1/29/2006

I really couldn’t believe this one when I read it…more of a “personal note” kind of post than usual, but hey, I was always supposed to be a bit more personal in this blog than I naturally tend to be…

Otakon’s Artists Alley will be actively disallowing the sale of unlicensed copyrighted materials. If you own it, you can sell it. If you have license to it, you can sell it. But if it has material (images, sounds, etc.), in whole or in part, to which you DO NOT have permission to sell, then that material will not be allowed in the Artists Alley. Anyone found in violation of this rule loses their retail space in Artists Alley for the remainder of the convention. (The above statement will be officially/legally worded and posted on the site during February, after our lawyer and Otakorp President have approved it.)

I’ll point out, in case I come under fire by Otakon, that this is not the final, official policy, it has not yet been publically announced, but was posted on the Otakon BBS by department head in charge of Artists’ Alley. Despite the title of that thread being “Official Changes for Artists Alley – 2006″, it is not yet certain what will happen, especially since there’s been a significant backlash in the fan community that has prompted staff to tell everyone repeatedly how unofficial an announcement it is.

In any case, you North American artists who attend this con, be prepared to either voice your concern with the new policy, or buckle down and go the way of the Original Character. Personally, I stopped selling in the Art Show two years ago as a result of some irritating red tape…the credit card requirement scared off many younger buyers, so sales dropped like a rock. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb here by expecting that this new no-fanart (and while the Ota staff refrained from using this term, I’m using “fanart” in the most widely understood form, “art using characters that do not belong to you” sense) rule is going to mean a serious loss of profit for both the artists and the con itself. As I understand, Alley tables are pretty pricey, and not only will many artists not return due to the new rules, but if the 2006 artists don’t profit, they likely won’t be back next year. It’s notable, also, that Otakon did NOT come under fire by any copyright holders as far as we’ve been told. To quote the post of a staff member on their BBS, the reason for the change is “to promote original artwork made by fans, and to reign in the most blatant violations of intellectual property rights”.

This could be the first in an avalanche of things that will make anime cons as a whole a lot less enjoyable. What’s next? The AMV contest, or perhaps the Masquerade?

Guess we’ll have to wait and see where this one goes.

Source: Otakon BBS
(requires registration, and linked thread is now locked, but feel free to read through it for yourselves)