[StitchShoppe]

Can anyone link me to any info regarding Animie. My daughter and her friends have a club with a lot of characters and art that they have invented and drawn themselves. I want to make sure its OK to print on shirts and sell them.
It seems very confusing even down to the 2 different spellings anime/animie

 

[Rodney]

If they are original characters (not based of existing characters) that they have invented and drawn themselves, I don't see what issues their might be?

 

[StitchShoppe]

What if they turn out to be too similar to an existing character? I just want to make sure before I make any type of commitment to this. Are their really 2 different spellings of this anime/animie as in cartoon/cartoon network?

 

[TeeShirtSamurai]

Can anyone link me to any info regarding Animie. My daughter and her friends have a club with a lot of characters and art that they have invented and drawn themselves. I want to make sure its OK to print on shirts and sell them.
It seems very confusing even down to the 2 different spellings anime/animie

As Rodney said, if your daughters and her friends have come up with these characters on their own than you are free to print away.

The first spelling is correct, "anime," pronounced ah nee MAY, not ah nuh MEE. Anime is both the singular and plural form of the word.

 

[TeeShirtSamurai]

What if they turn out to be too similar to an existing character? I just want to make sure before I make any type of commitment to this. Are their really 2 different spellings of this anime/animie as in cartoon/cartoon network?

In that case you need to be very certain that they aren't copying the characters of their favorite TV show. If so, that would be bad.

Also, due to the tremendous amount of anime and the characters in the anime universe, whatever they are drawing will probably resemble something somewhere.

 

[StitchShoppe]

These kids told me that if it has been purchchased/imported to the US for distribution, then it is copyrited. If not it is not. Somehow this does'nt sound right. Afterall we are a nation that respects international copyrite.
Is that true?

 

[TeeShirtSamurai]

These kids told me that if it has been purchchased/imported to the US for distribution, then it is copyrited. If not it is not. Somehow this does'nt sound right. Afterall we are a nation that respects international copyrite.
Is that true?

I'm not a lawyer so I can't advise you (and neither can those kids!).

I guess I'm not understanding your question. I thought you said these were original drawings, now you are saying it's imported merchandise.

From this post it sounds like merchandise is being imported (probably from Japan) for resale in the U.S. This is very popular and can sometimes be lucrative but this is the wrong forum for discussing that.

 

[StitchShoppe]

I guess thats my point. I don't want to do anything illegal. I also don't want these kids to get in trouble for having possesion of copied anime materials they are not supposed to have. They are some very "enterprising" kids. Thanks for the info.

 

[TeeShirtSamurai]

I guess thats my point. I don't want to do anything illegal. I also don't want these kids to get in trouble for having possesion of copied anime materials they are not supposed to have.

Well, if you are unsure then I would a.) drop it altogether or b.) speak with a lawyer.

Good luck.

 

[Solmu]

These kids told me that if it has been purchchased/imported to the US for distribution, then it is copyrited. If not it is not.

The only thing worse than taking advice on copyright issues from this forum would be taking advice from those kids

Somehow this does'nt sound right.

Trust your instincts on this one.

Afterall we are a nation that respects international copyrite.

Exactly. Original works of anime are copyrighted and protected in the US, regardless of whether they've been imported into the US by a distribution company or not. The protection probably only extends to countries that have signed the various international copyright treaties (you'd need to check with a lawyer), but that covers Japan and any other country likely to be relevant.

It's possible that their (incorrect) ideas developed out of an unofficial moral code: work not freely available is often considered fair game for trade, whereas when a legitimate copy is available for purchase it should be purchased (this is more or less the principle behind abandonware - most people would consider it moral/reasonable, but it's still not legal). Regardless, it's incorrect from a legal viewpoint.

 

[Solmu]

What if they turn out to be too similar to an existing character?

There is such a thing as subconscious plagiarism, so they may be getting a little too close to the line without even realising (or intending) it. Anime is strongly conventional, so it's not hard to create similar characters without ever meaning to.

That said, because a character out of context is fairly generic, if you're not alluding to another show (i.e. you're not trying to get people to confuse your shirt with a well known show in order to profit), it should be fine. If the characters that have been created are given their own unique context (a comic or a backstory for example) that could go a long way. They just need to be their own thing.

Usual seek-advice-from-a-lawyer stuff applies, but if they're creating characters in a certain style, but not actually copying ideas from anywhere, it should be okay.

That said, to use a similar example companies like Marvel and DC will sue at the drop of a hat. They've taken people to court over extremely generic things that the general public would all consider public domain. I don't know how far these court cases generally get, but they shouldn't even make it past pre-trial (and almost certainly do).

You don't want to get sued, but you also don't want to miss out on an opportunity if it's fine to do so.

 

[StitchShoppe]

Thanks so much, I'm going to show this to them, and ask them again if they really invented and drew these charactors. They somehow look to professional to me. Thanks