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Fan art

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Various works of fan art (clockwise from upper left): Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings · Marisa Kirisame from Touhou Project · Dean Winchester and Castiel from Supernatural · Harry Potter from Harry Potter

Fan art or fanart is artwork created by fans of a work of fiction or celebrity depicting events, character, or other aspect of the work. As fan labor, fan art refers to artworks that are not created, commissioned, nor endorsed by the creators of the work from which the fan art derives.

A different, older meaning of the term is used in science fiction fandom, where fan art traditionally describes original (rather than derivative) artwork related to science fiction or fantasy, created by fan artists, and appearing in low- or non-paying publications such as semiprozines or fanzines, and in the art shows of science fiction conventions. The Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist has been given each year since 1967 to artists who create such works. Like the term fan fiction (although to a lesser extent), this traditional meaning is now sometimes confused with the more recent usage described above.

Forms

Fan art can take many forms. In addition to traditional paintings, drawings, and digital art, fan artists may also create conceptual works, sculptures, video art, livestreams, web banners, avatars, graphic designs, web-based animations, photo collages, and posters, Fan art includes artistic representations of pre-existing characters both in new contexts and in contexts that are keeping with the original work.

The broad availability of digital image processing and the Internet, as well as text-to-image generators, has greatly increased the scope and potential reach of fan art. American TV producer Bryan Konietzko wrote in 2013:

"I remember back in the Avatar days [2005–2008]... the typical fanart we would get would be a charming, childish crayon drawing stuffed in an envelope. Nowadays on Korra [2012–2014], I take a skewed screenshot with my phone, post it, and shortly thereafter someone un-skews it, crops it, separates the character levels, clones the background, 'Ken Burns' it with a multilevel slide, animates the characters blinking and talking, tints it, and makes a GIF out of it, that I then see on the same phone with which I took the original picture. Times they are a-changin'..."[1]

Rule 34, the idea that everything is represented in internet pornography, commonly takes the form of erotic fan art.[2]

Fan art can also serve as cultural commentary or criticism, presenting established characters in new situations or contexts which would never appear in canon. This allows fans and artists to explore deeper or alternate meanings, as well as fan theories, about their favorite media.[3]

Fan art using settings and characters from a previously created work could be considered a derivative work, which would place control of the copyright with the owner of that original work by the Berne Convention. This gives rights holders the option to take down some fan works, including those that profit off of the original.

Nevertheless, many rights holders have directly acknowledged and allowed nonprofit fan works, with some even encouraging them on social media. Anime distributor Funimation officially stated that while fan-works could be legally considered unauthorized reproductions under copyright law in the United States, they choose to not enforce its copyright rights against fan-works sold in artist booths within anime conventions because of how the fan-works can showcase the original works.[4]

Some companies also create guidelines on what fan works they allow. Cygames disallowed more explicit fan art of characters from Uma Musume due to the characters being based on real-world racehorses.[5]


United States

American copyright law allows for the production, display and distribution of derivative works if they fall under a fair use exemption, 17 U.S.C. § 107. Courts look at multiple factors when evaluating fair use, with no one factor dispositive alone. A multipronged rubric for this decision includes the amount and substantiality appropriated, the transformative nature of the derivative work, whether the derivative work was done for educational or non-commercial use, and the economic effect that the derivative work imposes on the copyright holder's ability to make and exploit their own derivative works.

The Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) argued the legality of non-profit fan works under the fair use doctrine, as it is a creative, transformative process that does not provide commercial gain.[6] Some fan works could be considered parody, and American courts have granted fair use protection. This has not been explicitly adjudicated with fan art, however.

Japan

Japan does not have an explicit fair use policy, but many fan art can be considered doujinshi, which are considered shinkokuzai under Japanese copyright law. In 2016, Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe affirmed that doujinshi "don't compete in the market with the original works and don't damage the original creators' profits, so they are shinkokuzai."[7] As such, fan art creators are not prosecuted unless a copyright holder formally files a complaint, and copyright holders have chosen to not file infringement for many nonprofit fan works.

European Union

Some copyright limitations are covered in Information Society Directive Article 5 that member states can implement, including 5.3(k), which allows for the use within caricature, parody, or pastiche. In Germany, a legal expert under the Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (GFF) argued that many fan works, often from user-generated content, would fall under the category of pastiche.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Konietzko, Bryan (30 March 2013). "I remember back in the Avatar days…". Tumblr. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  2. ↑ "Rule 34". Know Your Meme. 18 May 2009. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  3. ↑ Manifold, Marjorie Cohee (2009). "What Art Educators Can Learn from the Fan-based Artmaking of Adolescents and Young Adults". Studies in Art Education. 50 (3): 257–271. doi:10.1080/00393541.2009.11518772. JSTOR 40650336. S2CID 218767560. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  4. ↑ Loo, Egan (1 July 2015). "Funimation Issues Statement on Fan Art & Trademark Rights". Anime News Network. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  5. ↑ Townsend, Verity (10 July 2025). "Umamusume: Pretty Derby Dev Reminds Fans to Follow the Rules When Visiting the Real-Life Japanese Racehorses Behind Their Favorite Anime Horse-Girls". IGN. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  6. ↑ Stimson, Eric (9 April 2016). "Prime Minister Abe: Dōjinshi Safe Under TPP". Anime News Network. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  7. ↑ Kreutzer, Till (5 September 2022), The Pastiche in Copyright Law (PDF), retrieved 13 July 2026


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