Hi! I hope you’re having a great day! I had a quick question, when you were setting up your stores or websites to sell your fanart, did you need to get legal permission to do so or not? I’m interested in setting up my own store/website but I’m worried that I might get into trouble with posting my fan art so I wanted to ask what did you do in order to be able to sell your work. Thank you and have a great day!
Hey there!
I’m probably not the best person to answer this question, as I do not have a store and have never had a store, nor have I sold any of my art yet, though I would like to in the future ^ ^; Patreon is a bit grayer than most as it’s technically “supporting the act of creating art,” rather than the purchase of art itself.
That being said, selling fanworks is always going to be a legal grayzone. There are different laws and cultures surrounding it in every country, and it’s best to check out what other sellers in your region are doing, or ask someone who actually has a store.
In general though, for big, licensed Japanese media, there’s a don’t ask, don’t tell type policy. All Japanese anime companies are of course AWARE of the creation and sale of unofficial fanworks (kinda hard to miss the massive doujin conventions that are held every weekend). Many official companies even have their own booths at these conventions in a different hall, and doujins are sold in Animate as well, the huge official anime merch chain store.
You should never directly ask these companies for permission, because they cannot grant it and will be forced to say no. I’ve seen a few Western fans go out of their way to contact reps about this, and it makes me cringe because it can be quite harmful to the doujin community as a whole, when you force a company to formally acknowledge and issue a statement regarding fanworks.
In Japan at least, fan communities and official companies are generally thought to function in separate but parallel spheres. Most fans have a non verbal good faith agreement that they are all encouraging a community that buys and purchases all official media, and that their fan content is not for profit but rather to encourage greater fandom community, which in turn should benefit official companies. You should never attempt to replicate official merchandise or use official graphics, but create something unique that features your own art, and never for the sole purpose of profit but rather to share and spread love for the original content.
(also, don’t tag and bother official creators/companies with your fanworks unless they specifically request it. Kubo-sensei recently updated her instagram and specifically wrote in her bio to not tag her in unauthorized reproductions, that’s fanart, especially if you’re selling it. Don’t tell her or other creators that you’re doing illegal stuff with her work. She can look the other way only so long as you don’t force her to look, and self validation isn’t worth stressing her or other creators out and putting them in a legal pinch)
Some bigger companies though, such as D*sney and Pok*mon have been known to crack down on people though, and you are always taking a risk when selling fanworks.
There are also different cultures regarding what you can sell. For example, I’m aware that selling fanfiction in the U.S. is generally considered a no, but it’s relatively common in Japan.
When it comes to original content that is more private owned and indie that isn’t a big licensed company, you should exercise more caution though, and asking before creating your own content is respectful. An example that immediately comes to mind is Hom*stuck, which I believe the creator doesn’t want people to sell merch of.
Anyway, exercise caution, be respectful, do your research, and be aware of your particular environment. Know that you’re never going to get an official completely safe legal route to sell fanworks and that’s a risk you have to be willing to take, and then decide what you personally feel comfortable doing, is my advice. Hope it helped! ^ ^;
