⚠️ ILLEGAL TO SELL FAN ART?!

[@chickendrawsdogs3343]

But hey, doesn't stop people from taking my fan art and selling them on Etsy and Displate as prints, does it? What a world.

[@TrentKaniuga]

That sucks man. Sorry to hear it. But I've certainly been ripped off also. And from reading many of the comments, you can see the mindset that such behavior is "it's okay to steal IPs, as long as its not mine". Which is heartbreaking. And thats why I made the video, to say "hey, its still not okay to steal". We should at least be mindful of the owner of the IP.

[@VisuallyMediocre]

This makes me sad :( I can't even sell my own work on Etsy. If someone was making money of mine and I can't I'd be unconsolable. X

[@romieabel2629]

​@@VisuallyMediocre I want to legally sell fanart of Dororo from Keroro Gunso anime as a mermaid princess someday. ❤❤❤❤

[@nyverdaletabletop1674]

Same problem as a miniature artist.

[@Bcilloz]

Funny as I have had my art stolen and used on eBay.

[@adroitws1367]

to put it simply, its illegal. but you would only get in trouble if the owner of IP sue or demand you to stop that is why if you mass produced it, they would usually sue you as there is a lot of money involved. but if you only do it for convention/ small scale, they let that happen, as its not worth pursuing legal case. there is also publicity risk if they start attacking small creator that also their biggest fan.

[@Purekamot101]

Hi. What about artists who draw fanart in youtube and got monetize? Do IP owners allowed something that?

[@adroitws1367]

@@Purekamot101 the IP owner (usually big corpo) usually allow fanart/ drawing video as it also act as free advertising for them. Just be careful, if you try to sell prints in large scale.

[@Purekamot101]

@@adroitws1367 I see. Thanks for the reply. I have never heard or seen from Japanese anime owner who go after their fans for drawing fan art in KZbin. You know there are some fanart artists who have a million subscribers by drawing fanart alone. I think selling prints is a different thing.

[@jasonmullinder]

It is illegal. The only loopholes are whether or not you will get away with it.

[@adroitws1367]

@@jasonmullinder agreed. that's what i said.

[@key5270]

That's not an old man Pikachu, Trent. That's a Pikachad.

[@SHADZA4321]

Actually went to my first nerd con a few weeks ago, and i seen nothing but art, plushies, stickers of all kinds of properties from comics to games. How do people get away with selling prints and keychains of my favorite characters? Some products were just images ripped from Google.

[@TrentKaniuga]

Early stages of communism? J/k. But it’s a sad reality that most people would rather buy characters they know, and don’t look at indies or new stuff. If they’re swiping art to make product that’s called a “bootleg”, and it is illegal. Some comic cons used to crack down on it.

[@jasonmullinder]

stalls go more under the radar.

[@lindseyclark718]

Pretty much cause Nintendo isn't sending representatives to every Con out there to put a stop to it. But if those artists gained a large online presence they would get cease and desist letters and possibly even lawsuits

[@MM3OG]

Well there's your answer you just said they got it from "Google", artists don't realize when you put in on public domain like that it's technically "fair use" anyone can use it or sell it. Now lets say your image is not on google and it's only on your website but someone copies that from you're private domain then you'll be commiting copyright infringement. This is why I think copyright is stupid unless you're a big shot company like Disney or warner Bros. If you're a not a huge company or aren't Picasso yourself good luck trying yo actually have a copyright on your image.

[@MM3OG]

​@@lindseyclark718 even if they sold it online if they can prove that they got the image off public domain like google then technically its "fair use". People just don't understand anything off a public domain like google can't technically be copyrighted, that's the equivalent of purposely putting $100 on the ground and the first person who picks it up you accuse them of stealing that doesn't fly at all it's the same with public domain images. That's why they can get away with it at these markets.

