Character/Concept Copyright Question
RCDeschene
Posts: 2,801
I have a lot of characters that I plan on copyrighting into official projects, but not only am I concerned about showing these characters and concepts publicly without the CC in place, since I have these characters' imaged through the use of DAZ 3D renders and content, would I even be allowed to claim ownership of them at all? I'm not planning on distributing 3D meshes, but I don't want to expose my characters to unauthorized use either.
So, can I post them here or should I withhold them from sight?
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You need to look up copyright and get a better idea of how it works. Copyright is established at the time of creation in the US. Filing copyright only establishes extra copyright protection if someone violates your copyright. I don't know if you can copyright characters based on pre-made content, and besides, you trademark characters I think, not copyright them.
Before I comment, I want to mention that I am not an attorney of any sort, much less one specializing in copyright & trademark law. I did take a course in copyright law in college, so I probably have a bit more understanding of U.S. copyright law than the average person; in any matters involving law, however, it's always best to consult a lawyer specializing in the area that concerns you.
As far as using DAZ software and content, it's been stated here in the forums that 2D images you create are your property. A separate license is needed for other uses, like 3D printing or use in video games. You can do what you want with the 2D art you create; post your creations on the internet, make prints & sell them, whatever strikes your fancy.
The Wheelman is right, characters are trademarked, not copyrighted. Copyright covers the actual finished work (painting, song, sculpture, computer program, etc.). Trademark would cover things like the character's distinctive likeness, logo, and so on. Copyright is handled by the Library of Congress; trademark is handled by the Patent Office.
Creative works are protected by copyright law from the moment they are fixed in a tangible medium of expression. As long as it can be perceived by someone, either with their unaided senses, or with the aid of a device (a cd player, for example, would be necessary to perceive the music on the disc), it has protection. An idea that only exists in your head would have no protection, since no one can experience it.
It is a good idea, however, to always put your copyright notice on your works. For renders, it's easy enough in Photoshop or Gimp. A typical copyright notice might read: "Copyright 2013 by Your Name. All Rights Reserved". You can either spell out the word copyright, or use the © symbol. You don't need both.
If you're claiming ownership of the character(s) in your image, you would follow the character's name with the 'TM' symbol for an unregistered trademark. If you've registered your trademark with the Patent Office, you would use the ® symbol. A possible trademark notice might read: "All characters, their distinctive likenesses, and all related logos & indicia, are trademarks of My Name". All of this might seem a bit wordy to be putting in a corner of your work. You could probably get by with a simple "Character Name TM" followed by your copyright notice.
I hope all this helps more than it confuses. You don't have to register your work with the Copyright Office to have legal protection, but it always is a good idea. If the price for registering seems a bit pricey and you have a lot of pieces of art you want to register, you can also register the whole shebang as a collection, which is a lot cheaper.
Assuming you're in the U.S., here's a useful FAQ: http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/. And to reiterate, consultation with a lawyer can potentially save you a lot of money, and headaches, down the road.
I see now. Indeed, I'm quite dangerously ignorant to the ways of how these things function, and all explanations provided are greatly appreciated. The mentioned project in question is far from completed, so a full registration won't be doable until much further in the future. I'm simply seeking to present some of it's contents publicly like in my ArtZone Thread or at DeviantART in a way that allows me to retain ownership of them.
I would just put the copyright notice on any images you plan to post, and not worry about any sort of registration until your project is done. Then register the whole thing. That's pretty much what I'm doing.
I went from a finished story to an unfinished one (it's a loooooong story involving the ex-wife, too long and rather OT for this thread), and I've been slowly rewriting as I get the free time. The plan was always to have illustrations in it, rather than doing a normal comic (it's superhero stuff, but I can't draw a straight line with a ruler). I'm now at the point that I've got the characters themselves done in Studio, but since I don't have content, free or commercial, that will work for a lot of the uniforms, I'm having to learn how to create my own. It's fun, but it eats into the little bit of free time I have to work on the actual writing.
