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submitted by Adezu
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Author: RingtailedFox It is with great sadness that I must report on the passing of one of the giants of the voice-acting world. Christine Cavanaugh passed away on December 22, 2014 at the young age of 51.  She is perhaps best-remembered as the voice actress of (in no particular order) Babe, Dexter (Dexter’s Lab), Bunnie […]

submitted by TheVloginator
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submitted by Ahundred
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submitted by Kelossi
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submitted by sysable
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submitted by Ellen-Natalie
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For years I've loved furry art and stuff, even trying to make fursonas but never made anything permanent. Just made characters in games, or tried drawing random body parts(since I suck at full bodies), but never really kept them as characters. I've finally decided to stop staring and join the furry community. That's actually the top reason I even joined Reddit. For the past few weeks I've really been... kind of open about my furrness to my close friends. And I've been trying to make a good, original fursona that is cool but also represents me well. So I ended up with Rayvenoxis the two sided fox-dragon. A fox with a dragon tail, wings, and horns. Half white fur with a black dot on the shoulder and a blue eye, half black with a white dot and a red eye . the scales/wing on the black side are dark purples, cyan on the white side. I'm just wondering if that is a good, original fursona? I've heard foxes are a dime a dozen, and I wanted to be different, but I think a fox is the animal I'm most like. And I like dragons.

submitted by SittingInYourBushes
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submitted by VentKazemaru
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Guest article. Mikepaws is a professional photographer who has been involved with furry for eight years. This article was originally posted on his personal journal at mikepaws.co.uk.

Last week, a friend on Twitter asked a question, “Who does the copyright on a fursuit photo actually belong to?”

As a professional photographer, and member of the furry fandom, I thought that it was a perfect opportunity to do some research on the law, the copyright of photographs and rights of models/subjects.

So here I present to you my thoughts and opinions on photography rights for fursuiters and photographers.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, if you seriously do wish to seek legal advice. Please speak to one!

So the simplest question of all: Who owns the copyright to a photograph?

The answer 100% is the photographer who took the image.

If you borrowed a friend’s camera and took the photo, it is owned by the person who pushed the shutter button.

Only time a photographer does not own the rights to their image is if they are the employee of another organisation, such as a publication or media company that pay for the services of the photographer.

Let’s say a fursuiter pays for a photographer to take images, unless it is in writing that the rights are forfeited by the photographer, to you (the fursuiter) than the creator of the image (the photographer) still owns full rights to the image.

Now I can just hear all the fursuiters reading this letting out shrieks of horror. But I am afraid it is true, most fursuiters in legal terms would almost never own the image and it could technically be used for editorial or commercial purposes.

In the cosplay community, they do have one right, “the right to publicity” in the US. A right to privacy exists in the UK law, as a consequence of the European Convention on Human Rights. However this applies more to cosplay than fursuiters, because most people participating in cosplay are showing their faces and have to consent if a photograph is being used commercially under most circumstances.

This however is forfeited in a public place, this is why street photography is legal. There is no need to contact anyone, anywhere in order to commercially sell photographs taken in public. Photography on private land is similarly unrestricted. However, landowners are permitted to impose any conditions they wish upon entry to a property, such as forbidding or restricting photography.

However in my discussions with members of the community, many are arguing that a photo of the fursuiter constitutes a derivative work. A photograph can also be a mechanism of infringement of the copyright which subsists in another work. For example, a photograph which copies a substantial part of an artistic work, such as a sculpture or painting. This why photography is banned at Art Shows in conventions, for example.

This is really the grey area that needs to be addressed, many of us as fandom photographers will respect the wishes of our fellow furries and understand the value that a character may have for an individual. We therefore have an informal code of conduct which is often agreed to by attendees at a furry convention.

The photographer Tom Broadbent, famous for his project ‘At Home with the Furries‘ follows similar attitude to many photographers within the fandom of keeping an open and honest dialogue. Letting the costume owner know what the purpose of the photoshoot is, if it isn’t just for personal use. This generally is the only protection that fursuiters have, is talking to their photographers for an understanding and if they really want to be safe then get a model release form.

