At 10:50 11/26/96, mcber@interserf.net wrote:
Hrmmmm, alright, now I'm _really_ confused about the copyright
issue. I was told by the person in charge of our Student Activites that I
was not allowed to show films without sending lots of money to the company
that owned the copyrights. (He called this 'buying the copyrights') I also
talked to the club that runs our $1 movies, and they said it cost between
$300-$1500 to get the right to show the film on campus. <sighs> I had
assumed from all the little 'sorry I'm violating yer copyright' notices that
I, and everyone else slap on FanFiction, that the companies could care
less... just as long as we're not getting paid.
It really isn't all that comlicated. But the person in charge of your
student activities is an idiot. (If you were "buying the copyrights" then
you would OWN the rights to Ranma, or whatever, and be a potentially very
wealthy woman - they are NOT going to sell the copyrights - believe Zen.)
First of all, Anime companies want to promote their product - as a result,
they are inclined to grant permission for public showings rather freely.
All it usually takes is the courtesy to ask. Hell, if you ask, some of
them will even send you flyers and catalogs to give out at the showings.
The more people see and like what they have, the more money they make, and
the happier they are.
Zen will try and dig up phone numbers for you, but if you cannot find an
e-mail address for the ompany's permissions department, all you really have
to doi is call on the phone -
Tell them that you are putting together a small anime event, and that you
would like permission to show some of their titles at the event. They may
ask you for specific titles that yo intend to show. (They *might* even
offer to provide the tapes. This is rare, but Zen has seen it happen.)
Answer all of their questions fully and courteously, and there should be no
problem. Expect them to ask what your projected attendance will be - and
have a number ready for them.
Now, on to disclaimers on fan fics -
Zen will dust off his previous essays on the subject, and repost them next
week, if anyone wants, but the long and the short of it is:
Fanfics are a technical violation of copyright. Period.
Disclaimers will NOT protect an author if the owner of the copyright wishes
to sue
Disclaimers DO help prevent owners from WANTING to sue.
Why? Because they
1) Reduce the threat to the validity of the owner's copyright to nil in
legal terms
2) Acknowledge the ownership of the characters on behalf of the real
owners, so that they know their work is not being abrogated.
3) Indicate that the use of the characters is outside of the scope defined
by the creator, and that such use is admittedly not "canon" or binding on
the creator - no one will tell Takahashi-sensei "Yes, but in such a fic,
Ranma did this, so your new story won't work"
4) Indicate that the author of the fic is not trying to make any profit
from the use of characters without compensation to the creator for their
use. In short, they assure the copyright holder that the fic is not
"competition" - not a threat to their market share.
While not disclaimer related, fanfics are also tolerated by these
creators/copyright owners because:
1) They are a sincere form of flattery
2) They establish a fan base for characters and the works from which they derive
3) They actively PROMOTE these original works to people that might
otherwise not have decided to buy
Example, Several people Zen knows of have bought the Nuku^2 tapes after
having read Lawson's Nuku fics. It works.
The properly constructed disclaimer should accomplish the following:
1) Acknowledge the ownership of the copyright
2) Specify that no claims to said copyright are made by the fic writer
3) Acknowledge that the use is without permission
4) Specify that the use is non-commercial - for the enjoyment of fans only.
Other elements may be included, but these are the important ones.
Zen will leave a more detailed discussion to the essay, if anyone wants it.
Sorry for rambling!
Does anyone have the emails/addresses of the Anime companies that
would let me show their films? (Several people have mentioned that if I just
ask nicely, they will prob'ly let me ^_^ yea! )
Zen'll see what he can do.
Zen the Heretic-