I've posted a few images (of the characters I do have uniforms for), but I'm not too worried about someone stealing them. I suppose the safest way to protect them is to not post anything to the web until the whole project is done, but sometimes it's nice to show the world what it is that you're working on.
How were these characters created? Dial spins? In a modeller? DFormers/magnets? Unless you are planning on selling these characters, exact duplication is rather difficult. Another content creator may create a morph that looks similar to a character you created but that doesn't mean they copied your work.
While I see nothing wrong with what's been said so far, I'll repeat the old saw: Free legal advice is worth what you paid for it.
Intellectual Property law is very complex. If you're serious about wanting to make money off of your work, talk with a lawyer first.
Copyright tends to get used rather loosely to mean any intellectual property, but in reality it protects only one type of intellectual property, the explicit expression of a created work. You can copyright a drawing, rendering, and animation of a character. You can copyright stories and songs about the character. You cannot copyright the character itself, for that you use a trademark.
Copyrights, registered or unregistered are all represented with the copyright symbol ©.
Trademarks that are registered are represented with the letter R in a circle ®. Trademarks that are unregistered are represented with the TM symbol ™. It is very expensive and time consuming to register a trademark so that's usually only done by larger corporations. Most artists works would be unregistered trademarks. It is illegal to claim a trademark to be registered if it is not.
So your drawings of a character would be copyrighted and the character itself could be trademarked. If it was a superhero then your drawings of its costume would be copyrighted but the costume itself could be trademarked (things like the Superman and Batman symbol are registered trademarks of DC).
If I recall correctly, in Canada you're only allowed to use the ™ symbol if you're in the process of registering the trademark.
If I recall correctly.
(As I already said, Intellectual Property law is very complex.)
If I recall correctly, in Canada you're only allowed to use the ™ symbol if you're in the process of registering the trademark.
If I recall correctly.
(As I already said, Intellectual Property law is very complex.)
http://www.corporationcentre.ca/docen/home/faq.asp?id=tm#q7
7. Do I Need to use the "TM" or "®" for my Trade-Mark?
Although not required by law to do so, trademark owners often indicate ownership or registration of their trademark through certain symbols, namely "TM" (trademark) or "®" (registered trademark). The "TM" symbol can be used with a trademark regardless of whether it is registered, as long as it is being used in association with wares or services. The "®" symbol, however, may only be used once the trademark is registered.
No, all inquired characters and concepts are going to be under my ownership and project direction. However, this is why I question the legality of calling these characters mine on any level, BECAUSE they are made with purchased character and figure morphs that any common DAZ/Poser user could replicate.
No, all inquired characters and concepts are going to be under my ownership and project direction. However, this is why I question the legality of calling these characters mine on any level, BECAUSE they are made with purchased character and figure morphs that any common DAZ/Poser user could replicate.
You would have to contact an actual lawyer.
But as far as I understand of my years in this biz....You can claim rights to your character (his name and such), but if you use resources that are commonly available for other people to use and potentially make a similar character, then you cannot claim a right to that look.
Your best bet would be to have any main characters you need custom made and not from products publicly available if you are worried about people knocking off your character.
Rawn
You would have to contact an actual lawyer.
But as far as I understand of my years in this biz....You can claim rights to your character (his name and such), but if you use resources that are commonly available for other people to use and potentially make a similar character, then you cannot claim a right to that look.
Your best bet would be to have any main characters you need custom made and not from products publicly available if you are worried about people knocking off your character.
Rawn
It's why I asked how the characters were generated. Custom morphs created in an app such as ZBrush or even made using magnets are vastly different from morphs created from purchased products.
When the OP states they used purchased characters what exactly does that mean? Are these another artist's actual character pack that is sold either here at DAZ or some other site?
Are the figure morphs from a merchant resource?
