Turning G3 ponies into G4 ponies, advice?

[aurastarlucario.livejournal.com]

Okay, so I was shopping with my mom and found an older My Little Pony book
with older characters in it.
I thought it would be pretty cool to draw some of the characters as FiM ponies! :3


But if I charge small amounts of money(no more than $1, probably) to allow people to pick
a character and choose whether they're drawn anthro or not, or an outfit for the pony
to wear, is that bad?
Copyright wise? What about by artists' morals? Would it be better if I did this for free?
I didn't think of it as a problem at first, but these are copyrighted characters...
So what do I do? :c

Comments

[fiawol.livejournal.com]

Basically, you're violating the trademark (you hold the copyright on anything you draw yourself) of the Pony characters, but as long as you are only doing it with original artwork, not selling prints of it afterwards, I'm not away of any corporation who would actually go after you and sue you. The only case (and it's famous because it is the ONLY case) was Disney going after a daycare center that painted Disney characters on their walls, and they garnered so much bad publicity (and had other corporations like Hanna Barbera come in afterwards and offer to paint their walls for free) that corporations don't bother with it anymore unless you look to mass-produce and sell those images. Basically, it's no worse a copyright violation than going into a copy shop and making a copy of a picture from a book where you did not get permission from Random House first. We all do it, so don't lose too much sleep over it.

[aurastarlucario.livejournal.com]

Oh, I see. :3 Thanks!

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

I actually heard that Hasbro and the MLP creators are pretty okay with you doing fanart type things (including making custom ponies) as long as you don't market them as legit characters.

[lackoflollies.livejournal.com]

That's actually very comforting to hear. o.o

[aurastarlucario.livejournal.com]

That's a relief then. :)

[dizziness.livejournal.com]

This is true.
I was at the MLP fair in the Hasbro HQ this summer and was selling my fanart of their characters (artwork, both in badge form and original art). They rather enjoy seeing what people come up with... so long as the artist is not making a crap-ton of money off of them and not marking them as official!

[aurastarlucario.livejournal.com]

They actually commented on your fanart?
That's amazing!
I'm jealous. :)

[kuwaizair.livejournal.com]

don't they have decorating contests or something? or conventions. they even make plain ponies to paint(g3) that are solid white with no eyes for people to use (on suggestion) at parties as a favor+thing to do.

[aurastarlucario.livejournal.com]

At conventions, seriously?
Do furry ones have them? :D

[keeperofdreams.livejournal.com]

I saw a TON of custom ponies and pony-related stuff at AC this year.

[aurastarlucario.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's awesome!

Can't wait til I turn 16 so my mom can drag me there, then. xD

[candycornsnake.livejournal.com]

there are also little pony meets (cons) in almost everystate where people make custom ponies and do pony artwork. Hasbro is absolutely fine with this. Look up Custom My Little Pony on ebay for an eyeful.
Or try www.mlptp.net for a world of pony fans!
I was also at the hasbro headquarters this year and got wonderful comments from their designers and execs on my art and customs. It was a ton of fun!

[aurastarlucario.livejournal.com]

You're so lucky. ;3;

[mrst4nkr.livejournal.com]

Hasbro seriously doesn't give it a second thought. It gets them more publicity and they know it. If I ever find out someone has been sued by hasbro for them drawing a rendition of ponies/customizing ponies/using pony merchandise (stickers in resin, etc.) in their crafts and selling them, I'll let you know.

Til then, I wouldn't be very concerned.

[aurastarlucario.livejournal.com]

Okay, thank you!

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

Only thing I've ever seen Hasbro do is ask that pony custom artist not use their packaging in such a way that their mods can be passed off as legit ponies.

[aurastarlucario.livejournal.com]

That makes perfect sense. :p

[immortalpanda.livejournal.com]

exactly. They get upset if you use their artwork and try to pass it off as a legit pony (especially for profit) but if you make your own custom box art they don't mind.

[sigilgoat.livejournal.com]

You should be fine doing whatever. Disney is the only company I've really heard of that throws a fit over stuff.

However, just be completely aware of the fact you're using someone elses creative ideas for profit. I know I might get some flak for saying that, but that's what selling fan-art does @__@

[aurastarlucario.livejournal.com]

Oh don't worry, I'm aware of that- my fursona happens to be a Lucario.
It was the making money part I was worried about. :\

[mrst4nkr.livejournal.com]

Warner Brothers is kind of funny about it too. :X In fact, I have seen them pull Batman and Harry Potter OOAK my little pony customs from ebay because of the rights infringement thingy.

