Freya - LWN

Just some advice for people ouotside of Japan making fan merch and selling it at conventions or small events, from someone who’s worked in the gaming, anime, and online entertainment industries. Don’t send inquiries asking for permission to create fan art and sell it in small quantities at events. If you’re an actual business trying to do an official collaboration, then yes, you absolutely should reach out. But if it’s a small-scale thing where you’re not really aiming to make big profits and just want to create something for the fandom and share it at events, asking for permission turns it into an official business inquiry. And in most cases, the company will have to say no. Because if they say “I guess it’s okay” to one person, they’d have to say it to everyone. And once people start pointing at others like “Hey, that person got permission,” it becomes a mess. So the safest answer for them is always no. Not every company is the same, but many will tolerate small fan activities without strictly enforcing rules. That said, some companies do have clear guidelines for fan merch, so I strongly recommend checking those before doing anything. Also, just because you’ve read this doesn’t mean you’re automatically safe. If the IP holder decides “this is getting too big” or wants to step in, they absolutely have the right to enforce their copyright and ask you to stop. If that happens, it’s best to comply respectfully. Being reasonable about it can actually leave a good impression, like “this person isn’t difficult, and they have a solid following… maybe they’d be a good fit for an official collab in the future.” So yeah, if you get asked to stop, just handle it properly.