Fursuit Likenesses used without permision on TV Show *Attention Rainrat*

[Ember]

Still image from Psych S06.E11



The first R suit is Marcus I believe, belonging to Rainrat.

Aren't fur-suits and their likeness copywritten works?

Wouldn't their use without permission in this manner constitute a breach of that copywrite?

[Tef]

Saw this on Reddit yesternight. I'm gonna check the website now lol o_o

[Renwaldo]

I can't find the site, did they take it down already?  ???

[Whitzy]

from what I see that does seem to be markus, website-wise i do not believe its real(its on a tv series I guess(searched the episode for it so maybe....))

[Jimfoxyboy]

That isn't Markus...

It is pretty close though. Unless his eyes were changed a bit. The pupils in the picture are smaller that what Markus has. Markus has a thin black arc just below the fur around his eyes (not the black on his brows), and the black muzzle markings are different. In the picture it separates from the red, where as on Markus, it stays between the white and red on his muzzle, except for the very tip.

^.^

[FurryJackman]

Do remember that it could have been photoshopped...

The ears look exactly like when I last saw/was in Markus.

If it was a RainRat picture, there must be Creative Commons Attribution at the credits since that's what all his photos are licensed under. No attribution would mean instant grounds for unauthorized use.

[lunar_prodigy]

Still image from Psych S06.E11



The first R suit is Marcus I believe, belonging to Rainrat.

Aren't fur-suits and their likeness copywritten works?

Wouldn't their use without permission in this manner constitute a breach of that copy-write?

its tricky.... Ive been learning this a lot lately with terms of copyrighting books and merchandise related..


you need to own a corporation which can then own trademarks and copyrights. each costs like 500-1000 to get properly syndicated and registered with the BC and feral government and is even more complex for international ( including USA ).

in short answer... not worth it unless you have a ton of money to throw away, and its very hard to copyright mascots, unlike forms of printable media, audio and film, because its a photo. Disney even cant disallow folks to photograph. they can send huge desist letters but cant do much without money , they have it, common folks don't.

[Crassadon]

you need to own a corporation which can then own trademarks and copyrights.

Can't individuals own copyrights...? That seems sort of. . .unfair, if corporations are the only ones with legal rights. . .

[zenia]

I am sure that individuals can trademark things. Their thing must me unique and not generic and they must pay the fee.

As for copyright... things are copyrighted the moment they are in tangible form. You don't *have* to pay to get something copyright (though it helps if you need to go to court because someone is infringing on your rights).

[KatrinaTheLamia]

its tricky.... Ive been learning this a lot lately with terms of copyrighting books and merchandise related..

Learn more... you are wrong.

you need to own a corporation which can then own trademarks and copyrights.

Pfffft! Wrong.

Intellectual property laws were originally created to protect the innovators of various creations names and items.

For the copyright item, typically if you send it to a notorising board of the government you are having it copyrighted towards. However, if you have it published prior to that point, you can cause issues with this item.

Most countries have a law where it is copyrighted to the "creator" once it is written or put out. The issue is, all this means is:

You have the rights to the "copy"... the "copy" is the product you are protecting from plagurism. If you fail to state how you wish it to be used, that is a ToS or EULA applied to your copy, then that is where your issues come from.

A Copyright, is just a note of who has the rights on the copy.

A trademark on the other hand, is a phrase, fontset, colour scheme, mascot, character or symbol associated with a trade, company, person or product. Because a trademark is quite simply a Mark of a Trade, it needs to be registered with the Government. It is akin to starting up a Guild in the capital city... the people in charge are going to want to know it is there. They really do not care beyond this.

Neither of these require you to have corporation status. In fact, corporation merely is a variation of business license you can get. Which is issued by the federal government. Those business licenses you get from Town Hall? That is a completely different class. This is without getting into Ltd status either (which is again not a corporation).

each costs like 500-1000 to get properly syndicated and registered with the BC and feral government and is even more complex for international ( including USA ).

A corporation will need to be registered on a country by country basis. With it being established and set up in every country as a seperate corporate entity. Say "Furry Canada" would be different than "Furry America". They might deal with the same Trademark, and if Furry America has been around for 150a... and Furry Canada starts up like a Decade ago... you can be forced to have Furry Canada be handed over to Furry America on how the legal system works there.

A Canadian Corporation has this price, yes. Though, you should not need to set up a corporation.

The book you read is REALLY REALLY wrong.

in short answer... not worth it unless you have a ton of money to throw away, and its very hard to copyright mascots, unlike forms of printable media, audio and film, because its a photo. Disney even cant disallow folks to photograph. they can send huge desist letters but cant do much without money , they have it, common folks don't.

You cannot "copyright" a Mascot. You can however Trademark one to a person, a product or a thing. Which requires you to be able to show to the Canadian Government this "character entity" is associate with this product or name. In some cases you can Trademark something onto itself. Like "Chronic Diabetes Man is a Trademark of Chronic Diabetes Man"... however these cases are rare and hard to accomplish.

To have something registered to a local city business (licenses cost ~200$CAD, depending on city), you also have to be careful of other local city businesses.

A good example is Snack Attack in Edmonton, a delivery service for food, porn and alcohol had to deal with a Snack Attack in Calgary. Both local to the City--but the Trademarks would cause legal issues.

Sorry... this has been a topic of interest to me for a decade and a half now.