someone with written permission from the original creator. Adding the Copyright to it would be required, asking them is mostly polite.

Well, yes, for fanfic, which is non-profit it's probably a bit more lax. But written permission would be advisable if this is for something like the manga, which generates income.

Jætte_Troll wrote:

Well, yes, for fanfic, which is non-profit it's probably a bit more lax. But written permission would be advisable if this is for something like the manga, which generates income.

I agree with that

Ok thank you for your answers everyone ^_^

um I feel this will be compiicated lol

Karbo wrote:

Ok thank you for your answers everyone ^_^

um I feel this will be compiicated lol

Until it's not for commercial or professional use and it stays in amateurism domain it's ok however it's important to be careful when money it's involve.

which is the case here ^^;

It kinda depend on how much you trust the person your borrowing the character from.

If you trust them not to go back on their word, then just getting permission should be enough.

Otherwise I'd recommend against it.

A formal request to use their character via email or some other kind of medium like that would probably be sufficient, but i dont really know US copyright lol .-.;

I agree with the others. I would attain their permission first before attempting to use their characters. It's kinda like how someone will usually ask you permission before they make a story with Crisis or Anna.

I'm not really familiarised with all those Copyright things, but well, like the others said , yes, If it's for comercial use (the manga ), I guess that just credit their character won't be enough, and you will have to try to send a mail to the "owner/s" and explain the situation, then just hope he/they will accept
...
(I wonder who you are going to use )

I agree Atlas. We are missing a golden chance at mindless speculation! Who could this mysterious character be?

My guess, Boba Fett. Because no one messes with the Fett man. EVER.

I'm not sure how Karbo would go around to convincing George Lucas... unless he's a closet voreaphile... and is hiding on these very boards in disguise...

There was Felarya-style vore in Star Wars; that big sand-thing. Lucas must have known about it, but didn't exactly go to great lengths to remove it. So I doubt vore would be a problem.

GREGOLE wrote:

Also, just a thought.... if you do use other people's characters, think it'd be cool if you drew them as a little chibi inside a trademark circle crediting the owner? You know, like how on the backs of Godzilla movies, they always have little monsters in circles illustrating who's copyrighted to Toho. XP

In regards to the character in a cricle thing, I like it!

I'm sure that Karbo would have to do a different spin on it though, especially Toho's sensitivity to how similar things can get to their characters/logos/other copyrighted materials. I suggest that Karbo go with the little-faces-in circles thing seen in his Felarya map (with some slight modifications of course)!

On Toho's end, I have mixed feelings:

Good - Protecting the brand so that Godzilla doesn't fall to "public domain" status (this will avoid more of these: http://tohokingdom.com/movies/godzilla_us.htm

We don't need anything like THAT again!

Bad - Their lawyers (especially in the USA) can be real assholes and hunt down fans that are hardly a threat to the fandom. If they politely asked to cease the run of fan materials, that may be okay. If Toho didn't want my fanwork online, and they asked me politely, I would gladly oblige.

Sorry to go off topic there, I just get carried away sometimes!

As for other peoples characters, if they submitted them to Felarya and wanted them to be a part of the official Felarya universe, I think they should give Karbo the right, as long as he includes their names in some kind of credit in the manga/whatever like "the characters *insert character names* belong to *insert creator names*". Or maybe (especially since most of the characters have backstories written by the creators) they could recieve writing credit.

With Karbo, I'm sure that he'll give the creators credit for their work!

will you stop making every single comment about Godzilla? You're getting worse than the La-Mulana guy...

Sorry!

Perhaps that was a bit harsh, sorry...

FalconJudge wrote:

Perhaps that was a bit harsh, sorry...

Thats okay, as I said, there are times when I need to be reminded to take a step back on this subject.

No feelings hurt!

Godzilla would kick the entire Felarya population's ass. No one is debating this. =P You don't need to remind us all the time.




Besides, everyone knows Toho's lawyers are born, raised and educated in the deepest circles of Hell. =P

I think that I would at least cover myself, and have something in writing from people whose characters you are using saying that they grant you permission to use their writing, spelling out if they will or will not be compensated and how they will be credited for their work. That way, if anyone does ask, you have something you can produce that says that author or illustrator authorized the use of their character.

My wife has a pretty extensive knowledge of copyright law, and the mother of one of my friends is a civil lawyer (although I don't think she has much experience in intellectual property law.) I'll ask both for details when I get a chance.