I have a question about the legality(?) of something related to Homestuck

[Drillgorg]

You're not really supposed to do that, I believe.

[AnatidaeCollector]

I plan on starting an Etsy line of crazy-colored, possibly glowy lipsticks. Would using Homestuck-related names be okay (like calling an indigo one "Highbl00d" or a cerulean one "Huge 8itch") or recreating Kanaya's black-and-jade lipstick be safe if no character names or logos or whatnot were used? I'd be willing to give a percentage of the profits to Hussie if need be.

[Drillgorg]

You should ask mspaquestions@gmail.com for official answers. They're nice people!

[amoralAriadne]

I plan on starting an Etsy line of crazy-colored, possibly glowy lipsticks. Would using Homestuck-related names be okay (like calling an indigo one "Highbl00d" or a cerulean one "Huge 8itch") or recreating Kanaya's black-and-jade lipstick be safe if no character names or logos or whatnot were used? I'd be willing to give a percentage of the profits to Hussie if need be.

I plan on starting an Etsy line of crazy-colored, possibly glowy lipsticks.

crazy-colored, possibly glowy lipsticks

THIS. I don't care if they have homestuck names or not. DO WANT. Maybe if they were flavored too. Yummy.... my tongue glows blue and tastes like chemicals....

[Almost Human]

Considering I went to a friend and paid him 5 bucks to make me a pipe cleaner sculpture of Eridan, I'd imagine privately passing money to a friend to get him to make a shirt for you is fine???

Because I think something is going on here that people aren't 100% understanding??? Either that or me???

That (and this situation) are commissions.
Hussie has asked that people stop making and requesting commissions based off of his work without his permission.

'Privately' sending them money, means that they're profiting from Hussie's ideas and designs.
And profiting from someone else's ideas and designs is theft.

I've made that about as clear as I can. Please don't try to profit from theft, it's immoral no matter how quietly you do it.

[Andanism]

Welp, according to this 2D image commisions are alright as long as you don't promote yourself as a Homestuck artist. Which I think would be stupid so why are people doing that?

Q: Can I sell commissions?

A: Yes, under certain specific conditions. First of all, the "commissions" we refer to here are only unique, two-dimensional images. If you want to sell, on a commission basis, your two-dimensional art with Andrew's intellectual property in it, that's fine, as long as a) neither you nor your commissioner or any third party have any plans to reproduce, resell or make a profit off of the commissioned image and b) you do not promote yourself as a Homestuck artist. This means you would be creating single, unique images for a single commissioner who would not be using that image for any monetary or commercial reason. If you're all right with those conditions, go for it!

But that's as far as you can go without getting explicit permission from Hussie himself. Meaning, 2D art is fine, but this shirt here is not.

So I guess I could reopen my commissions. I stopped doing them because people kept asking for Homestuck things and I just didn't want to deal with the legal stuff. I know I could certainly use the extra cash now that I'm on a student loan.
Although, I still dislike drawing crappy OC's with a burning passion so I can't see myself actually doing it.

[Triangle Man]

That (and this situation) are commissions.
Hussie has asked that people stop making and requesting commissions based off of his work without his permission.

'Privately' sending them money, means that they're profiting from Hussie's ideas and designs.
And profiting from someone else's ideas and designs is theft.

I've made that about as clear as I can. Please don't try to profit from theft, it's immoral no matter how quietly you do it.

But the act of making the pipe-cleaner sculpture/shirt is morally okay so long as it is given as a gift or otherwise done for free, correct?

[MythicalWashrag]

But the act of making the pipe-cleaner sculpture/shirt is morally okay so long as it is given as a gift or otherwise done for free, correct?

Yes.

[Staff Deployment]

Does nobody else see a simple solution to the original problem?

WV didn't wear a mayor shirt. He wore a mayor sash, and a very low-budget one at that.
If you want WV stuff it would be really easy to just... make it for yourself. You'd need some wires, some paper and scotch tape, and some black and red paint. You could get it done in less than an hour, and you wouldn't have to pay anybody anything.

Unless you want a shirt with the word "mayor" emblazoned across the front because nobody wears wire-sashes in public. In which case Andrew Hussie doesn't own the word mayor. So all you have to do is avoid using fonts and colors that specifically evoke Homestuck (even coloring the R red would probably be too risky).

Of course then the problem is you have a Mayor shirt and not a WV shirt.

[halfassured]

The shirt is illegal and the pipe-cleaner sculpture is illegal and they're illegal for the same reasons. It's also illegal to make such a thing for personal use, though in a noncommercial context you might be able to argue that WP's permissive stance on noncommercial works is a tacit license. In practice, if What Pumpkin tried to sue someone over a $5 pipecleaner sculpture the judge would be extremely unamused, but that is a violation of IP law, because What Pumpkin and Hussie own the concept and likeness of Eridan, and presumably that's what made the sculpture worth $5. No offense to anyone who works in the medium of pipe cleaners.

Now, obviously, all of this changes if you get permission. From what I've seen What Pumpkin isn't too eager to give permission for commercial works without compensation. However, if your friend were just to give you the shirt, and they weren't mass-producing them, and it weren't an under-the-table quid pro quo thing, that might fly.

