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Legalities of Comic-convention fan art

This is a tremendous discussion of something that baffles me at every comic convention I attend: What are the legal parameters of selling art that features characters that you don’t have the proper licensing for?

Quick note: I keep seeing mistakes like this one in other sites that discuss this topic:*

It seemed to violate my understanding of copyright, but also everyone seems to be doing it.

Please don’t make this rookie mistake. Unless you’re talking about reproducing, say, a panel from a published comic, this isn’t a copyright issue. It’s an issue of trademark. Remember — copyright is the right to make a copy of a piece of art. If you draw a Captain America illustration, your issue is not one of copyright. Rather, you are entering the arena of trademark.

The content you are trying to access is only available to members.

by Brad Guigar on July 7, 2014
Posted In: Business
└ Tags: comic conventions, copyright, legal, trademark
Comments available to logged in users only.


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