very well done summary! i think one thing that does need to be pointed out in the AX situation is that this was for artists selling in exhibitors and /not/ the artist alley, artist alley is usually the gray area most companies and license holders will look the other way, but the exhibitor spaces are the hard line usually, it was the same for anime central
Agree! Should definitely have added to the video but I hope most people also understand that this is a bigger discussion, with AX and Viz media only being the most recent example! (Definitely depends on country, IP holder, venue, AA or Vendor agreements etc.) Thank you for adding to this ❤️
@@thebunbunshop oh absolutely! it's more a note than anything, the rest of the video definitely gets that across well! Even with AA being a grey area it's scary to think that it just takes one strict license holder/company could decide at any time to not look the other way 😔
Helluuuuu guys! I’m back with a cute new format where I talk about recent and interesting news in the art and small business community! Let me know how you like it and what we should call it? 🤔 Dokomi Vlog will be coming this Friday (sorry it took so long, I was tired)
I think it's a bit misleading about the situation. The contract for vending in the exhibitor's explicitly says no fanart/unlicensed merch that those artists agreed to when choosing to table within the exhibitor's hall, so it's not like they should have been unaware of this requirement. I heard from a few artists who regularly sell via AX Exhibitor's hall that they check to see which IP holders will be present that year and avoid fanart from those in attendance (which still is breaking the rules but I guess they're being smarter about it?) No one in the artist alley was handed a warning from Viz. There was no such rule for the AA and I verified with a number of artists I knew who were at AX AA this year to confirm. I expect that in the future more of the bigger cons will go this way (turning a blind eye to AA and keeping exhibitor's hall to licensed only items)
Already address and mentioned under pinned comment. (Copy/Paste from original comment: Agree! Should definitely have added to the video but I hope most people also understand that this is a bigger discussion, with AX and Viz media only being the most recent example! (Definitely depends on country, IP holder, venue, AA or Vendor agreements etc.) Thank you for adding to this ❤️)
They can do what some stores do for expensive merch. You know how some places have placeholder cards for merch and you're supposed to take them up front to get the real item? - The booth will have original art, however they're are just placeholders for the real fanart. Each one has a number on it corresponding to the catalog on the table of merch available. So no real fanart is displayed up front. - The customer purchases the original item, but they're really getting the fanart version, but its concealed in a bag or sleeve. The placeholder item is given back to the vendor to display again. Alternatively, the customer can have the fanart mailed to their home by purchasing a placeholder number/confirmation number at the booth. The shipping will be included in the price.
Great, concise video! It's so interesting how many people are still quite naive about this topic and think due to the "grey area" they are totally okay to sell fanart. Don't get me wrong, I am mostly in favour of and support fanartists, but you can tell that many still assume a lot falls under "fair use", when it just... doesn't. |D (Although the same can be said about many other things like tax stuff etc. when selling at conventions, but oh well.) My point is: Everyone should do proper research and then decide for themselves if they want to take the risk. Just relying on "everybody does it" is not enough.
Ok imma need a response from the audience If you go to an anime convention or a certain expo Are you actually bothered by people selling art and merch of the anime and things you enjoy or is that the thing you actually enjoy while there? For me killing fan art is in part killing the convention. The difference between me owning a character and someone else selling it is if the other person says it’s their character, not their fan art of my character THEN there is an issue.
I’ve definitely seen A LOT of different takes on this over the years and yes, there are actually people and artists who really dislike other artists for selling fanart. I don’t know how this comes together though because I think most of us, in this space, started out by drawing fanart. Sometimes it feels like it’s young people who get jealous of another artist doing better then them, sometimes it’s because “fanart sells better than original art and that feels like cheating”, sometimes it’s “this is illegal, so I’ll report you”… I’ve seen it all. I think it’s sad when ppl go after others in their own community. I think there is space for all of us and we’d all do good by staying in our own lane. Idk, I personally don’t buy fanart (but that’s because I don’t know a lot of the newer stuff e.g. Genshin, JJK, etc) but I think fanart is fun and I love how different artists express themselves and what fun products they come up with!