[@1meen1]

Thank you, this was very clarifying, I used to wonder about this at conventions all the time. I also assumed that maybe it was under parody law or something, similar to how people steal KZbin or other media content and simply slap a filter or reaction on it. Glad you stated on how someone would feel about their own art being stolen, I think people are so engrossed with these large companies that they lose their own morals and ethics. Hence the reason indie artists have issues with AI art, even though it's modified, original, and isn't mass produced, it hurts them as it takes from their original work.

[@oscarchavezart]

I never got into fan art just ro make money. Only one time I did a fan art, that was in 2018, and it was an illustration drawing in my sketchbook of megaman X, running on a platform, shooting back down at an enemy firing at him, dodging the blasts, while not falling of, because the background explained he was at the height of a skyscraper.

[@ChristopherRomero]

I learned so much digital drawing techniques just watching these 5 minutes.

[@MomirsLabTech]

Yeah its almost as if this channel is more than just drawing tutorials or something.

[@ActionHankBeard]

I sell original art and t-shirts/prints etc that feature characters I don't own regularly. There's instances where the copyright holder may send a cease & desist, but it's incredibly rare. Even more so if the fanart is more imaginative and further from the source material. So while it may be within their legal right to come after artists in some instances, it's highly unlikely.

[@tobiasdelabarra6086]

Hey there, I'm looking to do something similar to what you are doing... Is there any way to contact you? I'd really appreciate that. Thank you!

[@lunarfifthstudios]

Kind Sir, thank you for your drawing lessons and these amazing videos- as an experienced artist who recently discovered I need to completely revisit fundamentals, it feels easy to get discouraged, but these really help keep me going! Great stuff, thanks! 👍

[@AwkwardSpecimens]

Your art is INCREDIBLE and yes, we want to own some of it.

[@Matheus_1582]

KratoChu... Pikratos...

[@Bladetheblackdragon]

If we create fan-made characters that is illegal from Nintendo vyond community made that. That's why Nintendo is taking out fan, art or fan-made characters

[@devilblackdeath]

My personal fear with fan creations has always been retroactivity. I have no idea how much companies (especially since I'm not in the US, not up to speed on that here) could try and sue the ass of someone making small money from fan art retroactively. I personally would love and try my hand at making stuff like retro game dioramas or that kind of stuff, ideally with fully remade sprite, but the potential legal backlash is a huge brake for me. Beyond that, as far as my opinion on the subject matter at its core, it's always been that if the art is not harmful to the brand and the brand doesn't offer at least some sort of similar product, then it should probably be at least somewhat legal. Those dioramas are a good example, but there's hundreds of IP-based products on Etsy that have no equivalence in the official goodies !

[@The-Anathema]

The way I see it, if someone uses *a character I've made in their own derivative work* I don't feel strongly about it, it's another thing if they rip my work directly. So in an example: Putting pikachu, as-is, on merchandise and selling it is ethically dubious, putting darth pikachu, dark lord of the sith on merchandise is hilarious and I should do that,

[@te9591]

This is such a great question. I figured it was the small amount of sale or the subject matter you portray.

[@sketchypeoplepdx]

Great vid. Great insight. It's an interesting debate. You had an interesting quote in this vid: "Yeah, if you're just getting started, you're looking to make a few bucks, get out there, get a booth, and start doing some original artworks of famous characters that you like. And of course stop if they come after you. The original owners of that IP come after you. You better stop." I disagree. I think one's efforts in getting started would be better served if they got out there to push original content and build their own brand. There's the dilemma of morality about selling any kind of fan art. The topic of: "getting away with it" or "they could come after you" is always a talk point. Why do art of any kind with a possibility of "getting caught"? You mention pushing original content in this vid, which is great! But then the quote above sorta steamrolled it. It's sad that the quick buck rules the con scenes by selling fan art and ripping off IP. I urge creators out there to challenge the art world with your original content. We don't need yet another Calvin and Hobbes as Batman and Robin or a scantily clad Sailor Moon. Yawn. Do fan art to: learn, have fun, explore. Put in your portfolio to apply to specific brands. Fan art helps us to grow and learn. But leave it at home. Selling fan art? Nah. Let's give the world something new that you created on your own.

