Only the original creator can use any of the characters and nobody else is allowed unless been given permission or you pay royalties. However, many are still selling fan art without permission and get away with it as they do not get too widespread with their work.
Thus a drawing, picture, depiction, or written description of a character can be registered for copyright. Protection does not, however, extend to the title or general theme for a cartoon or comic strip, the general idea or name for characters depicted, or their intangible attributes.
You are not allowed to sell works based on existing copyrighted characters without first getting the express consent of the person who holds the copyright for that specific character. There are ways to try and get their permission, such as trying to write a letter or emailing them.
You can't use copyrighted work without the owner's permission — but that doesn't mean you can't negotiate for permission after the fact. If your fan art is already well-established and you have a loyal following, you might be able to pay a licensing fee to the copyright owner.
You cannot legally make and sell any product with Disney lyrics, quotes, or characters on it without permission from The Walt Disney World Company.
Unless you're in possession of a license(more on this later) from the licensing department of Disney, you're not allowed to sell any of their products. If you have purchased original products, you may be eligible to sell them on Etsy under the first sale doctrine.
In order to use the characters legally, you must request permission from Disney Enterprises. Multiple corporate entities of Disney own many of the intellectual property rights of Disney characters.
Final word. So far there isn't much guidance from the courts, either in Australia or overseas, about the legality of fan-works. Although it may seem that many artists and copyright owners tolerate fan-works, the key word to remember is tolerate.
Fair use is a legal doctrine that permits limited use of works protected by copyright without requiring permission from the copyright holder.
One way to make sure your intended use of a copyrighted work is lawful is to obtain permission or a license from the copyright owner. Contact a copyright owner or author as far as pos- sible in advance of when you want to use the material specified in your permissions request.
As a general rule, you shouldn't sell crafts with any character, image or logo that's not your own. Etsy can and will remove items or ban you for selling work that infringes on others' intellectual property rights — that includes copyrights, trademarks and patents.
Note that you also cannot sell derivative artworks made of copyrighted characters. That means you cannot draw a Mickey Mouse design by yourself and put it on your t-shirt to sell it for profit. Derivative artworks are also considered copyright infringement.
It is legal to copy anything. It is illegal to sell, publicize and publish a copy of an artwork unless you have prior permission from the copyright owner.
Art Created By Artificial Intelligence Can't Be Copyrighted, US Agency Rules.
Copyright protection is available to both characters that have been solely described in writing, as well as characters depicted in a visual or graphic form. What is required is that the character in question possesses original or a set of distinctive traits, and visual representation is not essential.
Getting permission to use copyrighted cartoons and other material is easy. All you have to do is contact the owner of the copyright—usually the creator of the material—and ask for permission.
How much of someone else's work can I use without getting permission? Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports.
Shakespeare's ideas are not protected
Shakespeare has been invoked more than any other artist to explain the idea/expression dichotomy in copyright law, in other words, the notion that ideas are not protected but the fixed expression of those ideas may be.
Whereas individual artist's websites and social media platforms are essential networking tools, designed to help manage existing clients, you will also need to tap into online sales platforms aka Etsy, Bluethumb, Amazon Art or Saatchi Online. In Australia, Art Pharmacy is a good place to start a conversation also.
If the owner does not consent to a particular use of a work, fan art may be considered infringement of either the copyright and/or trademark of the original work that the art is based on.
Also unlike the U.S and its “derivative work” protection Australia does not provide copyright protection against independent creations based of the Original creator, which is essentially fanfiction.
As such, there are two types of intellectual property rights associated with both. You need a license for the copyrights associated with the actual images/drawings of the characters. You need a license for the trademarks associated with the Marvel/DC branding logos as well as some of the character logos.
Disney does not own the rights to mouse ears. What they do own the rights to is Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. So, while ears are okay, the silhouette (including the head of the mice) is not okay. Likewise, anything that resembles the likeness of a character is not okay.
Disney's intellectual property is enormously valuable to them, and so they vigorously defend their copyright when others infringe it. If they permitted people to use their intellectual property without authorization and compensation, the property would lose value.