The ethics of selling fanart

Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

We are at the end of March and the art fair season is currently in full swing. This year is looking to be my busiest year so far when it comes to participating in art fairs and cons. I currently got accepted to 8 different events, one of course being 'Prente Art Market' on August 17th which I run myself together with the lovely people from 't Verzet in Knokke-Heist, Belgium.

Doing fairs is such an incredible opportunity and a must-do for any illustrator out there. Especially in the digital age we live in now, where most of us work alone from home and real life human connection has become such a rare luxury. Since doing ‘Thought Bubble’ last year I found the confidence to participate in bigger events: the conventions or cons for short. Cons offer a huge audience with a bigger range of buyers and the potential of growing your (online) audience at a much faster rate. Sounds great in theory but of course there are a lot more vendors when comparing to small fairs, and that on top of the huge price tag that comes with participating in those events. What the prices are and what you get for it, varies a lot from con to con. So far I have seen the prices range from 230 euros to 450 euros for a 2 day event and that's without travel, food and hotel costs.

As a small creator that is slowly finding their footing, with these prices, cons can be quite a big risk to partake in. You are potentially setting yourself up to take the big L. You can research events and ask other creators that have been there before to see if it's worth it, but eventually it always stays a gamble. Even if you have been to the event yourself, year to year can make a big difference. So in the hopes of selling as much as possible you invest more time and money in creating more stock. At this point it's good to ask what type of content might be right fit for the event you are going to. Most cons if not all rely heavily on fandoms and their communities. So it isn't a surprise that the majority of artists present at cons will sell mostly fanart.

Cons = fanart

I am currently preparing for cons and while scrolling through social media for cute ways to update my stand I came across a reel on Instagram by an illustrator with a huge following. In the reel they stated that for any fan event like cons you HAVE to bring and sell fanart and that it’s the majority of your stock. For about 10 minutes I considered this and felt like I was very under prepared for the upcoming con. I was panicking. So in my head I went through how much fanart I could possibly make in the time that I had left. After calming down and talking it through with my partner I realized that for me at least that wasn't the way forward at all. Good, but it did leave me with a bunch of questions.

Within the artist community it's been widely known that you don't repost work without crediting the artist, copy and /or recreate original art. We all know it's a big no-no. There have been a lot of Instagram stories, TikTok tirades and whole Youtube videos dedicated to this subject. Many a times where the perpetrators get blasted for the whole world to see. Yet for some reason when it comes to fanart most artists consider it acceptable. Where though is the line actually being drawn?

So before I went on a deep dive on the internet on the ethics of it all. I decided to ask the creator of the reel for some clarifications. Where they draw the line to what’s acceptable and what is inherently stealing. They told me this: "I think every individual artist has different philosophies and comfortabilities around making fanart or selling it. Personally, I think ripping a png or screenshot from an IP and selling it on a mug or t-shirt bad. But if an artist transforms the IP and do their own take on a character, I think it’s fine to make/sell. I also think it’s good to analyze if your fanart is a direct competitor to the IP your working off of, or if you’re transforming something from a mega corporation who will be fine lol."

This comment left me feeling very unsatisfied. As much as I understand and agree that every individual artist has their own different philosophies, I find it odd that there is this arbitrary cut off point. Out of the blue there is an imaginary line where your art, if deemed successful enough by the large public, is a free for all to get stolen and recreated/adapted just because it's now part of a bigger entity. In that moment it seems that people making such comments are willfully being blind to the fact that every big IP started off small, being the brainchild of an unknown artist, trying in many cases to keep their head above water. Although I agree that fanart made by a small creator probably won't be a direct competitor to official merch of a big IP, we all know it isn't just the one artist that makes fanart. With every fandom there are thousands upon thousands of other artists doing the exact same. 

From a ethical standpoint; if you draw the line for one artist you should draw the line for all artists. No matter how big or small they are. Otherwise it seems that the making of fanart for some artists is mostly driven by capitalist greed rather than anything else, because they know that fanart will likely generate more eyeballs, which then translate in more sales, based on the popularity of said fandom.

Phony Holy: my experience with fanart

I am aware that a lot of illustrators out there sell fanart, yet it has always been my understanding that selling things that isn't based on your intellectual property is quite frankly illegal. On a lot of selling platforms such as Etsy, it isn't unheard of to read stories of sellers who have been banned from the platform after ignoring cease and desists from big companies that are looking to protect their IP.

The Harry Potter piece in question based on a scene from the books.

As a beginning artists it can take years before you can actively get your name out there. With the internet you can sell to everyone in the world, yet you are competing with a lot more people too than if you focus on your local market. So it's quite understanding that young artists who are just starting out, fall for the fanart-trap as it can quite be compelling to sell. You are still competing with a lot of artists but there is already a big fan base you know you can sell to. This can set up a young artist who is just getting one's feet wet in the industry. The monetary value could make a difference going self-employed.

And so it happens, I too at the beginning of my carrier have fallen pray to selling fanart. In my case it started with some Harry Potter fanart. I drew it for some random challenge on Instagram hoping it would attract more followers. My partner, to boost my confidence, posted the image on the Harry Potter Reddit. It went quite viral with over 18k likes. A lot of people asked where they could buy one. In a hurry I ordered some prints and made an Etsy account, desperate in making my first income of my art. In the end it sort of blew up in my face. Without being properly prepared I was only able to sell a few prints within Europe and most of the money I made went on postage and packaging materials anyway. Years later, when the writer and fandom of Harry Potter is seen as problematic by many, a lot of those prints still live in my cupboard with me being unable to get rid of them. At this point I just regret trying to sell them. But at the same time I also feel it’s something all young new artists go through. I am trying to practice more patience towards my younger self (and any other artist starting out), instead of being judgmental about it. It is a mistake a lot of us go through and that’s fine as long as we learn from our mistakes. 

