Technically speaking, there's nothing illegal in the US about making and selling fan art because copyright isn't enforced criminally. Rather, copyright owners enforce their rights by suing infringers in federal civil court. If they win, they could get money from you.
Celebrities own the rights to their images, so by selling these you are breaking trademark infringement laws (and you can't use their names either). Fan art ceases to be fan art once you are selling it. All it takes is the IP owner issuing a takedown order and your listing is kaput.
Keep it Confined: Fan art does not belong anywhere on the site other than the fan art Gallery of the character(s) depicted in the fan art. Fan art should never be used in character profiles or on disambiguation pages.
Yes, AI-generated art can be sold just like any other artwork. In fact, there is a growing market for AI art, with some pieces selling for significant amounts of money.
You cannot legally copy a copyrighted character for sale or profit. That is the purpose of copyright. There are exceptions: parody is the most obvious, but there are other circumstances.
Technically speaking, there's nothing illegal in the US about making and selling fan art because copyright isn't enforced criminally. Rather, copyright owners enforce their rights by suing infringers in federal civil court. If they win, they could get money from you.
Yes, sketching or drawing someone else's photograph without their permission can potentially be a copyright violation. Copyright law grants exclusive rights to the owner of a photograph to control the use, reproduction, and distribution of their work.
But the US government has ruled it can't be copyrighted because it's too much “machine” and not enough “human.” An award-winning piece of AI art cannot be copyrighted, the US Copyright Office has ruled. The artwork, Théâtre D'opéra Spatial, was created by Matthew Allen and came first in last year's Colorado State Fair.
It is allowed. Even if you put the same or a nearly same prompt into AI as someone else, chances are you won't get the exact same picture. You don't just download an AI picture, then upload it to Etsy. First you have to find a program to enlarge it if you are making anything bigger than a mug.
Aug 21 (Reuters) - A work of art created by artificial intelligence without any human input cannot be copyrighted under U.S. law, a U.S. court in Washington, D.C., has ruled.
Images created by Marvel contracted artists are used with permission (see our copyright policy page) and are perfectly legal for public display on this non-profit fan-site. If you have found an image that is offensive or violates our copyright policy, please notify an administrator.
You don't. Marvel absolutely does not license their characters to outside authors anymore, at all. On occasion they will contract an outsider to do work for them, but it is absolutely not legally possible to use them as a character in your work.
As such, there are two types of intellectual property rights associated with both. You need a license for the copyrights associated with the actual images/drawings of the characters. You need a license for the trademarks associated with the Marvel/DC branding logos as well as some of the character logos.
Some common examples of trademark infringement on Etsy are related to these franchises: Star Wars, Marvel, DC Comics, Pokémon, Game of Thrones, Nintendo, Yeti, World of Warcraft, etc. You cannot sell products with any name associated with these franchises without first arranging specific paid licensing.
Lawyers can help clients understand possibilities and probablities, but we cannot guaranty outcomes. And there is nothing you can do (other than obtaining written permission from the celebrities in the paintings) to eliminate the risk that you would be sued by the celebrities if you sell the paintings.”
So, if you paint a picture of a celebrity, and sell it, does that infringe their right of publicity? The general rule is that if the painting is a straightforward, realistic depiction of the celebrity, this may be a violation of the celebrity's right of publicity.
Do you need a license to sell digital art on Etsy?
If you aren't familiar with local, state or federal business laws, you might turn to Etsy for guidance. However, you'll quickly discover the platform offers little help. Etsy doesn't require sellers to have a business license.
There's a growing trend for digital prints on Etsy. Customers prefer them over physical ones because they purchase unique and original pieces that cannot be found elsewhere. If you have digital art that you want to sell, you can create an Etsy shop and start listing your products for sale.
AI art is inherently derivative, scraping the work of human artists for training data—but the question of how much influence constitutes copyright violation, and how to appropriately compensate creators, is still up for debate.
AI art doesn't need to be solely digital. It can be used to make beautiful physical art prints to sell t-shirts, mugs and to decorate spaces and enhance the ambiance.
Some artists believe that AI-generated art lacks the emotional depth and authenticity that comes with human creativity. “Prompting AI and waiting for the result had become an addiction at some point.” They argue that AI cannot replicate the complexity of human emotion or the individuality of human expression.
The creation of a derivative work is by definition an infringement of copyright. The only person who can give permission for the creation of a derivative work is the owner of the copyright.
If you want to use someone else's work or copy it, or trace it, or significantly change it, whatever path you might choose without permission, it is copyright infringement.
How much do you have to change artwork to avoid copyright?
Only the owner of copyright in a work has the right to prepare, or to authorize someone else to create, a new version of that work. Accordingly, you cannot claim copyright to another's work, no matter how much you change it, unless you have the owner's consent.
