Parody or copyright infringement?

Fyda

Hey there!

I need some advice - I really like to draw, now I wanted to sell some of my art on sites like spreadshirt.ie (for those who don't know it: it's a website where artists can use their work and everyone who likes it can order a print, a t-shirt, etc. of it).

I've seen some great t-shirts that refer to well known movies, games, tv shows, etc., kind of fan art - is it allowed to sell these?

To give you an example:
Let's say I'm a big fan of Hello Kitty. I draw a picture of he, upload it and people can buy shirts with this picture on it. While I didn't create Hello Kitty the picture itself was mine.

Normally I'd say it's copyright infringement. The I stumbled over this: http://imgur.com/gallery/qzLMQXG - where one person asks a similar question and the artist explains it qualifies as parody.

So...can anyone here tell me where the difference is? I'd love to draw such parody pictures as well, but I want to make sure I don't get into trouble for copyright infringement. I also doubt that I'll make too much money with it, it's more for fun actually - and because I want to give others the opportunity to wear my art, just like the "Beer Time"-guy.

Wheelnut

I would think that a cartoon character is somebody's creation, so if you redraw that character in a recognisable way it is an infringement in some way.

On the other hand if you drew a public personality in a recognisable way, that would be your creation.

Grolschevik

Qwertee do this with recognisable comic book/fictional characters every day. But I don't know on what basis they do it.

Fyda

Grolschevik wrote: »

Qwertee do this with recognisable comic book/fictional characters every day. But I don't know on what basis they do it.

Yeah, Qwertee is a really good example. If I look at the stuff they sell I seriously start doubting that it's copyright infringement - but I'd love to be sure...

(And also thanks to Wheelnut for responding! That's what came to my mind too, but...yeah, I'm absolutely not sure at all).

Any further information is warmly welcome!

WhiteWalls

Doing this in coll at the moment, you won't hear anything about it unless you make a lot of money from it

Fyda

WhiteWalls wrote: »

Doing this in coll at the moment, you won't hear anything about it unless you make a lot of money from it

So...a few euros/dollars a month would be fine? (to be honest, I don't expect to earn even that^^ but I want to be sure that I don't misunderstand anything^^).

Do you have a source for this? (Don't get me wrong, I do believe you - I just want to "proof" it in case someone asks.

Kettleson

White walls is spot on. If a large company with deep pockets mass produced for sale, an image/T-shirt that it could be argued that it has been copied from elsewhere, then the original copyright owners lawyers would very soon be on the case.

The tiny copyright infringers are not worth chasing, but it could be argued and proved that they have breached copyright. But why sue them if they haven't got the funds to pay up.