But then we have to picture a scenario where you (the fursuiter) are photographed by, a freelancer in the street entertaining people, and then goes on to sell it to a international photo library. Your rights to privacy have been made void by the fact you covered your face with your costume. The costume itself isn’t trademarked and is not connected to any copyrighted brand. There’s almost nothing you can do except to contact the photographer and politely request the image be removed.

“Most furries would likely be very disappointed to know how few rights, if any, their characters have,” stated Wylde Rottie, who hosted a panel at MFF on copyrighting. “Fursuits would likely be considered Useful Articles, like a costume or piece of clothing, which are not copyrightable.”

Wylde then went on to explain why the trademarking of fursuits would drastically change the open and creative atmosphere of the community:

“It’s important to acknowledge why those protections don’t really exist legally. Imagine the bad precedent it would set by allowing someone to have copyright to a suit. What’s to stop someone with one fursuit from claiming rights over a suit made subsequently and/or of similar design? At most, someone could attempt to have their suit/design trademarked in some way, but the bar for that is so much higher that I have a hard time thinking of any circumstance in which someone could successfully get a suit design trademarked.”

 

So to summarize:
“Under law, it is the photographer who will own copyright on any photos he/she has taken, with the following exceptions:

• If the photographer is an employee of the company the photos are taken for, or is an employee of a company instructed to take the photos, the photographer will be acting on behalf of his/her employer, and the company the photographer works for will own the copyright.
• If there is an agreement that assigns copyright to another party.

(Source: The UK Copyright Service)

My thoughts on this subject first came up in August 2014 when Getty Images sent a photographer to capture images at Eurofurence for editorial/press use. It demonstrated that there was a loophole, photographing in public areas of Berlin and the hotel where the convention’s media policy did not apply and by not being an attendee they hadn’t agreed to the terms and conditions of entry associated with being a badge-holder.

Conventions need to be very clear to point out where public and private land is to their attendees, and fursuiters should ask photographers if they are suspicious of their intentions before they take images and afterwards will need to seek permission to copy/print photos outside of personal use.

Meanwhile us photographers, who create and hold the copyright, must make sure to defend our works from theft/illegal publication and always be clear with fursuiters about what we are doing with our images and continue to uphold our informal agreements to contact and ask owners of fursonas/characters consent before images are used for commercial or editorial/press use.

However we must never feel that we cannot continue to have fun and collaborate together to create amazing images which document this colourful community and its energetic costumers who bring life to lovingly hand-crafted fursuits.

Detailed Links/More Infomation:

The UK Copyright Service
The US Copyright Office

submitted by Foxes281
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submitted by Darachi
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Looking for some skype and steam friends to talk with and to join the fun here. I live in the middle of Kansass so its kinda hard to find furs to hang out with and meet so I'm stuck to online friends for now. My name is Felix Snowlily, I'm a purple huskypard (husky-snow leopard hybrid thing). I like reading, music, videa games, cycling and spending time with friends. I'm a very open guy and very easy to get a long with. Steam is Felix Snowlily and skype is furrfan if anyone wants to chat or play games :3 I have a very loving mate who loves making friends as well, but hes super grumpy today because I woke him up too early this afternoon.

submitted by Felix_Snowlily
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Just the usual, could use some practice, not ready for commissions, willing to doodle a few headshots. Anyone is welcome, but people who have no or very little art of their sona take first priority. Refs not required as long as you have serviceable skills of description. Fire away, maties!

Fine print: Some are inevitably going to come out way better than others, and I may not be able to draw everyone, but you're pretty much guaranteed to get drawn if you're a hyena because I'm the only hyena I ever get to doodle

c:

EDIT: on a mostly unrelated note, can someone tell me if this lass's arm is too long?

submitted by EmbarrassingShit
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*Warning, this will contain a lot of rambling and scatterbrained...ness. If I had figured out the proper way to say/type it, I might have figured it out already*

Hi! Well this is interesting, I'm asking a question on the same day I found your blog! (Is that the right word? I don't know. ;w; )

So here's my predicament.

