i’ve wondered about this for a long time. I have never drawn someone else’s character without their permission, but I know that a lot of people apparently do this and post the drawings. I’m wondering: what’s the proper etiquette regarding this practice? Is it ever okay to draw someone’s character without their permission? If you do this, is it generally considered acceptable as long as the art itself is respectful or free of fringe content that the owner might not like?

Especially, if you yourself are a person who owns a character that other people draw a lot, particularly a well-known character, what types of scenarios lend themselves to your approval, and what types of drawings do you find yourself wishing were never made?

Thanks!

In general, most people don't mind if you directly ask them about it. A few people might already have a section of their profile clearly outlining the dos and don'ts with their characters.

The best practice is to ask for permission. A character is intellectual property and, depending on whether stories or artwork exist of it, may already be copyrighted by default. Without permission, there is a chance you could step into a copyright violation. More importantly, asking someone if you can use their creation is just the polite thing to do.

Drawing someone's character that you keep private is fine, much like tracing. They can be useful learning tools. If you want to post or show it off publicly, however, it's best to have permission (whether or not a given character is copyrighted is a whole minefield of legal questions, but as CCoyote said, it's just the polite thing to do regardless).

For the most part, characters aren't copyrighted. There are exceptions, but they aren't common and likely limited to those with deeper pockets than most of us do. Whatever the case, you're not likely to run afoul of them in the fandom. Mind you, I'm no copyright lawyer.

As for etiquette, ideally, you ought to ask for permission, but that won't always be feasible. After all, the vast majority of fan artists never ask Disney (as a random example) if they can draw Gadget Hackwrench. If we did, Disney would either ignore us or send lawyers sniffing about for anything to bite.

On the other hand, average John Q. Furry would be more likely to complain loudly if you render their character in a situation they don't want their character to be in. Examples include characters acting out of character, characters who are imaginary girl- or boyfriends, characters having sex with the wrong sex or partner, even characters that must be kept SFW for whatever reason. So, you see that asking first isn't just about asking for permission. It's also about finding out what a character owner will accept for their character.

But what if you're making the picture as a surprise, hopefully to show how much you appreciate the character and/or the owner? Obviously, you should already have a solid grasp of the dos or don'ts of their characters as mentioned above. It's a risk, but perhaps not so much of one considering many of us would be tickled pink to get fan pictures of our characters.

And there are ways to ask that aren't just straight out "May I or may I not?" so it's possible to ask beforehand and still surprise them.

That's just a long-winded way of saying that it's courteous to ask beforehand, although more likely pointless the bigger the character owner is (Disney, Nintendo, Warner Brothers, etc.).

If it’s not stated on their personal pages, ask for permission. I know some folks who are very restrictive of fanart with their characters and I know some folks that don’t mind at all. Better to ask than not asking at all, especially if you plan on posting it publicly.

As everyone has said, asking permission first is the best practice. If you want it to be a surprise for the artist/character owner, best option then would be to show it directly to them first and ask for their permission if you want to post it publicly.

I think the real question is: Does e621 respect takedown notices of character owners attempting to remove unauthorized fan art? I don't recall that ever happening to art the character owners didn't draw or commission themselves.

Also, I don't see the takedowns list linked from the site map or takedown policy page.

lance_armstrong said:
I think the real question is: Does e621 respect takedown notices of character owners attempting to remove unauthorized fan art? I don't recall that ever happening to art the character owners didn't draw or commission themselves.

Maybe with vergence?

lance_armstrong said:
I think the real question is: Does e621 respect takedown notices of character owners attempting to remove unauthorized fan art?

Sortof. If the artist uploaded a piece themselves, then the artist has to be the one to file a takedown, unless the character owner can make a strong enough showing of legal ownership (like what happened with Paddington Bear). But there have been instances of art not uploaded by the artist that has been taken down at the request of a character owner.