http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... hts/.89972
I agree with the theories that there's some series they plan on airing this Summer/Fall that Funi had to agree to these rights to. For what it's worth, the legal-speak seems to be referring mainly to not including logos/names--though whether or not fans can sell fanart at convention artist alleys is another thing, I'm sure.
Wonder if this would affect any Eva fan artists on EGF?
Funimation statement regarding fan art (legal stuff)
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Funimation statement regarding fan art (legal stuff)
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Non-expert opinion:
Largely seems to be a codification of the status quo, really.
But I wonder what trademarks they are specifically interested in protecting, and why. Remember that the primary purpose of trademarks are to distinguish your business, brand, or product from others -- this is why they can be held in perpetuity, while copyright theoretically has a limited term, and also why you can't trademark a novel, for instance.
On the other hand, it is possible to some extent to trademark character designs and the like, not just words.
Funimation certainly doesn't want Artists' Alley folks selling stuff with Funi logos on it, and justifiably so, as it would be deceptive. But what about selling fanart that happens to include the word "Evangelion" in it? The argument that you have to "defend" your trademark to prevent your brand from becoming generic doesn't hold water for things like show titles when you allow fanart in a broader sense to continue.
Although, is it a common practice for doujin in Japan to avoid using the name of the original show? I'm not too familiar with doujin. It seems bizarre that the Japanese rightsholders, of all people, would push this on a US distributor when most anime creators got their start in doujin work.
Not to mention that most use of trademarks in the Artist Alley would be for parody or commentary purposes, one imagines. If someone makes a poster using the Evangelion 2.22 script style that says "EvaGeeks 2.22 You can (not) discuss politics in this thread" or something, that's protected speech.
In all it sounds to me like Funimation's legal department have managed to infect upper management with enough fear, uncertainty, and doubt so that they can deflect any blame from themselves for being unnecessarily heavy-handed. In some environments, lawyers certainly have incentives to be as conservative as possible so that they're seen as "doing their job." Maybe it's a symptom of Funi's closer relationship with Universal.
More on trademark dilution; the idea that Funi has to blindly block all third-party use of their trademarks is misleading to say the least: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark_dilution
Largely seems to be a codification of the status quo, really.
But I wonder what trademarks they are specifically interested in protecting, and why. Remember that the primary purpose of trademarks are to distinguish your business, brand, or product from others -- this is why they can be held in perpetuity, while copyright theoretically has a limited term, and also why you can't trademark a novel, for instance.
On the other hand, it is possible to some extent to trademark character designs and the like, not just words.
Funimation certainly doesn't want Artists' Alley folks selling stuff with Funi logos on it, and justifiably so, as it would be deceptive. But what about selling fanart that happens to include the word "Evangelion" in it? The argument that you have to "defend" your trademark to prevent your brand from becoming generic doesn't hold water for things like show titles when you allow fanart in a broader sense to continue.
Although, is it a common practice for doujin in Japan to avoid using the name of the original show? I'm not too familiar with doujin. It seems bizarre that the Japanese rightsholders, of all people, would push this on a US distributor when most anime creators got their start in doujin work.
Not to mention that most use of trademarks in the Artist Alley would be for parody or commentary purposes, one imagines. If someone makes a poster using the Evangelion 2.22 script style that says "EvaGeeks 2.22 You can (not) discuss politics in this thread" or something, that's protected speech.
In all it sounds to me like Funimation's legal department have managed to infect upper management with enough fear, uncertainty, and doubt so that they can deflect any blame from themselves for being unnecessarily heavy-handed. In some environments, lawyers certainly have incentives to be as conservative as possible so that they're seen as "doing their job." Maybe it's a symptom of Funi's closer relationship with Universal.
More on trademark dilution; the idea that Funi has to blindly block all third-party use of their trademarks is misleading to say the least: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark_dilution
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