I've been using the same username for almost 3 years. In that span I've done a lot of things: make art, evolve in my art, make characters, make friends, but also make enemies. And these enemies seem to love coming back to take swings at me. Several going as far as to wish me death.

Now I'm not someone who enjoys when people give them pity, but I won't deny that I love attention. But it feels that the attention is falling less on the art and more on the conflicts. 

So I've decided to make the change from deviantArt, to FurAffinity as I feel that better artists tend to get more work and commissions there as opposed to everyone posting everything on dA without any control. So since April I've been practicing anatomy, poses, furry stuff, for months nonstop! And I'm just getting ready to make the move, but then comes the issue. I've had my fursona, Cassidy, for about a year now. My FA account has a few friends and watchers and the sort, but bares the name of my old account. I know that I can make another account to just avoid all of this, but I want to bring my fursona to the center of my art and not have to hide. 

I've kind of put my fursona on my current FA already quite a bit, considering my fursona has some better personality traits than I do (and is also the opposite gender than I, showing a different side of me), trying to start anew with some new people, new furs, a community I'd really like to be a recognized member in. But the trolls from my deviantArt could find it, and some have, and preblocked it (before I had even made it active as I've had it for a few years as well)!

I'm just not sure what to do! I've got some great friends, and with my current account name actually having my real name in a clever kind of way (I won't give my account away, but it's something like Katrina'sArtCollection, that sounds nice and stuff) but then have my fursona be the face of it without having to draw myself or anything.

I'd like to think I've changed in the negative things I've done on my dA account, grown as a person, etc., but these people haven't been around to see it. Makes me wonder if I should care what they think.

But my point is, after all that, is that would making a new account change anything? Remove the infamy? Or should I stick it out and continue with my friends and watchers, and ignore the haters and go strong? Would no matter what, the negatives or the past bleed through and it'll all be for not one day?

Thank you for reading my blabbering.

With the warmest of hugs,
Cassidy The Civet~

* * *

Dear Cassidy,

One has to wonder what went on that you have enemies who want you to die. I’m sure that must be an exaggeration on their part, yet their enmity is clear. On the other paw, you’ve turned over a new leaf and have friends on your side. Good.

It’s not uncommon for furries to change their fursonas (or have more than one fursona), but this is more an issue with branding than with alter egos. You’re trying to brand your art business and make Cassidy the familiar face your customers associate with it.

Now, if we were talking about a brand image like the McDonald’s arches or the Nike swoosh or Tony the Tiger, I could definitely see the problem. You wouldn’t want to drop logos like that because they are recognized the world over. But you’ve only had Cassidy as your fursona for a year, so it’s hardly a widely recognized image. Establishing your art site with a different mascot character would not, therefore, be much of a setback and would not hurt your business or your desire for recognition in the fandom.

That said, you should also not allow yourself to be intimidated by trolls, who aren’t going to forgive you anyway, and are not going to be your customers or followers. So what if they trash you? Everyone gets trashed on the Internet at one point or another, including Papabear. I’ve been called an aspiring popufur who only writes a column for fame and money (I guess my accountant is hiding my money in Switzerland, because I haven’t seen a dime of it, LOL).

To answer your question: you are really facing a “six of one, half dozen of the other” situation. To my mind, it really won’t affect you much one way or the other how you decide this, so go with what feels right to you. Trust your instincts.

Good Luck,

Papabear

submitted by javandrolf
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submitted by Nerdy_Furfag
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I bet this took hours.

I don’t often see outside companies actively reaching out to the small but thriving Furry subculture.  Not directly.  If I had to guess where it would happen, I’d guess for Second Life users.  But there are signs that Furries count as modest but valued audience, for some game media like Furvilla aimed right at them. One of these companies, IMVU, reached out: “IMVU […]

submitted by Chickenfool
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