You cannot legally make and sell any product with Disney lyrics, quotes, or characters on it without permission from The Walt Disney World Company.
NOTE: It is an infringement of U.S. Copyright law to market and/or sell any artwork that contains Disney intellectual property, without a license or other written consent from The Walt Disney Company.
You may receive permission from Disney by email or mail. If you or your company wants to use Disney characters on a long-term basis, Disney might require a licensing agreement, which involves the payment for the rights to use the characters. Disney can also decline to give permission for the use of its characters.
You cannot sell any Disney photos, whether as art, decorative pieces for cakes, or invitations. Disney owns the rights to all images associated with its brand. While you may choose to overlook the infringement laws, this will lead to problems with the law once your shop is on their radar.
You cannot paint, sell, (even just offer for sale without the sale taking place), or make changes to a Disney character without an express license from The Walt Disney Company. You cannot legally make and sell any product with Disney lyrics or quotes on it without permission.
What is this? Selling fan art within the United States is not strictly illegal as it is not a criminal offense. However, the copyright law is there to protect artists and they can exercise their rights by suing anybody who infringes on their work.
You cannot sell Disney art on Etsy. Disney is the copyright owner / copyright holder for all Disney images, logos, names, etc. A lot of people believe it isn't an infringement issue to sell products that incorporate Disney characters or use a Disney character's name in their product name.
Copyright: The expression of an idea
Disney does not own the stories of Snow White or Cinderella. The company could not register copyright that would prevent anyone from using the underlying story. However, Disney does own the copyright to the animated films it made featuring those characters.
The only way to legally sell anything with a Disney image on it is to request permission directly from Disney. You can do that HERE.
In order to use Disney's characters, you must first get their permission. Legal Zoom says: “One way to legally use Disney characters is by getting permission to use them from Disney Enterprises. A variety of Disney corporate entities own the intellectual property rights to Disney characters.
Fair Use. In accordance with applicable copyright laws, any materials authored by WDFM may be used for limited personal, educational, and non-commercial purposes without permission, provided that the source of the materials is cited.
As long as you have permission from Disney to use the character, you will not be infringing on Disney's copyrights. Another way to legally use Disney characters is by obtaining a license from Disney. A license is a permission from the copyright holder to use their copyrighted material in a specific way.
Copyright and trademark law says that you can't make Disney items without a license. However, buying items, then reselling them is legal under the first-sale doctrine – you don't need anyone's permission.
For example, artists who want to use Mickey Mouse in their creative works must first get permission from Disney (the current copyright holder) until November 2023. After that date, the copyright will expire, Mickey Mouse will enter the public domain, and artists will not need Disney's permission to use Mickey Mouse.
Some common examples of Disney copyright infringement include: Fan art and merchandise: Creating and selling fan art or merchandise featuring Disney characters without proper licensing can be considered copyright infringement.
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney, is going to lose its marquee character Mickey Mouse at the end of this year. As per the US copyright law, the rights to characters expire 95 years after publication (for works published or registered before 1978).
Copyright protection is available to both characters that have been solely described in writing, as well as characters depicted in a visual or graphic form. What is required is that the character in question possesses original or a set of distinctive traits, and visual representation is not essential.
All of the character meals are fixed-price, with adult prices range from about $35-65, plus tip. While there are more expensive meals at Disney World, character dining is not the way to go if you are on a strict budget.
The basic law is that whoever holds the copyright to a certain thing has the sole right to make and sell “derivative works” , including sequels, based on the original concept. Even characters in a book or plot elements can have copyright protection. Fan fiction can definitely be considered a “derivative work”.
As a general rule, fan art is illegal to sell on Etsy or anywhere else if the seller doesn't have the proper legal permission from the copyright and trademark holders.
Technically speaking, there's nothing illegal in the US about making and selling fan art because copyright isn't enforced criminally. Rather, copyright owners enforce their rights by suing infringers in federal civil court. If they win, they could get money from you.
Shepard are what is now considered public domain (which include original iterations of Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Rabbit, Kanga, Roo, Owl, and Christopher Robin). Tigger! There's another character introduced in 1928 whose copyright is about to expire: Mickey Mouse.
Note that you also cannot sell derivative artworks made of copyrighted characters. That means you cannot draw a Mickey Mouse design by yourself and put it on your t-shirt to sell it for profit. Derivative artworks are also considered copyright infringement.