Forum - View topicAre doujinshis illegal?
|
Goto page 1, 2 Next |
| Author | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
NeoXeno
Posts: 2 Location: New York, NY |
|
||
|
I am of course talking about those based on copyrighted material (say Chobits or Final Fantasy) that are created by skilled fans and openly sold all over Japan. Do they have to first get premission or buy a licence to sell them or do companies simply not give a crap?
|
|||
|
|||
|
zimbach
Posts: 5 |
|
||
|
The "Fair Use" doctrine of Japanese copyright law makes allowances for fan art, including reproductions of original fan art so long as it does not significantly impact the copyright holder. Doujinshi are usually published in such small quantities that they are seen as insignificant.
American copyright law makes no allowance for fan art beyond unique original works. That is to say, you can draw a picture of Mickey Mouse, and you can sell that drawing, but you cannot publish or mechanically copy it without a license from Disney, whether you sell the copies at a profit or not. So, doujinshi are legal if they are published in Japan. They are legal to sell in the United States only if no company holds a distribution license in that territory for the characters therein. Most U.S. anime and manga distributors will turn a blind eye if they do hold the license, but don't count on them doing that forever. The anime and manga business in North America is getting bigger every day, and as businesses get bigger, "big business" people will get involved, and they don't always understand the market. |
|||
|
|||
|
zimbach
Posts: 5 |
|
||
|
It occurs to me that using Micky Mouse as an example was a bad idea. Disney will try to zing you for anything they see as an unauthorized derivative work. It is almost impossible to use recognized characters or objects (like Star Trek spaceships) without being derivative in someones eyes, and it's the eyes of the copyright holder that matter unless you take them to court (and your odds aren't good if you do).
|
|||
|
|||
|
LordByronius
ANN Columnist
 Posts: 861 Location: Philippe for America! He is five. |
|
||
|
IRONY!!1!!1!!111
Most of the "activities" portrayed in most doujinshi I've read are definitely illegal under US law. HI-OHHH] |
|||
|
|||
Emerje
 Posts: 7548 Location: Maine |
|
||
That's because you're got your head in the toilet. You're thinking of HENTAI dojins which are the same idea, but there are non-hentai dojins too. Basicly the difference between a fanfic and a lemon (not the fruit). Anyhow, there's a fine line there once again, sure, you can make a Dojin, but in no way can you legaly make money off them unless you have a license to do so (which then would no longer make them a dojin would it?) ebay can be a bit strict on selling fan work, ask any toy customizer and most will tell you that their auctions were pulled from the site, happens all the time. For obvious reasons they can't catch everyone so many Dojins remain, while a quick search for "Marvel Custom" will show a lot of figures and models that are just waiting to be removed. But that's just ebay. As a whole, it's never legal to sell unlicesed materials in the US. Not sure how things are done in japan, but it's probably why most dojins are considered underground manga. Emerje |
|||
|
|||
|
cookie
Former ANN Editor in Chief
 Posts: 2460 Location: Do not contact me for support. |
|
||
While the activites might be... .. their depiction isn't, thanks to the Supreme Court Ruling earlier this year, that overturned an earlier Child Pornography law. The ruling is states that 'virtual child pornography' isn't illegal. |
|||
|
|||
Aya Reiko
 Posts: 166 Location: Nowhere and Somewhere |
|
||
|
Additional bit to ponder too:
Parodies are protected under Fair Use. Most Doujinshi probably can be considered parody in some form or another. |
|||
|
|||
|
Galatea
Posts: 7 Location: England |
|
||
|
And here's a face that hasn't been seen here for ages (ie me)... Anyway, I don't even want to think about the idea of doujinshis being illegal, because I love them! Lots more fun than fanfics!! Finding my favourite Yaoi pairings can be a problem though...
|
|||
|
|||
|
TinMan
Posts: 8 |
|
||
|
I don't even bother dealing with other's characters. There to many rules for a fan fic to know. If your willing to go to all the trouble of writing, drawing, and then going to get the thing published you mite as well have made a origenal story that you can call your own.
I can see why there are all these laws. I wouldn't want to see my characters doing "bad" things because I don't there are that many poeple out there who would not know the whats real and whats nots. But thats just america if I was doing this in japan I wouldn't give a rip. America has to many problems dealing with copy rights and the like. |
|||
|
|||
Tempest
 I Run this place.ANN Publisher  Posts: 10535 Location: Do not message me for support. |
|
||
Actually, American and Japanese copyright law are very similar. It's just that Japanese copyright law has one more "rule" that allows derivative fan works. -t |
|||
|
|||
Dejiko
 Posts: 276 Location: Holland (between Great Britain and Germany) |
|
||
|
Sorry for digging up this thread again, but I've got some points to make here
First of all, like it or not, western fan culture seems to absorb more facets of it's Japanese source every year. It isn't all for the good (sexual interest in underage-looking characters for example), but there are also some developments which could prove to be very interesting, doujinshi publishing being one of them. We know how most companies think about fansubs, they'll be tolerated as long as people don't go crazy (think of the AJ incident). But what about fan doujinshi? Now and then, I hear stories of people putting out a book for the fun of it, only to receive a 'cease and desist' afterwards. Come on! Peope LIKE parodies and hommages. There's something else to consider as well: everyone could switch to doing original characters-only, but it's a matter of fact people tend to be VERY hesitant to buying 'original' stuff. Having a well known name attached to it increases exposure to great ends. This also rings true for the original. Japanese companies have acknowleged this fact and tolerate doujinshi for this reason, not to mention the doujinshi culture raises a fair share of new talents. I'm currently researching the position of western doujinshi artists for the fanzine I'm writing for, but there's also a matter of personal interest, since I help a couple of Dutch fan artists puting their work out. I'm especially interested in past cases of artists who were requested to drop their activities. All of your input, suggestions and comments on this matter are most welcome! |
|||
|
|||
cyrax777
 Posts: 1825 Location: the desert |
|
||
|
well there have been a few cases in japan of a dojin artist getting taken to court over there doujinshi so its not 100% legal when its based on someoneelse's characters its another case of the japanese looking the other way. That alot of manga artists started doing doujinshi. Hell most of the artists probly take it as a giant ego stroke.
|
|||
|
|||
animaniac
 Posts: 246 Location: Idaho |
|
||
|
No. Fan stuff unless its a complete remake with the exact happenings. I am assuming like fan fic with art. I like them.
|
|||
|
|||
Saturn
 Posts: 513 |
|
||
|
i think the "blind eye" effect occurs in japan too. its not entirely legal to make dj's there, but most anime/manga creators don't mind and publishing companies realize that the dj's are usually benefitting to the sales of that particular show.
in america its different because our copyright laws are so strict. however, i don't really know how companies react to american dj's of liscensed materials. i DO know, on the other hand, that when my doujinshi group wanted to do an anthology of gundam dj's, wanting everything to be legal, we emailed bandai about it and never ever got a reply. we didn't publish the book because of this, but it's apparently not a big deal, or you'd think they'd have responded -_-;; kira kira! |
|||
|
|||
|
Tiresias
Posts: 353 Location: Illinois, USA |
|
||
|
Don't forget, MegaTokyo is technically a doujinshi too, and that's being mass produced and sold and hasn't gotten in trouble yet, at least not that I know of. I was actually surprised to walk into our local Waldenbooks here today and find a copy of Volume 1 in with the rest of the manga.
|
|||
|
|||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group