[sigilgoat.livejournal.com]

Ah okay, good to know 8D

[immortalpanda.livejournal.com]

Hasbro doesn't mind at all. I've been doing it for years with no problem :)

[leahtaur.livejournal.com]

Do charge more than $1! If you're using Paypal, the funds will eat up about a third of that.

[aurastarlucario.livejournal.com]

What do you mean by funds?

Don't tell me it actually eats my my girlfriend's money?!?! o__0

[vaxtorino.livejournal.com]

PayPal charges a fee if you receive money. If you receive under $3000, it's 2.9% + $0.30, which is basically $0.30 for every $1 you receive. You'd really only be receiving $0.70.
(It's really $0.30029, but the fractions of a cent would take a while to make a serious impact)

It *might* be different now, I'm not sure, but that's what I remember.

[aurastarlucario.livejournal.com]

Damn it. :c
Then what do I charge?

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

If you want to go 'small' on the payments at the very least $5.50, or flatly round it up to $6 which would have included the roughly $.50 Merchant fee.

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

Though definitely don't specify that you're charging more due to the fee. Requiring the customer pay for the fee is also against PayPal's TOS. You can charge more, but it has to be for everyone, not just PayPal payments.

[gargoylekitty.livejournal.com]

Think it depends on how you receive it though. For example, for eBay auctions, it only charges me if I send an invoice, but if the person pays without one sent then Paypal doesn't touch it(though eBay does take it's cut...). I think fees are avoided also if you pay under 'personal'. At least that's how it was last I used it that way.

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

FYI, you can get your PayPal account suspended for taking "Personal" payments for business transactions.

You should always ask customers to send payment for a "Good" or "Service". If it's just a digital picture, pick 'Service', since you're not shipping them a physical item. Yes, it takes out the fee, but better than getting suspended.

[gargoylekitty.livejournal.com]

Ah, well I've mostly been using it in instances of someone buying something for someone that doesn't exist where they live and paying that person the cost + shipping to pick it up for them, not really sales.

Though good to know!

[aurastarlucario.livejournal.com]

Awww...

:c


I'll have to remember all this for if I get my own.
Sorry, I wish I'd known that earlier...


I think I should just do these for free. xD

[dinogrrl.livejournal.com]

On the one hand, yes, you are doing stuff with a character that's not yours that you could technically get sued over.

On the other hand, Hasbro is pretty darn embracing of their fan base. I've never heard of them coming down on anyone for selling fan works on the Transformers side of things, and I imagine it's the same for the MLP fan base.

That being said, whether or not it's okay by artistic morals and ethics is up to you. My personal ethics say it's not; I did it once (a commission with an official character, Hasbro no less) and it makes me uncomfortable to this day.

[stormslegacy.livejournal.com]

As other people have said, Hasbro has been wicked awesome about their fanbase and even releases official ponies for the community's conventions. The only person I've ever seen even threatened for a custom pony was nachtlit for her Snow Queen pony which looked uncannily like the actress, and the actress was upset.

[aurastarlucario.livejournal.com]

I never understood why someone would get upset about something like that. :\

[grygon.livejournal.com]

As a fan of the original MLP (and I still have a hard time with the new toon), I am glad to see a new fan getting into the old toon. :)

[snobahr.livejournal.com]

My Little Fauxnies :)

[aurastarlucario.livejournal.com]

?

[albinowolf.livejournal.com]

Pronounce it. My Little Phonies. =)

[aurastarlucario.livejournal.com]

?!

I don't mean to be rude, but did you understand the journal?
I'm going to draw older ponies in the style of the G4 ponies. :\

[albinowolf.livejournal.com]

Yes, I did. I just thought your '?' meant you didn't understand what the other comment meant. Was just trying to be helpful.

[aurastarlucario.livejournal.com]

Oh. Ok then xD

I sure wonder why the other person said what they did then. lol

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

I believe they were intending to refer to the fact that you're making faux My Little Ponies, rather than official Hasbro ponies.

[aurastarlucario.livejournal.com]

Where in StarClan's name did you get that idea? o__0


I'm drawing -offical- ponies from older generations in Lauren Faust's style! xD

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

But they're not -official- Hasbro product. That's the point. Made to look like the real thing, but not the real thing.

[aurastarlucario.livejournal.com]

Oh. derp. xD


Sorry, I'm a bit slow. ;3;