Difference between revisions of "Chris and copyright"

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(grammar. also, the cwcipedia doesn't retain the sonichu copyright)
 
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[[Image:SonichuCertificate.jpg|thumb|Chris's copyright registration certificate]]
[[Image:SonichuCertificate.jpg|thumb|Chris's copyright registration certificate.]]
{{Quote|...anyone using my characters and all Without My Consent are Criminals, and such people should be reported to the Police immediately.|[[Chris]]|[[CWCipedia]]'s Copyright page}}
[[File:Troll_lawyers.jpg|thumb|Chris telling some trolling stupid corporate lawyers that he owns the rights to Sonichu.]]
{{Quote|...anyone using my characters and all Without My Consent are Criminals, and such people should be reported to the [[Jerkop|Police]] immediately.|[[Chris]]|[[CWCipedia]]'s Copyright page<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20161007104757/http://archive.sonichu.com/cwcipedia/index.php?title=CWCipedia:Copyrights</ref>}}


Like with many things, [[Christian Weston Chandler]] has a very obscure idea of what '''copyright''' entails, let alone its legal ramifications in US law. He believes that all copyrighting something involves is "[[CWC - Hand Drawn Original|<nowiki>[putting]</nowiki> a little C-In-A-Circle and <nowiki>[his]</nowiki> John Hancock]]".
As with many things, Chris has a very limited understanding of '''copyright''' and how it's enforced. He is vaguely aware of what it is: some sort of a legal right that creators of things have that lets these creators to tell others what they can and can't do &ndash; a very [[naïve]] view, though not entirely incorrect.


Chris doesn't even know what a copyright ''is,'' legally speaking. He can't ''copyright'' [[Sonichu]], but he could [[Wikipedia:United States trademark law|'''trademark''']] Sonichu. He could copyright individual works using Sonichu. Too bad he doesn't know anything about anything.
==Sonichu as a copyrightable work==
[[Image:116-CWCCop.jpg|thumb|right|180px|[[Take that Page DOWN NOW!|Too many CROOKS!]]]]


== Sonichu as a copyrightable work ==
Chris really only had one real firsthand experience on the copyright questions that formed the basis of everything that followed. While working on a school project that required making a [[Christian's Favorite Hits!|CD cover]], his teacher successfully explained to him that [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] and [[Pokémon|Pikachu]] are characters created by others, and he has no right to use them and has to create something original instead. Chris reacted to this by creating an "original" combination of the two characters, and thus [[Sonichu (character)|Sonichu]] was born. In the [[Father Call]], he also says the teacher told him he had been in the clear with the beginning as far as copyright is concerned. However, the fact that the teacher (unwisely) accepted Sonichu as original cemented Chris's vague understanding of the [[Chris and the Law|law]], and now Chris is simply unwilling to learn the truth. In his mind, mashing together two different characters and "[[CWC - Hand Drawn Original|<nowiki>[putting]</nowiki> a little C-In-A-Circle and <nowiki>[his]</nowiki> John Hancock]]" creates completely new intellectual property that is his and his alone.
[[Image:116-CWCCop.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Crooks!]]
In Chris's mind, it's perfectly reasonable to take two very popular fictitious characters and mash them both together in a [[Fail|failtastic]] [[rainbow]] of [[Sonichu and Rosechu's Children|incestuous]] [[Sonichu|electric]] [[Rosechu|rodents]]. This means you've created a completely new thing, and therefore are entitled to the rights of said "Original Characters" regardless of how crappy, ''un''original and disgusting they may be.