[@wizit1993]

2:44 I feel like using my likeness and using my creations are two completely different things. As someone who is a creator, I would be pretty upset if someone was using my actual face and name to sell knock-off foot massagers on Temu. However, I think someone taking our creations and making custom artwork from it is the coolest concept ever and I absolutely encourage it. The line would be literally copying the stuff I'm making to re-sell it, that's not cool. Otherwise, it should absolutely be treated as fair-use and their art should be protected.

[@watcher1109]

Hey trent can you give tips how to manage studio like yours, especially for first timers

[@drkmgic]

Lol imagine a game telling a populae streamer to stop streaming their game cuz they want a the streamer is making too much money. The drama

[@TrentKaniuga]

Nintendo does that all the time. heh.

[@user-10021]

Nintendo did that a year ago with zelda games

[@drkmgic]

@user-10021 wait didn't they play the game early? Like it was out in several countries except for theirs and they got a dmca take down. Edit. Did a quick Google and found the post on reddit. Yeah turns out he started streaming 30 minutes early before being released in Europe. Holy Nintendo being so pedantic.

[@Cacalotlraven]

How do you sell original artwork if it’s digital?

[@rikomon]

I mean sakimichan not only she sells fanart she even sexualize the characters and earns like $90k a month

[@TrentKaniuga]

your numbers are off. But yes. She does do that. But she doesnt use the brand name or name the characters, and I would bet money that she has had several "cease and desist" letters from IP owners. Also, just because you get away with it doesnt make it legal. As was my point regarding streaming a game, music or other peoples IP. It only really hurts indie creators and artists when their work is used without permission.

[@assassinsbleedacwalkthroug9947]

@@TrentKaniuga numbers are off, i agree with you trent. i believe it was more than 200 or 300k a month. and that was years ago

[@DazzlingAction]

If it's a 1 to 1 copy/trace it is not ok... If it's made of new things I should be ok. Then again gray zone. Then again they could get back at you for selling over 50k$ or more...

[@zerobemix]

Your vibe is the best Trent! How about AI art selling IPs - you can see it everywhere, literally

[@TrentKaniuga]

Sounds pretty lame. I hope there is a way to stop it. I’m a strong supporter of creators owning their own work.

[@somthinwrong]

Selling AI art is the equivalent of trying to resell fast food burgers

[@somthinwrong]

Fanart is a way to go for exposure. It's morally wrong to sell fanart, but I think getting commissioned for fanart wouldn't hurt the IP once in awhile

[@Heisenburg17]

If someone created a similar art and it's successful piece of art, I would not even care because it's not my art. Nobody can claim a norse god thor, armor with a mjolnir. Thor descriptions were existing long before marvel and other stuff in the scripts, books and historical paintings. It means, like, Sweden that owns the original scripts and paintings of Thor could sue marvel for using their heritage? I think the pop culture characters should be in the public domain.

[@TrentKaniuga]

They are. But there's a big difference between something that was written thousands of years ago, and something that was registered as a copyright or trademark, and a brand was built around it.

[@fadhilmaulana9139]

I want to ask, if i draw a scene from an anime or movie as a reference (maybe it is counted as a redraw) does it count as fan art or not? (Sorry for my bad english).

[@TrentKaniuga]

if its a scene that already exists, and you are studying it... I would call that a "redraw" or a "study."

[@datdude5886]

Wellll, not technically.. Example of Zuri Draws and Sakimi chan

[@TrentKaniuga]

And they are asked to stop in some cases. I mean... you can speed through a stop sign too, and probably get away with it. But it doesnt make it legal.

[@hannahkathrynlimjoco5572]

Hello! I just want to clarify something, whenever I see art merch at conventions, I would always see anime fan arts like jujustu kaisen, demon slayer etc. Does that mean that the sellers can be sued? Even tho they made a fanart where gojo is wearing casual clothes and was drawn in their own style?

[@TrentKaniuga]

Yes. They can be sure. But usually the owner of the IP doesn’t pursue legal action, unless they are making large sums of money.

