Thursday, August 30, 2012

Legality of Fan Art in the Philippines

Legality of Fan Art in the Philippines

FAN ART - It is a transformation of an original work into another art made by a fan, for example, a character from the movie of AVENGERS, then printed to a T shirt, this is a derivative work which under the Intellectual Property Law is likewise protected by copyright.

However, under the law, copyright holder or the original creator enjoys economic rights which he may transform the work and prevent others from transforming his original work.

A derivative work is legal, however, the work must to be used in a manner which does not conflict with the normal exploitation of the work ( original work ) and does not unreasonably prejudice the right of the original creator.

In other countries, Fan Art is regarded as legal by reason of parody.  From the view or opinion of other Copyright owners, Fan Art makes their creation profitable and more known to the public, more persons patronize their work.

However, in the Philippines, the above-mentioned may not hold true or may not apply in the same manner as other countries permit the act.

In the Philippines, the reality is that the work of a Fan is almost more profitable and more known to the public, therefore prejudices the work of the original creator, but why was this not yet prevented?, it may have been tolerated by silence or innocence, and makes the wrong doing, repeated and becomes a right at the end of the day.  People may have known the law, or know the law but having misconception or misapplication of law in their minds that the original creator's work has no registration, therefore not protected by law.  The copyright law in the Philippines may become inutile in reality.

5 comments:

  1. I agree. Fan art when unauthorized is really violative of copyright, but then again unless an author files a suit, the practice will not be curtailed. And if the author files a claim, he runs the risk of alienating his fans. It's a no-win situation.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Since fan art can be considered a derivative work, generally, the display of the work without the permission of the original copyright holder is an infringement. But I think the reason why there are no strict rules on this is because at the end of the day, it is always the copyright holder’s choice - he may take said act as something that would negatively prejudice his rights as the original creator or take it as something that would work for his advantage (thinking that it is indeed a free advertising for his work).

    ReplyDelete
  4. While Fan Art may be considered an adaptation of an original piece by virtue of the concept of derivative works under the copyright laws, I agree that it is not compliant with the conditions setforth as it requires that such should not prejudice the interest of the author or the creator of the original work. Thus, general belief that fan art may be treated as original thru derivative work, may not be true in our country.

    ReplyDelete
  5. i think the authors tolerate the work of their fans because in a way, it promotes and advertises the original work of the latter.

    ReplyDelete