case: (Default)
Case ([personal profile] case) wrote in [community profile] fandomsecrets2014-11-09 04:20 pm

[ SECRET POST #2868 ]


⌈ Secret Post #2868 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 075 secrets from Secret Submission Post #410.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

(Anonymous) 2014-11-10 09:09 am (UTC)(link)
There can be a pretty wide variation when it comes to how each one of us imagines a book character though. I'm sure that for a lot of e.g. ASOFAI readers, the images of the GoT cast might not have been anything like they imagined the character (check out the fanart on the wikia -- some characters seemed to have a previously fannish-agreed image that bears no resemblance to the TV show). But now those characters, albeit in a different medium, do have a visual representation, so... where do you draw the line?

It's definitely harder to reach the burden of proof with a lot of fanart, especially those that depict the characters in non-canon situations. When you're identifying a character in writing, it's a little more clear-cut.

(Anonymous) 2014-11-10 09:30 pm (UTC)(link)
DA

Actually I think the ASoIaF example is a pretty good one of why it's much simpler for creators, should they choose to, to go after profitting fanfic rather than fanart.

Say I offer to sell a commissioned artwork of Daenarys, in my art style but based on the TV show. Who's copyright am I infriging here? The descriptions of the character in GRRM's intellectual property? HBO's costume, hair and make up department or their conceptual artists? Emilia Clarke's image rights? I'd argue that of them all, the latter has the best of flimsy cases, because she's the one who 'owns' the image I'd be selling unauthorized versions of, but even then, how much of an impact on her ability to sell those rights would a 2D drawing have?

If I offer to write a commissioned fanfic about Dany, however, and it becomes so much less convoluted and simple. I am infringing GRRM's intellectual property, and he'd be well within his rights to sue the shit out of me. I think it'd be ill advised, and no creator with a decent PR setup would do it (I agree with the people who've said they'd try to make money off it themselves, in which case you could kiss goodbye to the freedom of creativity and expression that exists within online fanfic) but he'd still be completely within his rights.

It's MUCH harder to pin copyright infringement on most fanart. Yes, obviously, if you're basically tracing Mickey Mouse and putting it on Etsy then Disney will shit bricks down upon you, but a great deal of fanwork is:

a) In the artist's own particular style, which is the thing they're popular for in the first place and why people would want their interpretation of the character, and

b) Vastly different from the original source.

Add in things like a huuuge proportion of fanart being for Japanese IP which not only deals with international laws but also with an industry that is far more tolerant of fanwork-as-free-publicity in general. That's why doujinshi is so prevalent, despite the fact that it's as illegal as anything else mentioned in these comments. Western IP owners do not treat copyright that way. You may or may not agree with their stance, but the fact is they can, will and do crack down if they're aware of things.

Fanfic is a different matter simply because, should creators decide to go after fanwriters, it's going to be much easier to build a case against them than it is fanartists. That's why people are more worried about the very awareness among TPTB of fanfic, let alone paid fanfic.