[@heiispoon3017]

Thank you for this, im wondering how sakimichan business model works selling fan arts?

[@TrentKaniuga]

She sells a patreon membership where you can watch her draw existing characters. But I would bet that she's been asked NOT to draw certain characters from the copyright owner in the past.

[@rikomon]

@@TrentKaniuga I think the law is trash because sadly it only works for some people.

[@blackcitadel9]

Hm, about the end of your vid, I would like to learn more about creating concept art, but I don't know if it's my thing. Not that it matters much, my fundamentals are poor.

[@juanjjparedes]

I have a question what app is the most easiest for you to use when making your drawings?

[@GraydWulf]

So is it all right for me to draw it for my art process on Twitch or Twitter? And furthermore, is it all right for me to grow Twitter with fanart even though I do not wish to monetize?

[@Heisenburg17]

How does that legal use a historical character and trademark it for your profit, like Thor? They stole the original idea and trademark it. If you do something too similar, you may get sued. That's absurd. No parody no fan art allowed. That's why everyone ignores trademarks and enjoys fan art and sells it.

[@Cass0wary_399]

Marvel is owned by Disney now, and Disney has a habit of silently undermining non Disney variants of public domain adaptations for a while now. It’s no surprise that they’re trying to keep Thor for themselves now.

[@theanimelibarian7881]

Your logic is nonexistent you sound entitled not your characters dont get sued because of your feelings

[@Heisenburg17]

My office parody got deleted from a poster website, and my other Breaking Bad parody is doing well. Some of them on the hunt against fan art for sure.@@Cass0wary_399

[@Heisenburg17]

They know they can't sue every small creator and if they do, they get a backlash.

[@FireallyXTheories]

You can use the Norse god Thor and depict him however you want and sell him as Thor, you just have to steer clear of using the trademarked character design and likeness of Marvel's Thor. Comicbooks, MCU, or otherwise. Just look at Thor in God of War for example. They didn't pay Disney to use him, because he's mythological and their depiction of the legend. Same can be said for King Arthur and any other mythos. Only a company's interpretation and designs for that legend are trademarked.

[@Zinlor]

Old man Pikachu is back?!

[@brucenunn3268]

How to do a video and tell me about selling fan art without telling me about selling fan art… Uhhh… 🤔 💭 So the Short Answer Would be…. Just DONT do it.?? Crazy because I see it all the time and wonder how in the world are they selling that…

[@robihamdani4017]

in short answer yes but basically no! they're mostly fan art mostly small seller are to cheap to sue even company do that they are not worth it

[@andysun73]

Neil Gaiman doesn’t read fan literature, just in case he unintentionally uses something.

[@LeoSuttner-dg1nk]

So i redrew Another Artist work( of course without of tracing) and put it as a Image for my Gig on fiverr, is that legal?

[@aniketkumarsingh8459]

But in india people are selling anime characters on printed on T-shirts on their websites for a very long time and nothing happened to them and in fact they are making lots of money.

[@abhisheknarvaria6567]

How do you know?

[@ImaginArt24]

why do the pokemon company allow for fakemon?

[@makokx7063]

If you don't call it Pokemon and it isn't already an existing character then it's original art.

[@CEH00_Art]

2:10 its funny that you sat that, i follow scottblairart that does just that, good stuff BTW :P

[@Ed17151]

Drawing a fan art and getting paid for each separate drawing is one thing, but... doing the same using an AI is on the whole new level of disrespectful/illegal...😅 happens alot these days, sadly

[@Purekamot101]

Hi. What about drawing anime characters in youtube and monetize that videos. Is that okay or are they going to go after you? I have seen so many artist drawing fanart in youtube. Thanks.