Here in real life, however, any work that uses ''previously copyrighted work'' as a basis is a derivative work; this means that while it can be copyrighted by the creator, it cannot be published without permission of the original copyright holders. There are very specific exceptions to this rule. One way to avoid this is to simply not use too much of the previous work's material to begin with: complete works or significant portions of them are copyrightable, but you ''can'' steal general vague ideas as much as you want (though Chris is stealing way too much to qualify for this). Another would be Fair Use: use the copyrighted work to provide criticism, journalistic or educational information, or parody (of which more later). In short, Chris has no excuse.
In reality, any work that uses previously copyrighted work as a basis is a derivative work. This means that while it may have substantial original elements that the creator definitely holds a copyright on, it cannot be published or distributed without the permission of the original copyright holders. The reality isn't ''entirely'' clear-cut, however, and there are several exceptions to this rule, both well-understood ({{w|Fair use|Fair Use doctrine}}, which allows limited use of copyrighted material for journalistic and scholarly purposes) and less well understood (there's an ongoing debate about the emerging copyright issues like digital rights and the remixing arts).


Moreover, any attempt to argue that Sonichu is not a derivative work would be entirely self-demolishing. Sonichu is ''explicitly'' stated to be a fusion of two existing characters, both by Chris as its creator and in the comic story itself. Chris has worked the fact that the two original characters were merged into Sonichu's backstory and the Sonichuverse in general. His process of incorporating copyrighted properties into his works is both ''unabashed'' and ''deep-rooted''. He ''can't'' talk his way out of this.
Unfortunately for Chris, Sonichu is a fairly clear-cut case of a derivative work. While the character design itself has ''some'' originality despite its blatantly derivative style (and as such might have passed the teacher's inspection), as far as backstory is concerned, Sonichu is explicitly said to be a fusion of two existing characters - by Chris as its creator and in the comic story itself.


Apparently, the idea of Sonichu being a publishable work stems way back into the character's creation. According to [[User:ChrisChanSonichu profile|Chris's]] [[Sonichu (character)|"autobiography"]], when Chris ended up backed into a corner as to what to put onto a CD cover, he decided to fuse Sonic and Pikachu, whom he couldn't use because they were copyrighted characters, and turn them into Sonichu. When his teacher accepted the hybrid character, Chris automatically assumed that he was free to create his multimedia empire from them. In the [[Father Call|call with Kacey's father]], he also says the teacher told him he had been in the clear with the beginning as far as copyright is concerned.
Fundamentally, Chris wanted [[Electric Hedgehog Pokémon]]; if they are just some made-up characters and ''not'' Pokémon, they just aren't ''true'' enough for him. Unfortunately, Chris doesn't understand that such "made-up" characters are how people ''define'' creativity. Many creators do indeed borrow ideas from another work to create inspiration for original stories and concepts. Had Chris took inspiration from ''Pokémon'' and ''Sonic'' and made his own original creations that weren't just the two franchises mish-mashed together, it would be fine. However, the ''Sonichu'' comic makes copious usage of concepts from them both (as well as a myriad of others), meaning that anything Chris does to profit from ''Sonichu'' would render him liable to be sued.  


So let's remember that Chris is so [[naive]] that he would treat the advice of his high-school teacher as if it were the law of the land.
This would be harmless enough if he weren't actually profiting from it, but [[Chris and business|he]] [[OfficialCWCmart|is]], and if any of the franchises he has plagiarized from  decided to pursue legal action, Chris would be torn to shreds in court. Fortunately for Chris, an autistic moron hocking products on [[Etsy]] is unlikely to incur the wrath of a major multinational company; the worst he's likely to receive is a {{w|Cease and desist|cessation demand}}.
{{clear}}
== Chris as an enforcer of rights ==
[[Image:117-CWCSonichuLeer.jpg|thumb|right|[[The Creepy Stare|Don't look right into their eyes.]]]]
Chris is very paranoid regarding his copyright, and will frequently [[CWC Public Disclaimer|hand out all of his personal information to complete strangers]] if he thinks it is being contested. This has backfired in a plethora of astounding ways.


