Forum - View topicAnswerman - Why Are Some Fan Works OK, But Some Get Shut Down?
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asilenttree
 Posts: 32 Location: California |
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Yea, I was curious about this too |
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omegafinal
Posts: 125 |
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Here is an interesting comment I remember reading: It helps the developer get noticed, especially if the fangame turned out to be fantastic. I think the AM2R developer got to work on a prominent indie game afterwards as an example. And reading that post reminded me of the MLP:FiM fighting game, boy, did they overstepped their bounds if I remember. At least they founded new life as an original title with some help by Lauren Faust with character designs and the Skullgirls game engine . |
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leafy sea dragon
 Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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For the most part, people still don't. I've only ever dipped into a few fanfiction circles, so I don't know if it's representative of the whole, but fanfiction writers tend to be young and poor, and the money they receive tends to go toward things not related to their fanfiction. They're not treating it as a paycheck...something closer to a beggar's cup.
Oh, there are plenty. The most notable case I can think of is Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing using fanart of Amy Rose by accident in one of the casino racetracks. That was quickly patched to avoid a potential plagiarism lawsuit (except for the Wii version, which could not be patched). It's also pretty common among new fans (who might not have gotten the art style, writing style, or other subtle things down yet) and fans of things that have a lot of fanfiction and fanart, and in some cases fanshorts, in which some fans just wade through the fan-created material and never actually reach the official stuff. Oddly, the Sonic fanbase manages to do both of those.
That fandom has a tendency to overstep their boundaries. The official stuff is really just a nucleus upon which HUGE amounts of fan material accumulates, and because there's so much of it, it attracts people who think they can get away with anything, even turning a profit. (And some do--a number of Bronies/Pegasisters consider the fan-created objects to be of better quality than the official merchandise and will pay, say, upwards of $200 for a plush.) |
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reanimator
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I agree with what you said and no, you're not old fashioned. You're addressing the lack of self-control and poor justification for something that meant to be as hobby, not a commercial venture. When a fan writes a fanfic and asking your money month-after-month, then that turns into a long term copyright violation without accountability. Critical question is, why are we supporting someone's hobby which that person's artistic growth and merit are uncertain and unaccountable? If a funding is secured, then is the fan writer/artist trying to improve himself/herself with their given media through effort and trying to come up with original material of his/her own time? If that is not happening soon, then there are thousands of very talented starving non-fan artists who deserve money than untalented hacks who's misusing someone else's property without care in the world. I have no problem with Japanese fans selling Dojinshi because they try to be accountable by keeping their circumvention of law to short term (One reason why dojinshi circles don't sell previous year's publications at Comiket), but with Westerners selling T-shIrts, they could go on forever as long as there is no legal action against them. Example: I live in San Francisco and I still see the seller who sells this Muni Catbus t-Shirt at monthly Artist Tables in Japantown. That has been going on for 6 years! Either the idea was a hit for him or he ordered too many stocks. That's not a short term. I don't know how many people actually bought Muni catbus t-shirt, but he is lucky that Disney is not breathing down on his neck. Last edited by reanimator on Wed Jun 20, 2018 12:34 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Kicksville
 Posts: 1175 |
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This has changed quite a bit over the years. There are doujinshi artists who do sell their old doujinshi, but more than that, quite a lot of material is up on places like DLSite, just with things like specific names censored. Decades old doujinshi have been scanned and put back up for sale. Some of these artists have Patreons that include copyrighted characters in the mix, and Pixiv relaunched their own equivalent recently, Pixiv Fanbox, and as far as I've seen they don't seem to have any restrictions to prevent that outright either. It is indeed not as if they never get in trouble - most recent one I remember is the one Fate/Grand Order doujinshi novel author with a cover too close to looking like an official product (to note, it seems he was still able to sell it after that was changed). But basically, the "never make a profit" thing is not so clear cut on the Japanese end of things either. I'd be curious to know what opinions are like over there (I am aware there are disagreements on what is and isn't going too far), but either way, DLSite has been around for years. |
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Kadmos1
 Posts: 13550 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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Using the U.S. as an example, another thing to consider is this: a Japanese rights holder may be fine with a person living in the U.S. making a fan making a for-profit fan work of that property provided the "based upon characters created by"-type credit is given. However, even if the credit is given, perhaps some part of the U.S. copyright act forbids such commercialization being done under certain conditions.
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Meongantuk
 Posts: 353 |
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Some companies like Type-Moon actually do have a rather clear-cut guide of what comericial fanworks that's allowed and not on their site. It's in japanese but the point is basicaly: - Limited Quantity (the exact numbers is unknown, but less than 500) - Limited distribution (only through events or mail order sites) - Not using official assets (logo, UI (icons ripped from the game, you're allowed to redraw the icons yourself), scripts (translations, except for non-commercial), sprites, songs, etc.) - For garage kit figure: Not using the exact same pose as the official art (this is mostly apply to FGO's card art). Their rules are actually pretty general common sense in Japanese doujin culture and can be applied to almost every fandom that isn't strict with their IP like Sanrio or Nintendo, certain might have extra rules though. except the garage kits one, though, they're not the only one who has that rules. Events like Comiket or even Mail-order sites has rules if you want to apply for a table/use their service. Sites like Redbubble is frowned upon due to the fact that as the quantity/distribution isn't limited like with stuff from Melonbooks or Toranoana where you still have to print and send the package (can be to the site's warehouse or directly from home) yourself. Digital stuff is generally has more leeway though... But they're more expensive than the physical edition, lacks bonus, and has no resale value.. |
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Kicksville
Posts: 1175 |
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Well, I suppose my point here is, it's not like things haven't changed or everyone has always gone about it the same way in Japan, even though there have been certain common norms. I mean, again, that DLSite stuff certainly flouts the whole limited time frame thing.
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BodaciousSpacePirate
 Subscriber Posts: 3017 |
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Sure. I own copies of the Touhou Project "Danmaku" card game and its expansion, and they are both pretty much indistinguishable in quality from any licensed anime-themed game available in the US... probably a little higher quality, now that I think about it. I also own a SD Nightingale model kit that no one would be able to tell was an unlicensed product, unless they had an absolutely comprehensive knowledge of Bandai's release schedule (the official SD Nightingale kit doesn't come out in Japan until the end of the month). |
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