I remember the last great copyright infringement battle over at Rendo some years ago. One of the problems early on was the fact that both parties had used the same set of human resource photos from 3d.sk. It got way beyond that an into the just plain bizzare but part of the foundation lay in the fact that both parties used the same set of resources so there was no way there were not going to be similarities.
http://www.corporationcentre.ca/docen/home/faq.asp?id=tm#q7
7. Do I Need to use the "TM" or "®" for my Trade-Mark?
Although not required by law to do so, trademark owners often indicate ownership or registration of their trademark through certain symbols, namely "TM" (trademark) or "®" (registered trademark). The "TM" symbol can be used with a trademark regardless of whether it is registered, as long as it is being used in association with wares or services. The "®" symbol, however, may only be used once the trademark is registered.
Obviously, I did not recall correctly. Thanks for the recovery on my fumble.
Hmmmmm... If I'm reading this government webpage correctly, you don't even need to use the ™ symbol to have a trademark in Canada.
Nope you don't. Even with copyright you don't have to put the copyright notice on your work to be protected. It used to be if the copyright notice wasn't on the work then it wasn't protected by copyright but they got rid of that rule back in the 70s. Now works are protected from the moment of creation. With trademarks and copyright you need not put the © ®™ symbols to be protected. The reason why people put those on is in case someone tries to claim in court they did not know they were violating protected intellectual property as a defence.
You can't claim you didn't know it was copyrighted if there's a big ol' copyright notice on the work.
I am not a lawyer either, but i do not believe it is appropriate in this sense to obtain a trademark for these characters unless the characters represent the organization. It sounds more like a copyright is valid here.
This is spelled out a little more in detail here: http://www.wwlegal.com/posts/property-in-fictional-characters/
But as suggested several times, please consult an attorney.
Good Luck!
-MJ
No, all inquired characters and concepts are going to be under my ownership and project direction. However, this is why I question the legality of calling these characters mine on any level, BECAUSE they are made with purchased character and figure morphs that any common DAZ/Poser user could replicate.
I suppose whether or not you can call the characters yours depends upon how you created them. Are you using Studio to visualize characters already in your head, or would you have never created them if you hadn't gotten Studio and the content you're using?
One downside to using pre-made content is that other people are also using that content, so there's always the possibility that someone else may do something that looks like one of your characters. On the other hand, it's probably not too likely that someone else will use the exact combination of morphs, skin texture, hair, clothing, shaders, and other items, so you shouldn't have any trouble with your characters being confused with someone else's.
I suppose the uniqueness of your characters could depend on the genre you're working in. With superheroes, most of the visual identity seems to depend on the costumes the characters wear. If you look at a character over a long span of time (Superman, for example), you'll see a lot of different interpretations, some nearly unrecognizable, but the blue, red, and yellow outfit with the 'S' emblem makes it clear who the character is.
In another genre, where characters are wearing ordinary clothes, identification may depend upon the characters' general builds and facial features. In this case, even more than the superhero example, you probably don't want to use a figure like Michael or Victoria without doing some customization; you would want to put your stamp on them so they have a unique look that isn't shared by characters created by others using the same resources.
Also, although I didn't find anything in the End User License Agreement about this, I think it would be good to give mention somewhere in your work (not in every illustration, but in an author's note or something like that) of the software you used and which artists' content. It might not be required, but it is nice to give credit.
You would have to contact an actual lawyer.
But as far as I understand of my years in this biz....You can claim rights to your character (his name and such), but if you use resources that are commonly available for other people to use and potentially make a similar character, then you cannot claim a right to that look.
Your best bet would be to have any main characters you need custom made and not from products publicly available if you are worried about people knocking off your character.