Chris has encouraged people to report copyright infringements to the police. The police, unfortunately, can't do much when random citizens report ''civil offenses'' such as copyright infringement. Even if Chris ''had'' the rights to the works in question, suing people for copyright infringement would be Chris's job and his job alone, or that of a representative whom he has specifically appointed to that specific task.
===Ban from Lulu===
Chris was banned from the self-publishing site [[Lulu]] in [[December 2015]], since the staff recognized that ''Sonichu'' is a piece of fan fiction. The sting of an actual business calling him out on the truth seemed to finally impress upon him the impossibility of defending ''Sonichu'' as an original work.


Unsurprisingly, Chris is a [[Chris and hypocrisy|total and complete hypocrite]] when it comes to abusing the work of other creators. In the span of ten issues, Chris pulls characters and concepts from numerous franchises and even goes so far as to steal "original" characters from [[trolls|fans]] and [[sweethearts]] without an ounce of due respect to their creators. He's even had the balls to take [[Asperchu|another creator's characters]], [[Mitch Sonichu|alter them]] and demand that they be portrayed the way ''he'' has made them. It's easy to say that, if Chris were to make money off Sonichu ''somehow'', he could easily be sued by those who created the characters he stole.
More than a year after the ban, Chris continued to scapegoat Lulu to explain why he was unwilling to work on [[Sonichu 11|the comic he had been paid over $1,000 to do]], saying in January 2017 that "the pester of "legality" questions and disputings in my creations and work" is the biggest reason that caused him to have an "inability to feel like drawing and writing the stories.<ref>[[January 2017 Facebook Posts#Inability to feel like drawing and writing the stories]]</ref>"


Even worse, Chris refuses to listen to anyone, especially the original creators of his "original" characters, when they know Chris has done wrong. The best example would be the fight between [[Evan]] and Chris over the character [[Simonla]]. When Evan demanded that Chris remove Simonla from the comics in an on-screen death, Chris refused because ''it would take Wild Sonichu's girlfriend away''. That's right: Chris refuses to remove a character because of a meaningless throw-away relationship between minor fictional characters. As time went on, Chris has fought tooth and nail to keep Simonla in, going so far as to write out a scenario where Simonchu appears in CWCVille, tries to bring Simonla back, only to be beaten back by Wild and forces Simonchu to return and tell Evan Simonla likes it there, proclaiming it's his "Great Director Chandler" powers that lets him do it. In the end, it took two shut downs of the CWCipedia for Chris to finally surrender and kill off Simonla.
==Chris as an enforcer of rights==
[[Image:117-CWCSonichuLeer.jpg|thumb|right|[[Creepy stare|Don't look right into their eyes.]]]]
 
Chris is very paranoid regarding his copyright, and will frequently [[CWC Public Disclaimer|hand out all of his personal information to complete strangers]] if he thinks it is being contested. This has backfired in a number of ways.
 
Chris has encouraged people to report copyright infringements to the [[jerkop|police]]. The police, unfortunately, can't do much when random citizens report civil offenses such as copyright infringement. Even if Chris ''had'' the rights to the works in question, suing people for copyright infringement would be Chris's job and his job alone, or that of a representative whom he has specifically appointed to that specific task.
 
Unsurprisingly, Chris is a [[Chris and hypocrisy|total hypocrite]] when it comes to abusing the work of other creators. In the space of 13½ issues, [[Things Chris has ripped off|Chris pulled characters and concepts from innumerable franchises]] and even went so far as to steal "original" characters from fans and [[sweethearts]] with little respect shown to their creators. He's even had the balls to take [[Asperchu|another creator's characters]], [[Mitch Sonichu|alter them]] and demand that thenceforth they be portrayed the way ''he'' has made them in the original material. Despite how firmly Chris holds on to his views of copyright, when directly challenged on why it's okay for him to rip things off but not for other people to do the same to Sonichu, he's unable to think of a response.<ref>[[Alec Benson Leary Phone Call 9]]</ref>
 
Furthermore, Chris refuses to listen to the original creators of these "original" characters when they ask to have their characters removed. The best example would be the fight between [[Evan]] and Chris over the character [[Simonla Rosechu]], a ripoff of Evan's original character Simonchu. When Evan demanded that Chris remove Simonla from the comics in an on-page death, Chris refused because ''it would take [[Wild Sonichu]]'s girlfriend away''. As time went on, Chris fought tooth and nail to keep Simonla in, going so far as to write out a scenario where Simonchu is told to tell Evan that Simonla likes [[CWCville]]. In the end, it took two shutdowns of the CWCipedia for Chris to finally surrender and kill off Simonla, and he just resurrected her a few years later anyway.
 
