I recently bought Wyntersun's character Autumn from her, and took over character rights. I never really thought I'd be putting together a semi-legal sounding document about a big-titted squirrel/skunk, but it's seeming like more and more of a good idea as time goes by. The character is more popular than I realized, and I've had many questions come up in IMs about what exactly this means for the character. So here goes. I'll be updating it as new questions come up.

Intro

Buying a character that used to be someone else's brings up all sorts of vague questions about 'owning' an imaginary character, but I see myself as a curator of the character concept and her art. Like most people do with their characters, I reserve the right to decide who she appears in art with, and who that art is by. I reserve all usage of her for RP purposes (although i don't intend to use her for that, see #2 below). The purpose of this isn't to set myself up as some kind of single-character tyrant. I just enjoy the character and want her presented as the original creator intended. I want her art to remain high-quality. I want her 'personality', such as it is, to remain consistent with how it's been established.

That being said, I don't want to fiddle with any of the past art or relationships the character has. So:

Exceptions

1) Wyntersun still has full freedom to draw Autumn when she wants, put her in scenes with who she wants, and grant other people's requests to draw her, whether it's gifts or commissions. I do ask that I'm notified about new art that gets made, and that I have the right to display it.

2) RMWX has full freedom to get art made featuring Autumn. I do ask that I'm notified about new art that gets made, and that I have the right to display it. Also, RMWX has rights to maintain Autumn's F-List and her IRC presence, and use her in RP.

3) I still welcome people's interest in Autumn, and requests to make/commission art featuring her. But ask me first. I'm not going to be incredibly restrictive, so I am very likely to say yes. My main concerns are having her do stuff consistent with her character, and having the art be good quality.

I reserve the right to revoke any of the above points except #1, which was a term of buying the character from the creator. But I probably won't ever do that.

Apology for this Crap

Autumn is a fun character and I want to keep her fun, it's not my intention to bury her in legalese that betrays my ignorance of copyright law. But I've had a surprising number of questions about what all this means for the character, and I figured I'd put it all in one place for reference. I have to place some restrictions on usage of the character, otherwise what have I really bought.

Links

Autumn Art Gallery