Is there copyright in characters?

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. If the literary character is not depicted in a visual form, and has only been described in writing in a few lines, then the character cannot enjoy copyright.

Are game characters copyrighted?

Yes, video game characters are copyrighted. Under US law, you own the copyright on any intellectual property as soon as you create it, without any need to register it. Intellectual property includes essays, editorials, movies, books, video games, and lots of other things.

Are fictional character names copyrighted?

IANAL disclaimer but generally character names themselves cannot be copyrighted. They may be trademarked but only if the literary work/movie/or a related product were named after the character. So, trademark would only come into play for secondary characters in widely merchandised works.

Is it illegal to draw a copyrighted character?

Any commercial use of a copyrighted cartoon character without permission of the copyright holder is a violation of law. This includes the sale of any drawings or art works, either by themselves or in some other form such as on a T-shirt, team logo, advertisement, billboard, or promotional design.

Are Disney character names copyrighted?

Disney holds numerous copyrights and trademarks that restrict the use of the names and images of its characters. The copyrights give Disney the exclusive right to use the characters. Not only does Disney hold substantial intellectual property rights in its characters, it strictly enforces those rights.

Can I draw a character and sell it?

The laws say you are not allowed to profit off of someone’s copyrighted characters. The only way you can be sure is if you have written permission from the copyright holder. They can still go after you if you are creating derivative works from copyrighted characters.

Is Tom and Jerry out of copyright?

In contrast, the cartoon characters Tom and Jerry were completely original creations, not based on previous literary material, with copyrightable characters established entirely by their films. Therefore, Tom and Jerry are fully entitled to the copyright protection afforded the films.

Are character voices copyrighted?

There is not copyright or trademark right to a voice. Having said that phrases associated with characters, real or fictional, may be legally protected. So long as you do not mix the two, you can say what you want with any voice you want.

Can a fictional character be copyrighted?

Further, there can be no copyright in mere ideas and facts, but only in the unique expression of the same. US Copyright Statute of 1976 does not explicitly mention fictional characters as subject matter of copyright, and their copyrightability is a product of common law.

Are stock characters protected by copyright?

Therefore, stock characters or archetypical and hackneyed elements are disqualified from protection by virtue of the fact that they are not unique in their expression. In cases of copyright infringement of a fictional character, a two-step test developed by the American Courts has to be satisfied.

Are fictional characters protected by intellectual property and unfair competition law?

As characters have become increasingly more valuable, intellectual property and unfair competition law has evolved to provide fictional and graphic characters varying degrees, although with some uncertainty, of legal protection.

Is it plagiarism to create characters that are similar to copyrighted characters?

You’ve come up with characters that may be superficially similar to copyrighted characters in some respects, but that is not plagiarism and it’s more or less inevitable in a world where millions of stories have been written and told. This is another article, outlining what copyright law covers in the first half: