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NEWS: Otakon Enforces Copyright at Artists' Alley

@mufurc and John Booty: Yes I did read your posts.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), originally called the Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors Association, is a non-profit trade association based in the United States which was formed to advance the interests of movie studios. Its members consist of eight major studios: the Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Studios, New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. The organization produces the well-known voluntary film rating system.

These companies only pay for the rights to release the manga that they license in a translated form. They do not have the license if someone creates fanart based on the original manga.

Beyond the form that's licensed, whether it be anime (dubbed or subtitled) or manga (translated) a company only is entitled to the right to sell that version of the property that they have negotiated for. If a manga publisher has discovered that there is a fan who created several separate pieces of fanart and has intended to part with his own drawings, they don't have the right to go after that person. Only the originating publisher, the original Japanese holder of that series, has the right to go after that person.

A license holder is not in the position to go after that person. This is in the same context as if someone was selling copies of the orignal version of an anime and decided to sell a copy of the non-fansubbed version of an anime. If that anime were licensed, the licensed company would not have the right to prevent that person from selling an original copy of an anime because they would not have the right to distribute that version unless that company had paid for exclusive rights to every version of that particular anime. This would have to include a license for RAWS and translated versions of the anime, whether it be subtitled or dubbed.

It's also possible that the copyright holder could take you to court in order to "make an example of you" to other violators. The MPAA and RIAA have employed this tactic against Internet filesharers. It's a real "last resort" kind of tactic, though...)

That could be farther from the truth than you know, tempest. I have been collecting Japanese manga ever since 1986 when Eclipse International published the first translated manga title with Appleseed and the same summer when Marvel's Epic line published the first Volume of Akira. Never, in all of this time has a company released the original version of a manga. I very seriously doubt that these companies have the rights to released the original version of that manga for the simple fact that that also requires a separate licensing agreement.

Anime works the same way. In order for an anime company/distributer here in the states to release an anime title they have to have a license to release an English dubbed version as well as a license to release the subtitled version as well. Case in point is the ever growing problem behind the the first Gunbuster OVA series which was released by Manga. When the anime was released to VHS, it was released in subtitled form. When discussion about whether Manga would release the series in an English dubbed form they replied in an email I sent them that they needed a separate license agreement to release the anime in a dubbed format.

It's nice to postulate about things we're ignorant of but where it concerns things that companies license a company pays for a license to one format or another but never both because of the cost of licensing fees involved. I'm not saying you're wrong but whereas most anime distributors often pay fees to release both the subtitled and dubbed versions of the anime manga is entirely different because the licensing fees for manga don't justify the cost because manga doesn't sell in the United States like anime does.

If they were then we would see some manga titles being published in its original form. During the past 15 years there has never been a case where a US manga distributor/company has sued a fanart because of a piece of fanart they sold.

I can't help but think that it may already be too late for Otakon officials to resolve this problem since it has become so widespread. The problem with Bad Publicity is that no company has ever gotten themselves unburied from the problem.

It's very, very difficult, but it has been done. It takes a good ad campaign, admission of error, a willingness to poke fun at oneself for the mistake, and hard work to win back the customer's/fan base's trust.

Anime works the same way. In order for an anime company/distributer here in the states to release an anime title they have to have a license to release an English dubbed version as well as a license to release the subtitled version as well. Case in point is the ever growing problem behind the the first Gunbuster OVA series which was released by Manga. When the anime was released to VHS, it was released in subtitled form. When discussion about whether Manga would release the series in an English dubbed form they replied in an email I sent them that they needed a separate license agreement to release the anime in a dubbed format.

It's nice to postulate about things we're ignorant of but where

<snip>

manga doesn't sell in the United States like anime does.

Bloatacon

I've been getting a lot of emails about what big conventions I'll be at this year. Normally I hit Katsucon and Otakon because they are the two largest conventions in this area. This year I have been contacted to be a guest at Katsucon, so you can be sure that I will be there, helping out where I can.

Otakon is a different story. Out of respect to you guys who want to know what is going on for me this year, I'm going to pull back the curtain and explain what is going on. Even if you are not an artist, there is something that you need to know about this convention.

I generally really love Otakon. Because of its size, it's a great opportunity for me to meet fans that I otherwise might not get a chance to see. However, last year they had to implement an attendance cap because of fire safety regulations. I had heard that this year they would be moving to a bigger venue and it would be a non-issue. Unfortunately it didn't work out that way. They will be at the same venue this year with the same attendance cap. Coupled with some new Artist's Alley regulations, it looks like this year is going to be a squeeze on artists and vendors like never before. I could even go as far as saying that this could very well kill the fan-centric scene that has sprung up in convention culture. This combined with the fact that there are varied reports that the anime business is starting to implode (Suncoast, Target, and many other stores are dropping Anime, and many distributors are not putting out new stuff), and dealers at Otakon we talked to last year saying their profits are way down, leads us to think there is some serious trouble ahead.

The General Problem: The Attendance Cap

Otakon is becoming the big business convention. The attendance cap is pretty devastating for those of us who sell at the convention. If you have noticed a decrease in small vendors with unique items and an increase in large retail-like vendors in the past few years, you weren't imagining it.

On the last day of the convention last year, Harknell and I conducted an informal survey of the dealers. Everyone we spoke with expressed that their sales have consistently decreased over the last 5 years. Many people were debating on whether they should actually come back next year.

