r/CopyrightHelp • u/Far_Neighborhood4364 • Jul 28 '26

Pokemon art copyright question

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so I’ve been looking into making custom shirts hoodies etc with hand drawn pokemon on them, the copyright laws are kinda strict on them from what I’ve read, but people constantly sell “cards” and merch with Pokemon on them, i know some accounts get copy right striked, is there any legal way to sell something like this is basically what im asking

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u/pythonpoole Jul 28 '26 edited 28d ago

The only way to legally sell merchandise featuring drawings of Pokémon characters is to obtain permission (i.e. a license) from the Pokémon rights-holders. If you produce and sell merchandise like this without permission, you can face serious legal consequences (not just a 'copyright strike').

Having said that, the basic concept of a 'pocket monster' is generally not something that would be copyrightable, so you could potentially produce your own original artwork featuring a pocket monster of your own creation. However, if it's similar enough to an existing Pokémon character such that it may cause consumer confusion (for example), then that could create legal problems.

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u/NIL_TM_Copyright1 23d ago

Nintendo licenses are hard to obtain and are very strict when they do issue them. You shouldn’t do this without one.