I want to address a problem on Deviantart and over the internet, about so called "OC theft".
Please Keep in mind that I am no lawyer even if I will use law-related terms. And that English is my Third language.

Let us begin :

At some point when you create OCs , you may find yourself face to face with a OCs which can be almost identical. Unfortunately, one common indicator of uploading creations online is the proportion of individuals who will attempt copy, borrow or steal the design of your original character. Or simply create something similar without the attention of stealing.
Many are have been frustrated by several of copies or downright theft of OC without a single note or email asking them of permission. And many find this less than flattering, more or less find it offensive to have somebody copy or steal content you created. Even if they copied it. And some just came up with the same idea. And never knew of your creation.


But remember how copyright works:

Copyright protects against substantial commercial duplication of characters or ideas of recent publication. Individual names and characters can't generally be protected by copyright. So names like "Yuki Oni" or "Shade" can't be protected by copyright.

Trademark: Trademarks protect words and artwork that are associated with a brand in a specific type of product. "Diskworld" is a trademark owned by Terry Pratchett as applied to fantasy and humor fiction, and Softdisk, Inc, as applied to software and digital media. Trademark infringement is a bit more particular. You can't use a trademark in such a way that implies endorsement or dilutes the value of the trademark.

Remember that names cannot be copyrighted : www.videomaker.com/article/142…

HOW to avoid it in the first place:

Putting the OC online is risky and might end up getting it stolen, but it also gives you a time-stamp of when it was created or to be exact when it was added online. Good example would be somebody stole your bike, unless you can prove ownership with receipts or photos who has time-stamp. It is most likely a dead-end fight. You simply can´t win.

Advice on what to do:
1.) Watermark your images with your logo or name, be sure to hide them.
2.) Add a copyright tag on every image you post on the web.
3.) Disable Right Clicking on your Image. On deviantart this is not possible.

This does not prevent theft, just make it easier to fight it, if you are persistent.

Remember to add following on or below image :

Copied or stolen OC, what to do?

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So you've discovered that someone has duplicated entire parts of the Original character. How do you best respond? As an artist many tend to become incredibly offended and start unnecessary dramas. Best way of act over such a matter is following:

1. Do not post journals about the theft asking fans to act on your behalf , even saying that they should attack the individual it may just ends up with them doing it anyhow.

2. Find evidence of her creation being a copy of your character. Is is obvious ? Is it more then two similarities? If no, then you simply can´t win. If it is exactly identical, start collecting evidence of your OCs creation period, time-stamps online and such.  Remember screenshots can be altered and photobucket is not a great evidence .

It is hard to see dates on photoshop (what I know)

Remember to watermark even the evidence, or the thief might use it against you.

3. Got some solid proof? Contact the thief in a email or a note, show her or him the evidence.

4. Have patience , "fights" such as this can take years. If the OC is dear to you , never give up. Just remember to be logical. No proof, very little you can do sadly.

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Now if what shall you write when contacting the thief , here is a example on what to write :

"Your use of image from my gallery constitutes an infringement of this websites copyright and therefore subjects you to substantial liability under federal copyright law. Please immediately remove that material from your page and refrain from any further use of any material derived from my gallery."

And this is what to write ,If somebody created a OC and it look identical to yours:

"I have noticed the strong similarity of between [ add name of oc plus link] and your OC [ add name of oc plus link]. This may be a coincidence or not, but I would like to discuss this matter with you so we can come to a solution.  "

This usually works. If not, be persistent. Some who steal are 10 - 16 year old teens that may not understand such this type of language or even the language you speak and write. You can make the text above simpler to understand for them or find somebody who speak the persons native language. And most of the times they will become furious, due to being oblivious over the fact what theft actually is.

However, if this theft has a potential to seriously disrupting your business or maybe even ruin your income completely, you'll want to saddle up with your lawyer. It may be hard to make a case against somebody not living in your country do.

If this does not damage you financially , report it to the admins. This requires a large amount of evidence.

If somebody stole your commission, contact the creator and let him do the fight. It is he/her who made and posted the image first who should make a case. This may be different in some cases.

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The story makes the OC not it´s looks:

Good-looking OC with no story is simply a hollow character. Many can make identical characters yet the story is what makes us remember it. Unless the character has something specific that makes her/him stick out. This is something that is almost impossible to do, hence so many humans creative humans on this earth.

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A pure coincidence perhaps.

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In most cases, it is a simple misunderstanding or coincidence that their creation became same as yours. If you have basic elements that anybody could think off, then someone or somebody will create the same things as yours.

Red haired elf, white haired Japanese school girl with red eyes  or girls with rainbow hair;  is not something that can be considered super original. Do not take less pride in it do. Just remember that you will run into duplicates. You can still make it your OC with its story.

And many children online do not understand that it is wrong to steal, they find your image and save it. Oblivious that it is not OK to do so. Explain calmly that your image belongs to you . And that she or he should have asked before copying or adding. If such is the case. Some trace and think that is not copying due to her drawing it. Then try to explain why this is not OK.

But your character from Naruto may be original as in design wise, and can never be copyrighted to Naruto. Hence you do not own the series and cannot legally attach your character to the series.

But at this point, you'll need to ask yourself is it worth all the drama to start a online crusade against a person over a character. If you have no proof of when you created the OC or the person refuse to listen. Maybe you need to let it go and move on, to simply let it go.

 And to remember that it is a big world out there. And many minds who think a like.

This is my advice, hope it helps ^^

LINKS ABOUT COPYRIGHT OF OC:

www.ivanhoffman.com/characters… < Protection of fictional character.

dearrichblog.blogspot.se/2013/… < On copyright of a OC.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellec… < About Intellectual property

boardgamegeek.com/thread/49324… <Other great information about creating and copyright