In my opinion it doesn’t matter who owns the character. It should be about who made the piece that’s being sold. If you put in the time and effort to make the drawing then you should be able to sell it, period. If someone made and sold fan art of my own character I would be happy or just indifferent
The point is not whether an artist making fanart is taking from the COMPANY (and I think you're conflating the term license-holder with the company that owns the IP). By selling your own non-licensed merchandise you are potentially encroaching on a market that someone who went through the proper process to become a LICENSE-HOLDER occupies. Like, for example somebody scored an exclusive license to make Naruto T-shirts. Someone selling their own T-shirts with fan-art would be stealing sales from THEM. Some license-holders are small businesses. You're not stealing from large companies you're stealing from others who did the right thing to get permission. And making their effort to do it properly meaningless if there is no difference.
If it weren't for fanart artists at conventions, I would have exactly zero small merchandise of my favorite characters or fandoms, because the companies simply don't care enough to provide proper products or sell them only in China and Japan (so out of reasonable reach for anyone else, unless your pockets are deep). None of the fanart I brought at my last convention would be available from the original companies. No prints, no keychains, no pins. And lets not kid ourselves here: There is no way any "small business" would be able to afford a popular license, if they would even be able to get it in the first place... and could still make the art like they want them to, because their creative freedom would be heavily restricted.
If artists could, they'd rather get a license. It would be much less stressful for them. But the truth is, it's very hard to get, and particularly costly. What's more, this type of license isn't designed for individuals selling on a small scale, but rather for large corporations. Often, companies that own licenses are not comparable to artists. You'll see that the majority of companies that own licenses are companies like Funko pop for example and who can promise a substantial number of sales. To get a license, you have to prove that you can sell a lot, which an artist can't, because sales can fluctuate enormously and, in general, none of them do mass production.
Or you are not stealing from anyone and just making a better product. The only one who loses in this scenario is the licensing holders. Why don’t companies just make better product.
very well done summary! i think one thing that does need to be pointed out in the AX situation is that this was for artists selling in exhibitors and /not/ the artist alley, artist alley is usually the gray area most companies and license holders will look the other way, but the exhibitor spaces are the hard line usually, it was the same for anime central
Agree! Should definitely have added to the video but I hope most people also understand that this is a bigger discussion, with AX and Viz media only being the most recent example!
(Definitely depends on country, IP holder, venue, AA or Vendor agreements etc.)
Thank you for adding to this ❤️
@@thebunbunshop oh absolutely! it's more a note than anything, the rest of the video definitely gets that across well! Even with AA being a grey area it's scary to think that it just takes one strict license holder/company could decide at any time to not look the other way 😔
Whoever viz media hired to hand out those C&D letters to the people at artists alley must of have a massive power trip.
Helluuuuu guys! I’m back with a cute new format where I talk about recent and interesting news in the art and small business community! Let me know how you like it and what we should call it? 🤔
Dokomi Vlog will be coming this Friday (sorry it took so long, I was tired)
I honestly love fanart cause it's something more unique 🥰
I think it's a bit misleading about the situation. The contract for vending in the exhibitor's explicitly says no fanart/unlicensed merch that those artists agreed to when choosing to table within the exhibitor's hall, so it's not like they should have been unaware of this requirement. I heard from a few artists who regularly sell via AX Exhibitor's hall that they check to see which IP holders will be present that year and avoid fanart from those in attendance (which still is breaking the rules but I guess they're being smarter about it?)
No one in the artist alley was handed a warning from Viz. There was no such rule for the AA and I verified with a number of artists I knew who were at AX AA this year to confirm.
I expect that in the future more of the bigger cons will go this way (turning a blind eye to AA and keeping exhibitor's hall to licensed only items)
Already address and mentioned under pinned comment.
(Copy/Paste from original comment: Agree! Should definitely have added to the video but I hope most people also understand that this is a bigger discussion, with AX and Viz media only being the most recent example!
(Definitely depends on country, IP holder, venue, AA or Vendor agreements etc.)
Thank you for adding to this ❤️)
They can do what some stores do for expensive merch. You know how some places have placeholder cards for merch and you're supposed to take them up front to get the real item?
