Manga questions. Help please ^_^

[SaotomeChaos]

What is the name of your state? Californ

I'm am comic maker and make lot's of original work, but I want to work on a doujinshi (don't worry, it wont have any porn whatsoever) using chararcters from anime, namely Full Metal Alchemist, Naruto, Bleach, Cardcaptor Sakura, and some others. I'm just gonna poke some fun and make 'em major parts of the story, nothing bad. So, what do I say so that I don't get sued?, such as "Chobits is property of CLAMP and Tokyopop, all rights reserved" or something like that? Also, what do I do to make my original characters copyrighted or trademarked or whatever? I appreciate any advice you can offer. ^_^

 

[divgradcurl]

So, what do I say so that I don't get sued?,

Say "[Name of Trademarked and/or Copyrighted Character] used under license from [Name of Owner]," and then make sure that you actually DO have a license to use the works.

Otherwise, if you don't have a license, there are no "magic words" that will help you escape liability for copyright or trademark infringement. If you don't have a license (or other permission) to use the works, you stand a good chance of being sued. Period.

Also, what do I do to make my original characters copyrighted or trademarked or whatever?

Your original characters are covered under copyright law automatically. If you want more protection, you can register your copyright -- it costs $30 or so and you need to fill out a form (probably TX). Go to www.copyright.gov for more info.

As far as trademarks, again, use of the character will give rise to some protections. For maximum protection, you should consider trademarking your character, but it can be a fairly expensive and lengthy process. You can get some info searching around at www.uspto.gov.

 

[SaotomeChaos]

I see. Ok. Um, stupid question (from a stupid person), who in the company do I ask for permission? The licensing department, or business-to-business customer service? Or as a general question? Sorry, I'm not very good with my common sense.

 

[divgradcurl]

I see. Ok. Um, stupid question (from a stupid person), who in the company do I ask for permission? The licensing department, or business-to-business customer service? Or as a general question? Sorry, I'm not very good with my common sense.

Not a stupid question. However, who you ask will probably vary from company to company -- figure out who is in charge of licensing, that'll probably be where you should look.