Passionate Fans and Legal Ramifications
There is something about franchises, no matter if they are a series of books, movies, and/or games, that when they grab a hold of you there’s a very good chance you will defend them till the end of time. Sure, there are some bumps in the road, an entry into that franchise that you do not acknowledge, but for the most part you will always have fits of nostalgia when they come up in conversation. There’s also a group of like-minded individuals who want to create works of art to further show their love for that franchise. Unfortunately, these works of art potentially can get those diehard fans into legal trouble, and most of the trouble deals with making money off those works.
It makes total sense that an IP owner would want to protect their brand from others who could cause damage to their brand, or simply make money off something that isn’t theirs. There are many content creators out there who feel that they can’t truly “make it” without the help of their passion projects based off of existing IPs, and I’ve actually supported tons of these artists/creators at almost all the conventions I attend. Doing this makes me as guilty as the creators/artists themselves, and it is really hard for me to not want to support those artists/creators of IPs that I’m a diehard fan of. As a huge fan of a franchise when I see works of art that truly capture the essence of that series I can’t help but check my wallet to see if I can add it to my collection.
The thing is that as a consumer I get lost in the fandom, and because I don’t truly have an IP, yet, that people want to create tributes to, I don’t have the ability to understand where these companies are coming from. In reality what we, the consumers/fans of the series/franchise, are doing is buying “bootleg copies off the street corner”. There’s a part of my mind/heart that screams “but can’t the company see the level of devotion that this artist/creator has?”, and I know I’m not alone. Hell, I’ve just recently, in a past live show, struggled with trying to understand how a company could drop the hammer on fans with only the best of intentions who want to do something based on a big name IP. I also continue to struggle with the mindset of “well they have millions and millions of dollars. Why can’t they just let those who create passion projects on their IPs gain a little bit of money for their hard work?” or “how cruel and empty-hearted they are to attack their true fans!!”
I will admit that I still think that some of the recent crackdowns from some companies when dealing with YouTubers and streamers are a bit over the top, but after taking a deep dive down the “rabbit hole” of what is and isn’t considered Fair Use I am truly torn. I wish we could all just get along, hold hands, and sing Kumbaya, but I have now begun to see how things are from the other side. That’s not to say that there are not some companies out there that maliciously attack smaller entities just because they can squash them and take what they want be it ideas/content with a simple lawsuit, but I pray that is a rare occurrence. I’ll wrap this up by saying I totally understand where all these creators are coming from, and I hope that if they ask for permission (which is the only legal way to go about things) they are granted that permission to show off their passion projects and not get killed by legal actions.