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Ransom is Not for Sale -- Why I Don't Sell My Characters
11 years ago
I can appreciate that in the past I've had some slight flipflopping on the issue of character sales.
I sold one black dragon character I whipped up a little while ago -- The art for him ended up on display at the GYC in SecondLife! That was a pretty cool surprise to step in there and see my art on the wall. :)
Now while this went without a hitch and it wasn't a character I was particularly invested in; this coupled with the numerous requests I've had recently to purchase Ransom, my purple husky character, I felt compelled to revisit the issue and where I stand on it. That's something I do often -- Reassess all of the decisions I've made with my work to figure out if I need to think something differently. It's a healthy process, I feel.
As I mentioned, I received requests recently to sell Ransom. Over the years people have come to me to tell me what an effect Ransom has had on them. He's responsible for bringing a number of people into furry and learning who they are. He is an important character to many people and I am glad that I have been able to bring him into their lives. I understand that Ransom has a place in the furry community at large, and that's a really cool thing to have done.
My official line is that I do not allow my characters to be used by others and I do not sell my characters -- It's a legal minefield, as well as a dramabomb just waiting to happen.
What if I sold the 'rights' to use Ransom to someone, then I decided I wanted to make a comic starring him, and sell that comic? Would I be obliged to give some of the profits to the person who purchased the rights earlier?
If so, that initial outlay to purchase those rights had better be massive, like in the thousands at least, in order to justify losing any profits I might make on someone who had no part in creating that character.
If I am not obliged to do so, then what is the customer actually buying?
This isn't a matter as cut and dry as simply receiving money for his use and whether or not that amount of money is big enough. It's about the future of the character and what I would like to do with him.
People associate Ransom the husky with me, and when there are loads of people using Ransom, some people are going to confuse the "impostor" with actually being me. There have been instances where people have used Ransom to pretend to be me, and then rip people off for money. There have been instances where people have used Ransom the husky as their character and then said some bigoted, sexist or hateful things, and people confused them with actually being me. Ransom should never be used as the face in front of hateful and negative things.
If I sold the 'rights' to use Ransom to one of the other people who have asked, there's another issue, and that is loss of control of the character. That person could take him and change him into whatever they wanted, and my initial vision for the character would be lost. Because I have plans to utilise Ransom, I have to safeguard that. Ransom has to stay mine.
With this considered, there are options out there for people who want to use Ransom. Consider the following:
- I do not own the concept of a purple husky!
- I do not own the concept of bomber jackets!
- I do not own the concept of gayness or sexuality!
- I do not own the concept of floppy hair!
What I do stake a claim to is the very specific combination of all those things that make up Ransom in particular. There is no reason in the world that you cannot make a purple husky character with floppy hair who's often seen in bomber jackets. Just please don't call him Ransom, and make him visually distinct from my character in some way. Surely you have things about your own self and your own identity that you could put into a character of your own creation? It really isn't difficult and it's very fun. :)
This whole furry character thing and intellectual properties business and how it operates in the fandom is a very grey thing and hard to get right.
It's my personal decision to make it just easier on myself by not selling my characters!
I sold one black dragon character I whipped up a little while ago -- The art for him ended up on display at the GYC in SecondLife! That was a pretty cool surprise to step in there and see my art on the wall. :)
Now while this went without a hitch and it wasn't a character I was particularly invested in; this coupled with the numerous requests I've had recently to purchase Ransom, my purple husky character, I felt compelled to revisit the issue and where I stand on it. That's something I do often -- Reassess all of the decisions I've made with my work to figure out if I need to think something differently. It's a healthy process, I feel.
As I mentioned, I received requests recently to sell Ransom. Over the years people have come to me to tell me what an effect Ransom has had on them. He's responsible for bringing a number of people into furry and learning who they are. He is an important character to many people and I am glad that I have been able to bring him into their lives. I understand that Ransom has a place in the furry community at large, and that's a really cool thing to have done.
My official line is that I do not allow my characters to be used by others and I do not sell my characters -- It's a legal minefield, as well as a dramabomb just waiting to happen.
What if I sold the 'rights' to use Ransom to someone, then I decided I wanted to make a comic starring him, and sell that comic? Would I be obliged to give some of the profits to the person who purchased the rights earlier?
If so, that initial outlay to purchase those rights had better be massive, like in the thousands at least, in order to justify losing any profits I might make on someone who had no part in creating that character.
If I am not obliged to do so, then what is the customer actually buying?
This isn't a matter as cut and dry as simply receiving money for his use and whether or not that amount of money is big enough. It's about the future of the character and what I would like to do with him.
People associate Ransom the husky with me, and when there are loads of people using Ransom, some people are going to confuse the "impostor" with actually being me. There have been instances where people have used Ransom to pretend to be me, and then rip people off for money. There have been instances where people have used Ransom the husky as their character and then said some bigoted, sexist or hateful things, and people confused them with actually being me. Ransom should never be used as the face in front of hateful and negative things.
If I sold the 'rights' to use Ransom to one of the other people who have asked, there's another issue, and that is loss of control of the character. That person could take him and change him into whatever they wanted, and my initial vision for the character would be lost. Because I have plans to utilise Ransom, I have to safeguard that. Ransom has to stay mine.
With this considered, there are options out there for people who want to use Ransom. Consider the following:
- I do not own the concept of a purple husky!
- I do not own the concept of bomber jackets!
- I do not own the concept of gayness or sexuality!
- I do not own the concept of floppy hair!
What I do stake a claim to is the very specific combination of all those things that make up Ransom in particular. There is no reason in the world that you cannot make a purple husky character with floppy hair who's often seen in bomber jackets. Just please don't call him Ransom, and make him visually distinct from my character in some way. Surely you have things about your own self and your own identity that you could put into a character of your own creation? It really isn't difficult and it's very fun. :)
This whole furry character thing and intellectual properties business and how it operates in the fandom is a very grey thing and hard to get right.
It's my personal decision to make it just easier on myself by not selling my characters!
I still fail to see how a million people posting the same picture of a husky they find on google is them as a furry?
But I applaud you for this, you shouldn't have people begging you to buy your OC...that is just shameful.
Unless you said "RANSOM IS UP FOR SALE!" It shouldn't even cross their minds.
Like you said a character becomes associated with you after a while making it more awkward to sell.
Then I demand a refund of all taxes I paid to the Jijinx Fappage Foundation over the past 9000 years - YOUR ANCESTORS TRICKED ME!
lolz
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11837541/
I've never understood people who can't come up with their own characters i.e. intellectual property worth defending. ;P I don't blame you at all for not selling... even the concept of selling characters doesn't strike me as very wise... how does a buyer represent the character's personality correctly? How does the artist represent it correctly without knowing how it'll be used? I just don't get it. :P
While you don't own the rights to purple huskies, etc., I also don't understand people who don't respect others' intellectual property to a somewhat reasonable degree... but such is life I suppose. The "right" to do something, vs doing the right thing.
I have seen a few more characters named Ransom since his creation, but it's been several years and I suppose real people are named that too, even if uncommon.
As for ensuring the buyer represents the character correctly, that's another concern that's worth considering. IP stuff is all very difficult to define.
Meaning no offense to you, I love the character, but I honestly would've expected them to move on to another character where they could steal new pictures of them on a more frequent basis, because that's how those fuckers operate.