The Origami Forum

Hi, and sorry if there's already a topic for this (I ran a search first, I swear).

I was wondering if I could sell either diagrams or origami models that are obviously inspired by copyrighted material.
I saw that Satoshi Kamiya was doing it with his Chocobo, but he wasn't using the name "Chocobo" itself.
So is this the legal limit ? Can I make and sell a Chun-Li origami as long as I name the model "the kung-fu fighter" ?
What if I decide to do this for the whole Street Fighter series ? Would that be too much ?

Thanks in advance

Name them something else that isn't copyrighted.
Voila--legal.

The usual way is to rename it, but sometimes they go ahead and publish it as "Godzilla" or whatever. As a model, it's usually called by copyrighted name, with free diagrams, it's usually the copyrighted name, but just have a different name when you publish it for sale.

I have no legal expertise, but I would have thought you can use the name under fair use act, and if you get into trouble for anything it's more likely to be using likeness to whatever copyrighted character you fold.

no sure if you are more interested in money or recognition. I would not guess that you will make neough money selling model or diagrams to be a blip on the radar of most copyright holders.

If you want recognition write a letter to the copyright holder, most of the time they are supportive of fan art. Many will actively promote your work on their websites, facebook, etc and some will compensate you if it is on brand. I did some non origami stuff a few years ago dealing with angry birds. I sent it to the marketing guys at Rovio to ask permision to put it out there and they ended up asking me for permision to publish it themselves, fully credited to me and gave me a fair bit of swag in return.

Thanks for the replies !
I guess it can't hurt to ask for permission, indeed

Were you create an absolutely original model, without severely copying exactly the specific trademarked assets of the reference object, I would have to believe that violation of copyright cannot be asserted .
The cartoon origami designer, Halle, http://www.flickr.com/groups/1770854@N24/ , has published several books with origami models based on known cartoon figures.
Possibly, contact with him may reveal the protocol that he followed .
Obviously, communication with any reference source cannot do other than help .
I would have to encourage the observation of ethics, in that many things are marginally legal, but not necessarily undertaken in good spirit .
Additional information may be found by entering copyright in the search box of this forum. There are 30 pages of useful & somewhat less than useful information .

Dear gordigami, it seems you misunderstood the original question. Kicker asked whether you can sell models you created yourself after an existing character created by someone else. Lets say for example he folded a Mickey Mouse, would he be allowed to sell the model and diagrams he made or not? I for one am no lawyer and have absolutely no idea. But maybe the OAC knows more about this subject. This topic is not about the usual copyright infringement stuff that is most often discussed on this Forum, otherwise I would have said something earlier.

Thanks for the clarification , Anna, I am probably overly sensitive to issues and alterations of fair play that may portray origami folders in a poor light .
I probably should have simply opined that ethics , as well as legality , may need to be considered .
I do have some education in the law, but most certainly cannot properly address a speciality area such as copyright law, especially considering the unique variances on an international basis .
Yes, referral to the OAC is a great idea . No doubt someone of that group has already spoken to a specialist and can provide some illumination .

Once upon a time someone came up with an Origami Batman. A friend contacted DC Comics seeking permission to publish said diagrams and received a nastygram from the lawyers of said Comic company saying in polysyllabic legalese no.

DC doesn't seem too concerned with people selling fanmade items, considering the 21,637 results for "baman" on etsy.

http://www.etsy.com/search?q=batman&vie ... ship_to=US

that is a bit surprising, both DC and Marvel have generaly been very encouraging of fan art and would seem to be a prime example of a company that might actualy turn around and promote you if it was cool. On the other side of it they also seem likely to give no response at all as they technicaly do not accept unsolicited art submissions outside of their tallent searches and contests.

they are extremely protective of their licenses so i have no doubt that almost anything that crosses the line into a for profit enterprise is likely to get the nastygram.

This thread did start me thinking. The star wars origami book was a top seller on amazon last year. I wonder if Workman has thrown a pitch out to marvel/dc/disney/WB, etc.

steingar wrote:Once upon a time someone came up with an Origami Batman. A friend contacted DC Comics seeking permission to publish said diagrams and received a nastygram from the lawyers of said Comic company saying in polysyllabic legalese no.