Rawn
I'm not so much as worried about that as much as I was worried about myself being able to claim ownership on a character image made with publicly available morphs. Any one can, does, and will make characters that are very similar to someone else's work, ESPECIALLY if this is in the realm of 3D hobby art. Despite the big selling points about Genesis having infinite possibilities, there's only so much you can do with an iconic character. In fact, that's one of the things professional 3D modelers scoff about with DAZ/Poser art, that all the characters look distinctly the same as the core figure they're morphed from, even customized ones (which I admit I do have to agree with to an extent).
As far I'm concerned with actually protecting my work from others, I just want it in place so I can submit my pieces openly without later seeing them in an online add or as someone's avatar/banner without my direct permission.
I suppose whether or not you can call the characters yours depends upon how you created them. Are you using Studio to visualize characters already in your head, or would you have never created them if you hadn't gotten Studio and the content you're using?
One downside to using pre-made content is that other people are also using that content, so there's always the possibility that someone else may do something that looks like one of your characters. On the other hand, it's probably not too likely that someone else will use the exact combination of morphs, skin texture, hair, clothing, shaders, and other items, so you shouldn't have any trouble with your characters being confused with someone else's.
I suppose the uniqueness of your characters could depend on the genre you're working in. With superheroes, most of the visual identity seems to depend on the costumes the characters wear. If you look at a character over a long span of time (Superman, for example), you'll see a lot of different interpretations, some nearly unrecognizable, but the blue, red, and yellow outfit with the 'S' emblem makes it clear who the character is.
In another genre, where characters are wearing ordinary clothes, identification may depend upon the characters' general builds and facial features. In this case, even more than the superhero example, you probably don't want to use a figure like Michael or Victoria without doing some customization; you would want to put your stamp on them so they have a unique look that isn't shared by characters created by others using the same resources.
Also, although I didn't find anything in the End User License Agreement about this, I think it would be good to give mention somewhere in your work (not in every illustration, but in an author's note or something like that) of the software you used and which artists' content. It might not be required, but it is nice to give credit.
Well, the thing with my characters are, all of them have significant anime stylization to them from various combinations of Aiko & Hiro, so they all kind of look alike to a fair extent (part of this is deliberate). But yes, each character has a unique costume to them that don't even use the a good deal of the textures their products came with (some articles don't have textures at all; they're simply wearing colored bare mesh). There are indeed many characters I know I would never have been able to visualize without intuitively dialing around character morphs in Studio or buying appealing products from the store.
Well...if you build with publicly available products, that might just be a risk that you might just have to accept.
You might be able to find a way to customize the textures you use or the morphs to make it somewhat more unique for yourself. Then there will be less of a chance, but simply using the publicly available products as they are, anyone can use them.
So when you say your characters are combinations of Aiko and Hiro, are we to take it to mean that you used DAZ morphs to create your characters via what is often referred to as "dial spins"?
Are any of the character morphs your own creation using either a third party app, DS dFormers or Poser's magnets and morph brush?
If these characters were all created from DAZ morphs, can someone even claim copyright over them as the morphs are already owned by DAZ?
Well, I actually consulted an attorney regarding this same issue as I am doing the same thing, and this is what was explained to me. But again, and i cannot stress enough... consult an attorney.
-MJ
A "dial spin character" is as you've guessed, a character image composed completely of purchased morphs and character presets. None of my characters involve any original mesh alteration save a few subtle scales for the sake of fitting adjustment. That's why I'm concerned about this doing this for myself. I can easily purchase, fill-out and submit a registration application right this very second if I so willed. But because of all the visual circumstances, can I really say I am at legal privilege to do so?
Some of you are saying that I am at liberty to call all my renders mine whether I pursue traditional methods of media ownership or not, but then there are those of you who seem to confirm my concern that, in all actuality, I can't. This definitely is going to have to result in me consulting an attorney, but it seems like that if I do, I'm most likely just going to be referred to the article that MJ already provided. So, it seems like my only solid sense of security would have be me hiring an artist to customize everything, unless self-created customizations from products like the Merchant Resource Kits and modeling shops (like DressShop) are claimable.
