Hi all
I am quite confused when it comes to IP and what is permitted and not permitted. I am very new to all of this and only recently started designing products, and trying to build a small business. I decided at one point to create some products "as a fan" based on other franchises and things. Being very naive, and seeing others doing the same thing, I assumed it was alright for me to do the same and so I created and started selling these products. I later learnt and realised that what I was doing was wrong, and so took these products down. I was never issued a warning for selling these items, and so I am not sure if I am allowed or not to sell these items. I have gotten in contact with the rights holders of these companies to ask if I'm allowed to sell them but some of them haven't gotten back to me. Am I "allowed/have permission" to sell these items, and if not is there a way I can gain permission in a way such as, paying a fee, or splitting profits? I have asked rights holders this question and they tell me either they are not looking to license the rights to any of their copyrighted material at this time, or that their general policy is to decline all requests to use their IP due to large volume of requests. Seeing millions of people selling products based on a franchise, I am assuming that perhaps some things can get away with using 'IP' and maybe my products are doing the same? I am not too sure about how all this works and I feel a little sad for being ignorant and stupid for putting time into creating these products to then not be able to sell them legally. The products I created were guitar picks and rings. I also wanted to create the guitar pick products into guitar pick pendants. The following can be seen below.
"Mortal Kombat" fan items I made
- Shirai Ryu Guitar Picks (6 Pack)
- Lin Kuei Guitar Picks (6 Pack)
- Black Dragon Guitar Picks (6 Pack)
- White Lotus Guitar Picks (6 Pack)
- Brotherhood of Shadows Guitar Picks (6 Pack)
- Mortal Kombat Guitar Picks (6 Pack)
- Mortal Kombat Collection Picks (6 Pack)
"Legend of Zelda" fan items I made
- Legend of Zelda Guitar Picks (6 Pack)
- Sheikah eye Guitar Picks (6 Pack)
"Doom" fan items I made
- Doom Slayer Ring
- Doom Eternal Ring
"League of Legends" fan items I made
- League of Legends Rings
I have attached some images of these products too this post so people can see what these products look like. Would any of these products be allowed to be sold or not. Thank you for all the support, it is all appreciated.
Kind Regards
Nicolas Murdaca
I am quite confused when it comes to IP and what is permitted and not permitted. I am very new to all of this and only recently started designing products, and trying to build a small business. I decided at one point to create some products "as a fan" based on other franchises and things. Being very naive, and seeing others doing the same thing, I assumed it was alright for me to do the same and so I created and started selling these products. I later learnt and realised that what I was doing was wrong, and so took these products down. I was never issued a warning for selling these items, and so I am not sure if I am allowed or not to sell these items. I have gotten in contact with the rights holders of these companies to ask if I'm allowed to sell them but some of them haven't gotten back to me. Am I "allowed/have permission" to sell these items, and if not is there a way I can gain permission in a way such as, paying a fee, or splitting profits? I have asked rights holders this question and they tell me either they are not looking to license the rights to any of their copyrighted material at this time, or that their general policy is to decline all requests to use their IP due to large volume of requests. Seeing millions of people selling products based on a franchise, I am assuming that perhaps some things can get away with using 'IP' and maybe my products are doing the same? I am not too sure about how all this works and I feel a little sad for being ignorant and stupid for putting time into creating these products to then not be able to sell them legally. The products I created were guitar picks and rings. I also wanted to create the guitar pick products into guitar pick pendants. The following can be seen below.
"Mortal Kombat" fan items I made
- Shirai Ryu Guitar Picks (6 Pack)
- Lin Kuei Guitar Picks (6 Pack)
- Black Dragon Guitar Picks (6 Pack)
- White Lotus Guitar Picks (6 Pack)
- Brotherhood of Shadows Guitar Picks (6 Pack)
- Mortal Kombat Guitar Picks (6 Pack)
- Mortal Kombat Collection Picks (6 Pack)
"Legend of Zelda" fan items I made
- Legend of Zelda Guitar Picks (6 Pack)
- Sheikah eye Guitar Picks (6 Pack)
"Doom" fan items I made
- Doom Slayer Ring
- Doom Eternal Ring
"League of Legends" fan items I made
- League of Legends Rings
I have attached some images of these products too this post so people can see what these products look like. Would any of these products be allowed to be sold or not. Thank you for all the support, it is all appreciated.
Kind Regards
Nicolas Murdaca