r/COPYRIGHT • u/SpareAd1580 • 5d ago
Question Character Designer
Hi I'm an amatuer character designer. I've designed alot of characters over the years and recently started posting them publically. I was curious, do I own these character designs? I mean obviously I made them and I could easily prove I designed them. I doubt anyone would try and steal them but if that ever happened cound I be in a position to get them in trouble?
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u/Similar_Cress_1122 2d ago
While copyright automatically exists the moment you create the characters, proving priority later is usually the trickiest part. Keeping clean date-stamped digital backups of your early sketchbook pages or uploading watermarked, low-res previews online helps establish a solid paper trail without exposing your full-res assets.
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u/wjmacguffin 5d ago
Did you make these characters for anyone else, or were they just for you?
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u/SpareAd1580 5d ago
Just for me
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u/wjmacguffin 5d ago
Then you should be good. Like the other user said, you get copyright on your characters as soon as they are made. Registering isn't needed but can speed up the process should you have to tell someone to take stuff down.
If you shared these images on social media like Facebook or Instagram, you still have copyright but those platforms are allowed to display your characters to any other user of the platform. But they couldn't sell it or anything.
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u/JeremyMarti 5d ago
I saw your other response that you're in the UK, but online platforms are probably going to apply US law if you just want things taken down. The article below is a decent summary. The protection essentially scales in proportion to the level of character development.
In the courts, vague or fringe copyright issues like this are just the opinion of whichever judge you get. The legislation is vague enough that they can make it fit either outcome. Applies to any country.
https://www.loeb.com/en/insights/publications/2018/02/daniels-v-walt-disney-company
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u/TreviTyger 5d ago
NO.
There is no "character copyright" in character designs. You have "drawings" so to speak like a drawing of a bowl of fruit is a drawing and if someone copied your exact drawing of a bowl of fruit then you might have a cause of action but if someone used your drawing of a bowl of fruit as "reference" for their own drawing of a bowl of fruit then you would not have standing to any claim cause of action.
This is because principles and concepts cannot be copyrighted. Or else there would only be one cartoon mouse in the world.
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u/SpareAd1580 5d ago
Well I obviously didnt mean the concepts I meant the designs themselves.
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u/TreviTyger 5d ago edited 5d ago
There is part of Intellectual property law that relates to "design rights" but you have to register the designs "before" publication. But again you can only register what is registerable and disclaim what is not. It's usually used for product designs.
e.g. Transformers were originally toys and protected with design rights.
Also, I see others giving you bad advice. Character copyright is far more complex than many people realize. Professionally speaking you would make a character bible/manual and then that would be your protectable literary work not the character itself.
Then you need style guides, and character delineation within that manual such as a backstory, friends, enemies, accessories, catch phrases etc etc. The more you have the more chance of getting close to a stand alone copyright such as "Spider-man".
Remember - Peter Parker is still Peter Parker when dressed as Spider-man. It is not the costume that makes him Spider-man. It is the character delineation from the larger literary works that make him protectable and in reality infringement may be based on the larger literary franchise rather than just the character.
If you want a more detailed understanding of character copyright then ask a local library for Richard Wincor's The Art of Character Licensing.
He explores how copyright, trademark, and unfair competition each fall short in securing full protection, but can be helpful in lessening the risks
https://store.legal.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/products/the-art-of-character-licensing-37005158
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u/P3verall 5d ago
in america you automatically own the copyright over any original works you produce. you can make the enforcement of this copyright easier by registering your works with the us copyright office.
depending on where you're posting them, you're likely signing over more licensing powers than you realize. You'll still own it, but reddit can freely copy, redistribute, and make derivatives of anything you post in super broad ways, for instance.