I don't think you can buy pre-made content, throw them on a pre-made character and trademark or copyright it. You're saying I can take V6, throw on the Ranger Outfit and copyright my character? Not likely.
I don't think you'd be able to copyright/trademark anything that is already for sale to others. Now if you make your own clothes and your character is truly "custom" then you could probably copyright that. Like a superhero character that you created with a custom uniform, then you could probably trademark the character. But not if someone could just go into the DAZ store and buy the assets.
I view this topic in terms of dial spins, etc. in the same manner as one would compare a pen/pencil in composing a song.
If I were to compose a song using existing words, it is the collection of those words that protect the end result of those written words.
So, if you compose a "character" of specific dial spins to achieve a uniqueness of that character to make it your own, I dont see how that would not qualify as protection of that end result as well. However, adding truly unique elements aid in that uniqueness, and further substantiates your claim of "ownership".
-MJ
A "dial spin character" is as you've guessed, a character image composed completely of purchased morphs and character presets. None of my characters involve any original mesh alteration save a few subtle scales for the sake of fitting adjustment. That's why I'm concerned about this doing this for myself. I can easily purchase, fill-out and submit a registration application right this very second if I so willed. But because of all the visual circumstances, can I really say I am at legal privilege to do so?
Some of you are saying that I am at liberty to call all my renders mine whether I pursue traditional methods of media ownership or not, but then there are those of you who seem to confirm my concern that, in all actuality, I can't. This definitely is going to have to result in me consulting an attorney, but it seems like that if I do, I'm most likely just going to be referred to the article that MJ already provided. So, it seems like my only solid sense of security would have be me hiring an artist to customize everything, unless self-created customizations from products like the Merchant Resource Kits and modeling shops (like DressShop) are claimable.
You really need to contact DAZ regarding this. No one here in the forums can give you a definite answer to this whole set of questions. Do this first.
Understand, even Merchant Resources are not without restrictions. Most Merchant Resources expect you to alter the product to a certain degree to make it "your own" if you intend to use it for commercial purposes. Since you have been asking about copyright and trademark, I am assuming that at some point you believe the project you are working on has commercial potential.
The EULA you agreed to is just that: an end user license. It grants you the use of the product to make animations and 2D renders. It does not grant you ownership or the right to claim copyright of the product or any part of the product itself. The morphs that you buy from DAZ are part of the product.
Still, it's best to get a ruling from DAZ themselves.
I was actually strongly think that. I'd rather get information from DAZ directly about my rights and before I bother a lawyer for free advice or start saving up cash for an artist. Though, what exactly do you mean that I am expected to alter a Merchant Resource Kit in order to call it my own? Alter it in what ways and to what exact degree?
I was actually strongly think that. I'd rather get information from DAZ directly about my rights and before I bother a lawyer for free advice or start saving up cash for an artist. Though, what exactly do you mean that I am expected to alter a Merchant Resource Kit in order to call it my own? Alter it in what ways and to what exact degree?
When I refer to Merchant resource kits, I am most often referring to those for creating textures. These products are considered bases and cannot be used commercially out of the box. Many vendors of MR's will list what percentage of the MR they expect to be altered so it is considered your work in the read me. If it is not listed, it is a good idea to contact the vendor. Besides giving you the information you require, it will give you written proof.
Skin MR's are altered using human resource photos. The primary source of these is 3d.sk. Rendo used to sell photo resource packages but after a major copyright brouhaha most of the photographers stopped adding to their stores and eventually most pulled out. While 3d.sk is a subscription site, if you intend to make your own textures (which if you are planning on claiming copyright or trademark on them they will have to be your own textures and not something you picked up at DAZ or Rendo), the offer pretty much everything you will need for texture work.
If you are referring to morph resource packages, I don't use them so I don't know what restrictions (if any) they have. Again, you will have to read the read me first and if anything is not clear, contact the vendor and get written clarification.