[@ArtSurroundsYouAll]

Great channel first of all, , please forgive me as I am dyslexic and autistic so I will try and word these questions as good as I can. On this video I am a little confused, you said its illegal to create your own original artwork based on a copyright character, but at 1.59 you said you know of artists that draw just only princess leia at art conventions and they sell them, you said its a living and you can do that if your good at it, what is confusing me is you said its okay to do that, but then you said as long as you don't mass produce the artwork or if its not your brand as you may receive some blowback. So what your saying is in theory if an artist just created an original one off piece of art but based on a copyright character then as you said that is okay sell it, plus an artist could do dozens of the same character in different poses as long as each one was original, is that right, like I said I am confused as its illegal to sell art based on copyright characters, but if they are original one off pieces of art then you can sell them?. could you please help me.

[@TrentKaniuga]

If I understand you correctly, then yes. Selling original art isn’t the problem. Think of it like music. If you perform a cover song at a party, you are probably ok. But if you record a cover song, you can’t sell copies of that.

[@Cass0wary_399]

Yes.

[@davesalazar9245]

But what if Ai takes a fanart from different people and make more fanart using that fanart to earn money.

[@talenstout8324]

It’s legal because life is about making people happy. Iv’e seen many Pokémon fan art. Yeah you do make money off of it, but words, phrases, and characters can’t be copyrighted. What about personal work?, as in not for people, just a family game. But what if it’s not us, so others shouldn’t matter to us. I would want people to use it, it’s for the people. You can’t stop us from playing a game.

[@TrentKaniuga]

Um. Sorry, but You are so very wrong. Books (words and phrases), characters and IPs can absolutely be copyrighted. That is the whole point of copyright. It’s not “for the people”. It’s for business. If you make something worth anything, you’ll be glad that there are laws to protect your property. Also, no copyrights or property ownership would make NO ONE happy.

[@zinzolin14]

Thanks for the clarity on this issue. Now I know the fan project idea I've had for some time now is no longer feasible. But it's fine, I can still share what I've created on my socials. Also, love the big beard Pikachu, Trent 😁⚡

[@user-10021]

You can do it, just not sell it. Pokemmo is an example on how to evade copyright

[@JezzLundkvist]

To be honest, I will never understand how people draw fan art and sell it. And not being afraid that the real creator can come after them. 😱

[@theanimelibarian7881]

Yeah

[@sociallyresponsiblexenomor7608]

Because most won't, it looks bad for them to do so. It looks petty when done unnecessarily. Generally they only do it if something is getting too commercial, or if they don't like the subject material like it's too much NSFW material or such. Also if it's too much like real people and such.

[@Heisenburg17]

because they request the deletion, nothing more.

[@mr.jultra4720]

cuz they grew a large pair

[@TrentKaniuga]

Generally Indie creators are only ones that get hurt by this. Big companies arent going to care as much because their brand is so strong. BUT... if someone is doing lewd renditions of their characters, it can be quite damaging. Many celebs are pissed that AI is using their likeness for exactly that. And there have been many lawsuits this year over exactly that.

[@daneascott9645]

But can you give fanart away for FREE??? For the life of me I cannot get the google overlords to understand my question is about FREE fanart. I'm not wanting to sell it. I'm wanting to give it to people that interact with me completely for free 😅 legal or not?

[@TrentKaniuga]

It depends. Do you live in a communist country?

[@daneascott9645]

@@TrentKaniuga USA

[@MALICEM12]

Strange because japanese artists sell fan merch ALL the time

[@TrentKaniuga]

People pirate software all the time too. That doesn't make it legal, moral or respectful of the creators rights.

[@MALICEM12]

@@TrentKaniuga maybe, but I'd like it more to music. And people have been downloading music since the Internet and sampling other people's music and reselling it since hip hop. Hell, some of the most iconic rap songs were made with samples the original creators didn't sanction

[@aleksandarstanisic1848]

A okay 👍 I'm small 😅

[@pastuh]

Copy with AI style, and stamp stickers 24/7

[@deadpan5104]

First? No sadly

[@TrentKaniuga]

Amazing!

[@Dumb-Comment]

Imagine trademarking an idea

[@jadecaceres2557]

FIRST!!!

[@TrentKaniuga]

WOW!