In the years that followed I only made and sold fanart once more getting inspired after watching ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ by Wes Anderson. After that I was seeing less and less value in selling fan art because as much at it's fun to make, I feel that ultimately I wasn’t truly representing my artistic self. On top of that every time I do sell one of those prints, it doesn't give me the same boost of confidence that for instance my original work would give me. It always feels that people who buy that print aren't solely in it for my artistic merit per se but more because the identify with the characters from the movie.

Does that mean that fanart should not be made or celebrated?

An interesting read - if you want to dive deeper into Copyright

PLEASE MAKE FANART. The value of making fanart is unmeasurable. It let's us artists be free and silly and experiment but also understand what works and what doesn't. When creating fanart, there is no white page to be fearful of. Immediately you start with a set of rules predetermined for you. It gives you the opportunity to stick with or completely break out of those rules, allowing for more experimentation or in some cases more concrete study.

If we look at the characters of ‘Adventure Time’ or ‘The Simpsons’, there is a reason why they are so iconic. Even with only the outline, the design of the characters are very recognizable. Recreating that in the form of fanart will help you understand, as an artist, why those designs work so well. The original creators are masters at their craft, with years of study under their belts after all.

Although fanart can create value as a matter of transformative use, making something new out of the appropriation of it (e.g. the Urinoir by Marcel Duchamp or the Campbell's Soup Cans by Andy Warhol). Only making fanart however without applying what you learned in your own original work will stunt your growth as an artist in the long run. Your abilities are capped at the skill of the artist you emulate, yet you will never fully reach that. This is because an artistic sense is created by our environment and experiences. We are all unique beings, let's keep it that way.

Fanart, no way!

I know there are purists out there, who are against the whole creation of fanart. They believe it to be uninspired and that it's creation can negatively effect the reputation of that fandom since it's without the consent of it's original creator and also potentially non-canon. I do NOT share those believes. I think that when appreciating a piece of fanart, the viewer already has an understanding that this is fanart and should be viewed as such. Unless of course you have no knowledge of the fandom to begin with, which is probably unlikely if you do cater your art to pop culture cons.

An interesting read - if you want to dive deeper into Copyright and fandom

Fanart has creative merit for sure as it adds, even by a small percentage, to the original creation. Yet are you entitled to a 100% of it's monetary value? At it's core fanart is a collaboration piece, without consent of it's original creator however. You therefor cannot claim full responsibility for it. Stating that the original IP is already successful to begin with and is therefor not entitled to monetary compensation, is a non issue because who get's to decide what's successful and what is not.

I understand that if you made something you are really proud off, you would want to share it with other people. You put your time into it, and I'm a firm believer that artists need to be paid fairly for their work. This however also includes the creators of big IP's.

Should you now, in hoards, contact the original creators because you sold fanart with their IP’s? No if you don’t over do it and keep the ethics of it in the back of your mind. Of course they will not come after you when selling 1 or 2 items inspired by that fandom. However, if you are a repeat offender, the legal system, might not be as kind to you. If your business get shut down, it might leave you with legal fees on top of a giant pile of stock that is now unsellable. Leaving you with debt in the long run.

I think when it comes down to it, it's a balancing act that need to be struck. Make fanart on the side, and if you really have to you can sell the occasional fanart piece, but primarily invest your time in developing your own artistic sense.

Fan labor: the new resource

In the end there is no way in stopping the creation of fanart. I think it's a futile battle that can't be won. A sentiment followed by a lot more companies nowadays than let's say 10 years ago. Under the moto if you can't beat them, join them; more and more IP's have stimulated the make of fanart to keep fandoms alive. Some even providing the ability to purchase a licensing fee. It can however even go as far as fan labor where they use fanart through contests, etc. as a mean to cheap labor where artists lose their full rights to their work for only the chance to win a cash price. Even artist who don't win, lose their rights as soon as they enter. Something I consider exploitation on a whole other level and I full heartedly disagree with.

The public domain: the safe space for fanartists.

If you truly only want to make and sell fanart fulltime and you want to stay out of legal trouble, I would suggest you stick to IP's in the public domain or those where you can procure some license to do so.

All creative work eventually goes into the public domain 70 years after the death of it's last living creator. So there is a whole library out there full of creative content that is free to use. Some notable characters going into the public domain in recent years are Winnie the Pooh and the first iteration of Mickey Mouse from the Steamboat Willie cartoon. There are plenty of creative works in the public domain, why not save yourself from the stress and worry and keep it all above board and legal.

Conclusion

After sitting and thinking about this for the past 2 weeks, I went through quite the rollercoaster when it comes to my opinion on this. After all this is just my opinion and people eventually do whatever they want and bear the consequences of their actions. To wrap this blog post up: Do I think you should make fanart as a means of learning and studying? Yes. Do I think you should then profit off it financially? I think that depends on where you find yourself in your art career. Personally I find that it’s a mistake most young artists go through but eventually should grow out of. I wouldn’t want to build a career on being known for just making fanart for the chance of having a career in the industry. I want people to love my art solely based on my own creative merit. 

Hope this was an interesting read. What’s your stance on making and selling fanart?
Much love,
C