Personally, I'd like to see some kind of standard license with established per-unit rates for handling situations like this, but I can't really blame them for not setting one up since it'd be a lot of hassle for dubious returns.

[azzrielladenise]

I think that if you're willing to buy it anyways you could tell hussie the idea or something. idk. lol

[Emeraldis]

I've read through the threads that were posted about legality and stuff, and the simplest thing I've come up with is that

1) You can't make money off of any MSPA merchandise

2) If you aren't mass-producing these things then it's okay

3) No money should change hands (except at the store(s) you're buying materials at)

I plan to make myself a couple Homestuck shirts, and I was wondering if I was allowed to do so. ._. I mean, I'm not selling them or anything.

And of course, I'll put a Homestuck (c) Andrew Hussie somewhere on the shirt. Or should I? my gog legality shit's confusing

[aggressiveTurtle]

I have a similar legal issue related to a Problem Sleuth birthday cake I may or may not have procured from Strossner's-- their professional sugar artists didn't ask me whether the crudely drawn stick detectives I showed them were copyrighted material, and I was young and reckless in those days, blinded by the possibilities of customized confections...

let the record show that, although this cake may have been utilized for financial gain by exchanging it for presents, it was served in small square pieces that basically just showed indistinguishable lines and shapes.

[Mustavus]

I plan to make myself a couple Homestuck shirts, and I was wondering if I was allowed to do so. ._. I mean, I'm not selling them or anything.

And of course, I'll put a Homestuck (c) Andrew Hussie somewhere on the shirt. Or should I? my gog legality shit's confusing

If it's for personal use there's no legal reason to, but you probably should anyway. Copyright law is considered a powerful aphrodisiac in many cultures.

[Gambino]

That (and this situation) are commissions.
Hussie has asked that people stop making and requesting commissions based off of his work without his permission.

'Privately' sending them money, means that they're profiting from Hussie's ideas and designs.
And profiting from someone else's ideas and designs is theft.

I've made that about as clear as I can. Please don't try to profit from theft, it's immoral no matter how quietly you do it.

Agreed, theft is immoral.... but specifics have been made about the guidelines as to what truly IS theft in his eyes.
Selling things that they have made and placed on their online store, okay. THAT is theft.
If it's a total remake of something in their store, then that's utterly stupid to even bother doing in the first place.
Commercializing it and/or claiming it as your own idea, is also theft.

What you said about commissions is both right, and wrong. Commissions are allowed.... in certain cases.
As long as someone is doing something in their own artistic representation, then they can do it.... but only once. They aren't allowed by the creative commons copyright of the holder(Hussie) to commercialize it, but individualized artistic pieces that stay unique and un-duplicated are okay.
As long as they're individualized.... and not 3 dimensional.

(i don't really get the big difference, i mean, if it's nothing Hussie is selling, then it SHOULD be okay, but he's being a stick-in-the-mud about it. I mean, most people would like to get some monetary income from their shit.... but whatever.)

Of course this leads to the idea that it IS POSSIBLE to get your artwork and crafty shenanigans accepted by the whatpumpkin store where you would get profit from there for every purchase made.... after talking to Hussie and/or his staff here....
But they're closed on that now, so i don't see how that's working....

I'll have to ask them about my plush hat idea....
Oh and interpretive hijinks and non-canon characters, are completely okay for whatever you want commercially.

[Gambino]

I've read through the threads that were posted about legality and stuff, and the simplest thing I've come up with is that

1) You can't make money off of any MSPA merchandise

2) If you aren't mass-producing these things then it's okay

3) No money should change hands (except at the store(s) you're buying materials at)

I plan to make myself a couple Homestuck shirts, and I was wondering if I was allowed to do so. ._. I mean, I'm not selling them or anything.

And of course, I'll put a Homestuck (c) Andrew Hussie somewhere on the shirt. Or should I? my gog legality shit's confusing

You're in the clear for 3D, as long as a profit isn't being garnered.

[Cow_Laser]

i like trains

[Drillgorg]

i like trains

This forum is very anti-train, please explain yourself or suffer the consequences.

[kaoticAntagonist]

This forum is very anti-train, please explain yourself or suffer the consequences.

Well this is awkward.

[Drillgorg]

Get out.

[kaoticAntagonist]

Oh real nice Drillgorg.

I thought that we, as a society, had moved beyond such petty bigotry, but I am proven wrong once again.

I guess MSPA is open to everyone but those that can't move without being put on rails.

[Ace of Dark-Hearts]

kA, are you feeling okay I'm worried about you

[curiousTerminal]

Do not roleplay trains outside of designated train roleplay areas.

[Nimz]

Although both seem highly illegal, I suppose it is better a thread get derailed by trains than trains get derailed by a thread... It doesn't look like there is much, if anything, to be added to the proper topic of this thread at the moment, so I shall take this opportunity to catch the next train out of this thread.

[kaoticAntagonist]

Do not roleplay trains outside of designated train roleplay areas.

ITS NOT ROLEPLAYING.

THIS IS WHO I REALLY AM.

WHY DOES NO ONE UNDERSTAND THAT???