Last year was markedly bad. Last year also coincided with the attendance cap which also was coupled with a mandatory 3 day registration. So, you have a limited number of tickets, and you have to buy the most expensive one. The attendees now skew toward younger cosplayers who aren't working yet so they can spend that time at the con. Don't get me wrong, I love cosplayers and used to be one when I was in high school. However, cosplayers generally go to events. They aren't the people spending large sums of money, nor even have ANY money.( you don't know how many people said "I wish I could buy your stuff, but I spent the $10 I brought to the con already....)

From my experience, the people who normally come to the conventions to spend large sums of money are the people who might only come for one or two days. These are the same people who tend to be art connoisseurs who are open to buying original art The mandatory 3 day registrations turns these people away before they ever get to the door..

The Problem with the Artist's Alley

Artist's are really going to get screwed this year because of the new rules that were just implemented for the Otakon Artist's Alley. Traditionally, most artists in the Artist's Alley do fan art, and might have some original art too. This year Otakon has banned the sale of fan art due to their perceived notion that this is copyright violation. First off, If someone is photocopying or directly redrawing existing artwork, that IS a copyright violation. However, fan art, as a direct commission based single element drawing (as opposed to 500 copies) has NEVER been actually litigated as worthy of liability. The greyest area is when you take a concept of a character, and draw an entirely new picture that has no relationship to existing art, and sell copies of this artwork. This is conceptual copyright infringement. It gets even murkier when the look is twisted to a form totally unlike the original (such as a chibi version of something that isn't chibi).

Copyright is a serious thing. I can understand why this would be an issue. In the past I was surprised that fan art was allowed at conventions. However, every convention in the entire country allows fan art to be sold and it is the prime staple of the Artist's Alley. I suspect that Otakon got pressured by the larger companies to crack down on this. Big business wins.

(one quick side note: There isn't an artist alive that has not used "fan art" as part of their learning of the skill of drawing. Trying to replicate others is the basis of most of your early learning. Imagine trying to learn to draw without being able to even make anything similar to ANYTHING that ever existed--because everything ever done is copyrighted to some degree.)

It's weird, it almost appears that Otakon doesn't understand what the AA was ever about. People who can't draw wanted people who could to draw something custom for them that didn't exist. Let's step back here a moment, what makes the AA any different now from a cheaper dealer room? Why even have it?

Otakon is still allowing "parody" art to be sold. This is another place where it gets murky. "Parody" is such a loose term. I am sure most of you are familiar with the problem Penny Arcade had where they did indeed do a parody of Strawberry Shortcake, but it didn't stop American Greetings from forcing them to pull the artwork off of their site, or else be sued. Penny Arcade was in the right, but even they could not fight this without problems.

It troubles me that in the past the Artist's Alley didn't appear to be handled very professionally, and now they are (it seems) going to have the same staff tell people what they can and cannot sell. This is now turning into the big guy can bully the little guy. It is such a loose term that in theory any staff member could bully someone into removing artwork, simply if they just didn't like the person. Before you think I am overreacting, know that I have seen things like this happen in the past. I have seen staff members knowingly trample artwork that fell on the floor. I have had staff members scream in my face and bully my affiliates. I've been stalked and flamed across 3 separate message boards. I'm a peace-loving woman. This is a bit much. Otakon isn't holding anyone accountable for their actions. They are fan-run, but they keep changing the rules as if they were pro-run. It bothers me that there is now more ground for any staff member to play on.

At this point, Otakon needs to go completely professional and hire paid staff that can be held accountable and won't take criticism personally. Otakon is still all volunteer run, but they have clearly outgrown volunteer size. This is a problem. You can't really say any of this stuff without inciting INTARNETZ DRAMA. You can't try to do business with many of them because most don't understand business and will respond by telling you that YOU don't understand business (because their mom sews things for people and therefore is CEO and is the fount of all business knowledge).

I'm not kidding. Last year I did get flamed by a staffer who told me that because their Mommy runs a sewing business that they magically know more than me and I am a cunt.

There is no "polite" place to give your feedback and have it actually be considered as far as I can tell. I keep hearing that artists were spoken with about how the Artist's Alley is run and everyone "loved" it – but I have never been able to find one artist that had actually been polled.

I'm not typing all of this for the fun of it or to be mean. Obviously people work hard to make this happen. I'm typing all of this because I see a very good thing going very bad for various reasons. The Artist's Alley has always been a great place for new people to learn the ropes and meet new friends. It's something I love and believe in.

I personally prefer original art over anything fan art based. Contrary to my own preferences, I think that fan art is the "gateway drug" to the original artist's work. I think that banning it is a big mistake. Casual attendees who might just be interested in what is on Cartoon Network are going to be less likely to look around in the Artist's Alley. Coupled with the attendance cap alienating heavy buyers who also happen to also be the art connoisseurs, artists are going to be squeezed two ways this Otakon. It might kill the Artist's Alley if for no other reason than returning artists just aren't expecting the primary rules to be changed on such short notice.

Do it or don't, Otakon.

My opinion is that if Otakon wants to really go for it on copyright, then a few other things MUST be ditched also. The music video competition has to go. It uses 2 types of copyrighted material, and the winner gets compensation for utilizing these works, so that is clear infringement for profit. The same is true for a cosplay competition, just because the work is clothing and not drawing does not actually change infringement. If you get a prize for utilizing a copyrighted image, it's infringement for profit...a big no-no. Think of this in terms of the whole "fanart in a different context" murky area above, but instead clothing.

So, what will we have left at our formerly fun con? Um, not much actually. Oh, but those copyrights will be secure along with lower profits and a demoralized fan base. What a winning scenario!

while this does suck if they do go through with it, I like how everyone seems to be a lawyer just because they read it on the net.

Also maybe everyone should just back off until an offical word does come out.