Spiral Knights - Policy on the sale of commissions or custom works of art?

Policy on the sale of commissions or custom works of art?

16 replies [Last post]

Mon, 04/16/2012 - 20:49

Fluffyfoxxie

Just curious, I would like a an employee of OOO to enlighten me on this issue.

My girlfriend really likes the art style of Spiral Knights, and she wishes to create sculptures of Knights in the likeness of other people's Knights, but does not wish to expend her resources and time without proper compensation, as any artist should. She is currently working on her own Knight, when it is completed, I will post images here.

Does OOO have any policies against selling custom works of art based on their intellectual property?

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 07:37

Psycho-Dani

A wild Danizpsycho appears!

I think it's all down to discretion between the two parties. While it would seem in the ToS that trading art for CE is a no-no, I personally believe it's more of a gifting energy thing. I've paid a friend of mine some energy to do me a drawing, but I know it's good art, and I didn't mind paying for it. I am not aware of any policies that say "No u can not has arts based on our gaemz" But from what I've seen they do love to see fan art, check the SK twitter for example. I'm no employee, but from my point of view it's totally legit.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 07:57

Fallenhope

I don't understand a word you

I don't understand a word you guys said.
Probably because I'm a 15-year old idiot.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 09:30

Fluffyfoxxie

@ Psycho-Dani Thanks for the

@ Psycho-Dani

Thanks for the input :)

I am aware that fan art in and of itself is acceptable, but the key issue here is the SALE of fan art. It would be really nice to have a OOO employee shed some light on the subject.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 11:00

Alice-In-Pyroland

A fair deal of people are

A fair deal of people are already selling pictures for ce in the bazaar, I see no reason this would be treated any differently.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 11:02

Psycho-Dani

@Fluffy

Yeah, totally agree. I guess commisions for friends is totally seperate from near-enough making a living fro ma hobby, so it would be nice to get some Three-ringed light on this. Also I kinda wanna see these little sculptures, one thing I want on my desk is a little Deadly Virulisk :F

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 11:04

Fallconn

FALCON PUNCH!

^sounds like Daniz ^o^

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 11:35

Psycho-Dani

@Fallconn...

IF you read my first post like ANY capable forum goer would, you'd notice the subject I use for 99.9% of my posts starts with the subject like "A wild Danizpsycho appears!" Please, take your... lack of contributions elsewhere?

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 12:24

Fluffyfoxxie

Thanks for the feedback.

Thanks for the feedback. Hopefully the statuette gets completed soon, though it won't be painted. It'll still look great, though :) Hopefully some take interest.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 13:53

Tanonev

Be careful if you're planning to sell for RL money.

There's precedence for exchanging fan art for in-game stuff, and CE is apparently safe by precedent as well, but cash is a different beast (remember that CE has no cash value). IANAL, but from what I have heard from others, fan art is a form of derivative work, and *making money* off of a derivative work of someone else's copyright without their *explicit* permission does not go over well (if they decide to take you to court, they will have a very strong case). The reason for this is that there is a well-established appropriate means of doing this, namely acquiring a license, which may or may not involve paying royalties.

In short: If RL money is involved, do NOT rely on precedence; make sure you have an explicit agreement with OOO.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 14:24

#10

Extribble

Similarly to what Tanonev

Similarly to what Tanonev said, the selling of fan art for in-game currency/items is generally safe. Other games I play, such as Guild Wars, allow users to sell fan-art to one another for in-game currency without any issues. Also, considering the few commission threads that have been around for a while, I think someone from OOO would've stepped in by now to say "no", so I'd honestly not worry about it at all.

If you want to sell for real money I believe trademark/copyright issues would prevent you from doing so without proper authorization from OOO.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 14:37

#11

Fluffyfoxxie

That's why getting permission

That's why getting permission would be nice, but have none of you ever been to a convention of any sort? Or DeviantArt? Or Etsy? Cafepress? Any of those? Because, it seems that thousands upon thousands of people engage in the act of selling fan art or fanworks based on others' intellectual property, and I guarantee you that a very small percentage of them actually asked permission to do so, and very little is ever done about it from the companies' ends.

Personally, I feel as though producing fan art and fanworks for monetary compensation is not something most companies care about, for a number of reasons:

1.) The fan art/fanworks in question are not products that they, themselves, produce.
2.) The fan art/fanworks in question do not hurt the companies' bottom lines, due to above reason.
3.) The fan art/fanworks may actually generate additional income to said companies if the produced art is popular enough that it spreads the word about their intellectual properties.

If any of the above points are violated at any time, then perhaps the artist is at fault for infringement, but if not, I really don't see the harm.

Discuss?

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 14:37

#12

Trying-Too-Hard

But...

hobbyists sell fanart at expos and cons all the time.....

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 14:40

#13

Aphrodite

Community Manager

We love art created by fans

We love art created by fans of the game, but when real money exchanges hands there are copyright issues involved. Please ask the artist to contact support directly ( https://www.spiralknights.com/support/#mail ) explaining specifically what she is doing so we can review the case.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 14:44

#14

Fluffyfoxxie

Thanks Aphrodite, I will be

Thanks Aphrodite, I will be sure to have her send out mail explaining in detail what her projects entail! Though, we may wait until her first model is completed (the one she's making for herself based on her own Knight.)

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 15:06

#15

Hellohippo

@Fluffyfoxxie

Where have you been?!?!

And I want I want one!

Wed, 04/18/2012 - 18:23

#16

Tanonev

On fan art at conventions

It's important to recognize the difference between "can sue" and "will sue". CAN Square Enix successfully sue some artist who received $5 for making a sketch of Tifa at a gaming convention? Yes. WILL Square Enix sue said artist? Of course not, for myriad reasons: (1) they almost certainly don't know about said artist in the first place, (2) the effort it would take to pursue the lawsuit would far outweigh the amount of money they could collect, and (3) they would take a reputation hit for pursuing such a lawsuit. This difference, really, is like the difference between "Will I get in trouble?" and "Am I doing the right thing?"

On the note of whether fan works help or harm companies (or artists, or what not), the issues are far more subtle than they might first appear. One of the classic examples of why derivative works (and infringement in general) can be harmful is unintended association. If I take a piece of music from Spiral Knights, arrange a piano cover of it, and perform it at a political convention, I will create an association between that political party and that piece of music, which can create the impression that OOO supports said political party. This should be (and is, thanks to copyright law) something that OOO can prevent if it wishes. Similarly, if someone creates NSFW fan art of knights, that might give SK new customers that otherwise might not have even heard of the game, but it would also harm SK's reputation, steering it away from the creators' intent, even if it doesn't hurt the bottom line.

This is why in the end, it's always best to ask permission first. It never hurts to ask, and sometimes the owner might be willing to actively promote your work, which would give you even more exposure than you would get acting on your own.

Search

Policy on the sale of commissions or custom works of art?