Legal Cosplay Fandom

Copyrights and Trademarks for Fandom and Cosplay

The Atlanta Science Fiction and Fantasy Expo

3.11.17

Deborah Gonzalez, Esq., Letterbox LegalTiffany M. Simmons, Simmons Law

Dan Flores, ART IS KING Allyssa A Lewis, My Animation Life

Alex Speer, Letterbox Legal

DisclaimerThis presentation is for educational purposes

only and does not constitute legal advice. It is recommended that you seek legal counsel for

specific matters.

All copyrights and trademarks of images belong to their respective IP owners and are used under

Fair Use for educational purposes.

Introductions

• Deborah Gonzalez, Esq., Letterbox Legal• Tiffany M. Simmons, Simmons Law• Dan Flores, ART IS KING • Allyssa A Lewis, My Animation Life• Alex Speer, Letterbox Legal

IntroductionsWho are YOU?

What is a Fan?

• From: Fanatic• Noun: someone who

admires and supports a person, sport, sports team

• They can be a fan or a FAN• Enthusiastic, Ardent,

Passionate, Excitable

What is Cosplay?• From: Costume + Play

• Noun: The costume

• Noun: Person who wears the costumer – cosplayer.

What is Cosplay?

• Verb: The practice of dressing up as a character from a movie, book, or video game

• Verb: Performance art

Copyrights in Cosplay

• What is a copyright?– Legal protection of

intellectual work– Must be in a fixed tangible

format– Automatic– Registration

Copyrights in Cosplay

• What is protected?– Something in a fixed

tangible format– Not ideas– Clothing vs. costumes

(Functionality)

Copyrights in Cosplay

• Cosplay as “derivative work”– Cosplayers use a single

character not the entire work– Cosplayers change the

medium – from 2D to 3D• Cosplay as Fair Use– Not for profit, for fun– Parody

Trademarks in Cosplay

• What is a trademark?– A symbol that identifies a source in commerce– Automatic at time of use– Federal vs. state/common law trademarks– Registration

• What is protected by trademark?– Products and services

Trademarks in Cosplay• Trademarks in

Cosplay– Series titles

“Guardians of the Galaxy” “Marvel Comics”

– Character names/shapes “Mickey Mouse”

– World names “Pandora”

Copyrights/Trademarks in Cosplay

• When cosplay goes too far under the law?– Studios love fans– Fans translate into ticket and merchandise sales– But when fan actions disrupt or become

competition for those tickets and merchandise sales you have problems.

– Note: Copyrights exist. It is up to the creators whether to sue or not. No copyright police.

Copyrights/Trademarks in Cosplay

• When does cosplay go too far under the law?– promotional appearances, – photography and selling prints, – selling replicas, and – commissioning.

Copyrights/Trademarks in Cosplay

• Promotional appearances– If cosplayers are being paid for their appearance

as a personality, rather than as a specific character, it's generally of little concern what costumes they choose to wear.

– If they are advertised as a specific character, then that is commercial use of a character and they need consent and a license

Copyrights/Trademarks in Cosplay

• Selling Cosplay Prints– Mainly illegal – Disney and Warner Bros. very

litigious.– You are making money off someone else’s

characters/trademarks – so not fair use.– You could receive a cease & desist.– Giving them away for free may be ok – it depends.

Copyrights/Trademarks in Cosplay

• Selling Cosplay Prints– What about Fan Art/Fan Fiction?– No profit – usually no problem?– Showcasing your talent vs. selling your art.

Copyrights/Trademarks in Cosplay

• Selling Cosplay Prints– Public domain, a status indicating that the work is

no longer under copyright protection. – A work can go into the public domain if the

copyright has expired for example.– Tarzan, Robin Hood, and Betty Boop are three

examples of characters that are now in the public domain. (But not the Disney versions!)

Copyrights/Trademarks in Cosplay

• Selling Cosplay Props– Mainly illegal – the

potential to infringe on licensed merchandise that the copyright holder may be selling

– You could receive a cease & desist.

Copyrights/Trademarks in Cosplay

• Commissioning Cosplay Costumes– Mainly illegal –You could receive a cease & desist.– Offering a service (ie, sewing) rather than a

product (ie, a copyrighted costume design) you may be ok, but…

– Focus on original designs and transformative versions to be legally safe.

Copyrights/Trademarks in Cosplay

• Commissioning Cosplay Costumes– Mainly illegal –You could receive a cease & desist.– Offering a service (ie, sewing) rather than a

product (ie, a copyrighted costume design) you may be ok, but…

– Focus on original designs and transformative versions to be legally safe.

Copyrights/Trademarks in Cosplay

Copyrights/Trademarks in Cosplay

• Controversy/Bad Taste/Obscenity, etc.

Copyrights/Trademarks in Cosplay

• What to do if you receive a Cease & Desist Letter?– If your materials are online, take them down/off– Go to an entertainment attorney so they can write

a response– Do not ignore – it can be more expensive than just

a letter.

Q&A

Thank you!

– Deborah Gonzalez, Esq. deborah@letterboxlegal, www.letterboxlegal.com, @LetterboxLegal

– Tiffany Simmons, info@slfirmllc.com, http://www.slfirmllc.com

– Dan Flores, dan@artisking, www.artisking.org, @ArtisKing

– Alyssa Lewis, myaniationlife@gmail.com, http://www.myanimationlife.com, @Myanimationlife

– Alex Speer, alex@letterboxlegal.com

Thank you!