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As some of you might know, I help run an anime convention.

We're looking into making a webcomic (which we may eventually publish as a book if enough people care) that stars our two con mascots, who are two original creations by us.

Each year, we do a stage production that features our mascots and characters from other anime. We know this is fine because we're not really making any money off of it, etc.

But if we wanted to incorporate those characters into our comic, would we be able to do that? I know nobody would care at all if it was just something we did, as fan works exist everywhere.

Basically, would we be able to sell the comic with official anime characters in it, or would that create a buttload of legal issues? (I'm assuming the latter.)

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Second, not-quite-related question-- What about internet memes, like Epic Fail Guy, Pedobear, Awesome Face, Anon, and etc.? I know something is copyrighted as soon as it's placed in a tangible medium, but would anyone have "claim" to these?

I'm pretty sure it's fair use. Think of all the Penny Arcade comics with Batman, Spider-Man, Sam Fisher, Mario, and an infinite number of video game characters. I assure you my Penny Arcade collections are not censored to include Blario and Ham Misher. I couldn't cite any specific laws for you, however.

It's fair use, but tread lightly: Just because it's legal for you to do doesn't mean they won't try to stop you by bankrupting you via legal fees.

It's probably fair use, but if you're running an anime con that helped inspire the comic, you should really consider setting aside $500 and asking a copyright lawyer.

I don't believe you have room under the fair use doctrine. Read it for yourself, and apply a liberal amount of salt, since every case is different:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use

You are using the comic to promote your convention, and even if you guys are a public non-profit organization, it still counts as promotional and commercial material.

You can do it anyway, and just accept the risk. Only you know whether it's worth it, and "worth it" may mean losing the ability to host the convention if the copyright holders really pursue the case.

We know this is fine because we're not really making any money off of it, etc.

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Contrary to common belief that doesn't matter, i think it's just that they'll not get enough in damages to make it worth it for them to sue most of the time. Fan-fiction is copyright infringement.

If i understood it right besides parody the only other fair use stuff is either for education or using small parts for newspaper articles and educational stuff.

But most of the time it seems that they'll send a letter telling you to stop doing it before it comes to trial (even if it's parody, see below)... and then you can just change the names if they do...

Chad Sexington said:

I'm pretty sure it's fair use. Think of all the Penny Arcade comics with Batman, Spider-Man, Sam Fisher, Mario, and an infinite number of video game characters. I assure you my Penny Arcade collections are not censored to include Blario and Ham Misher. I couldn't cite any specific laws for you, however.

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Ahem:

Wow, so Hollywood has been screwing over copyright from the start:

Opposition to current copyright practice also relates to the non-observance of the principal requirement of the original Queen Anne Act, which specified that for a work to obtain copyright a copy had to be deposited in a library of record, so that unlimited copies could be made when the copyright expired. This was observed for many years but was successfully opposed by the motion picture industry, which refused to provide copies of their films, resulting in the loss of many early films.

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And screwing themselves up too... now they can't remake those films either.

No, they can remake them. What it is saying is that there are no good, complete copies of the originals.

Actually i'm pretty sure I recall that some films where actually totally lost, and no one knows for sure exactly what they where even about...

Not that such a trifle would stop them from remaking them, would it.