- The booth will have original art, however they're are just placeholders for the real fanart. Each one has a number on it corresponding to the catalog on the table of merch available. So no real fanart is displayed up front.
- The customer purchases the original item, but they're really getting the fanart version, but its concealed in a bag or sleeve. The placeholder item is given back to the vendor to display again.
Alternatively, the customer can have the fanart mailed to their home by purchasing a placeholder number/confirmation number at the booth. The shipping will be included in the price.
This is the most back alley fanart deal I’ve ever heard of 😂 I like it
Personally, I want to get the licensing rights go use Doraemon characters someday.
Well summarised
Great, concise video! It's so interesting how many people are still quite naive about this topic and think due to the "grey area" they are totally okay to sell fanart. Don't get me wrong, I am mostly in favour of and support fanartists, but you can tell that many still assume a lot falls under "fair use", when it just... doesn't. |D (Although the same can be said about many other things like tax stuff etc. when selling at conventions, but oh well.) My point is: Everyone should do proper research and then decide for themselves if they want to take the risk. Just relying on "everybody does it" is not enough.
Ok imma need a response from the audience
If you go to an anime convention or a certain expo Are you actually bothered by people selling art and merch of the anime and things you enjoy or is that the thing you actually enjoy while there?
For me killing fan art is in part killing the convention.
The difference between me owning a character and someone else selling it is if the other person says it’s their character, not their fan art of my character THEN there is an issue.
I’ve definitely seen A LOT of different takes on this over the years and yes, there are actually people and artists who really dislike other artists for selling fanart.
I don’t know how this comes together though because I think most of us, in this space, started out by drawing fanart. Sometimes it feels like it’s young people who get jealous of another artist doing better then them, sometimes it’s because “fanart sells better than original art and that feels like cheating”, sometimes it’s “this is illegal, so I’ll report you”… I’ve seen it all.
I think it’s sad when ppl go after others in their own community. I think there is space for all of us and we’d all do good by staying in our own lane.
Idk, I personally don’t buy fanart (but that’s because I don’t know a lot of the newer stuff e.g. Genshin, JJK, etc) but I think fanart is fun and I love how different artists express themselves and what fun products they come up with!
In my opinion it doesn’t matter who owns the character. It should be about who made the piece that’s being sold. If you put in the time and effort to make the drawing then you should be able to sell it, period. If someone made and sold fan art of my own character I would be happy or just indifferent
The point is not whether an artist making fanart is taking from the COMPANY (and I think you're conflating the term license-holder with the company that owns the IP). By selling your own non-licensed merchandise you are potentially encroaching on a market that someone who went through the proper process to become a LICENSE-HOLDER occupies. Like, for example somebody scored an exclusive license to make Naruto T-shirts. Someone selling their own T-shirts with fan-art would be stealing sales from THEM. Some license-holders are small businesses. You're not stealing from large companies you're stealing from others who did the right thing to get permission. And making their effort to do it properly meaningless if there is no difference.
If it weren't for fanart artists at conventions, I would have exactly zero small merchandise of my favorite characters or fandoms, because the companies simply don't care enough to provide proper products or sell them only in China and Japan (so out of reasonable reach for anyone else, unless your pockets are deep). None of the fanart I brought at my last convention would be available from the original companies. No prints, no keychains, no pins.
And lets not kid ourselves here: There is no way any "small business" would be able to afford a popular license, if they would even be able to get it in the first place... and could still make the art like they want them to, because their creative freedom would be heavily restricted.
If artists could, they'd rather get a license. It would be much less stressful for them. But the truth is, it's very hard to get, and particularly costly. What's more, this type of license isn't designed for individuals selling on a small scale, but rather for large corporations. Often, companies that own licenses are not comparable to artists. You'll see that the majority of companies that own licenses are companies like Funko pop for example and who can promise a substantial number of sales. To get a license, you have to prove that you can sell a lot, which an artist can't, because sales can fluctuate enormously and, in general, none of them do mass production.
Or you are not stealing from anyone and just making a better product. The only one who loses in this scenario is the licensing holders. Why don’t companies just make better product.