===Licensing and terms of use===
The {{w|MediaWiki}} software used on [[CWCipedia]] had various built-in settings for content licensing. During installation, MediaWiki defaults to {{w|GNU Free Documentation License}}, which states that the content can be reused elsewhere for any purpose, as long as proper copyright holder attribution and license references are given.
 
On 6 [[September 2009]], a fan wrote to Chris and thanked him for allowing this reuse, which provoked an uncharacteristically swift response from Chris, demanding WikiSysop not-so-politely to remove the obviously erroneous "GDU FDL" license.<ref>[[ChrisChanSonichu and WikiSysop correspondence#The License on the bottom of my Cwcipedia (WS)|Chris's message to WikiSysop]]</ref>
 
This prompted Chris to write his own [https://web.archive.org/web/20111029204347/http://archive.sonichu.com/cwcipedia/index.php?title=CWCipedia:Copyrights Copyrights] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20151216163433/http://archive.sonichu.com/cwcipedia/index.php?title=Terms_of_use Terms of use] pages.
 
The legal problems caused by Chris's terms are detailed elsewhere in this article. The Terms of Use are even weirder:
 
* ''"Any and All Visually Grotesque, Shocking and Offensive works will be Immediately Deleted and NOT be uploaded, or seen ever again; NO RESUBMISSIONS ALLOWED of such pieces."''
* ''ALL letters addressed to any NAME other than "Christian Weston Chandler" or "Christopher Weston Chandler", will be Immediately disposed of with Paper Recyling, or be "Returned to Sender" with a frown face on it. ALL Visually Grotesque, Shocking and Offensive art works and letters will be disposed of properly as well."''
* Fan sites should be pre-approved by Chris.
* Sending spam to Sega and Nintendo about making official Sonichu games is apparently part of Terms of Use.


===Copyright registration===
===Copyright registration===
It appears that Chris has actually paid $45, and somehow got [http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=1&ti=1,1&Search%5FArg=Sonichu&Search%5FCode=TALL&CNT=10&PID=ZvDUHHsi-vkzrRWQU2p5oLpU7yxe&SEQ=20091106120549&SID=1 Sonichu approved by The United States Copyright Office]. On 12 [[November 2009]], he also posted a scan of the confirmation letter he received to [[CWCipedia]] and posted a highly predictable [[Red Letter CWC Certified Day|my-heart-level-just-went-to-100%-again video]].
Believe it or not, Chris seemingly did pay the necessary $45 to somehow get [http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=1&ti=1,1&Search%5FArg=Sonichu&Search%5FCode=TALL&CNT=10&PID=ZvDUHHsi-vkzrRWQU2p5oLpU7yxe&SEQ=20091106120549&SID=1 Sonichu approved by the United States Copyright Office]. On 12 [[November 2009]], he also posted a scan of the confirmation letter he received to [[CWCipedia]], and posted a highly predictable [[Red Letter CWC Certified Day|my-Heart-Level-just-went-to-100%-again video]].
 
Psychologically, this copyright registration represents a big win for Chris, because it gives him what he thinks are bragging rights, even though he has no idea what the copyright registration ''actually'' means. Copyright registration isn't an official recognition of copyright, however. Copyrights are granted automatically, and copyright registrations are only an official assertion that a specific work has been created at a specific date by the registrant; the registrations are only needed when suing another party for copyright infringement. It is also not a registration of a ''trademark''; Chris has no special rights for the name "Sonichu" itself. Finally, Chris made a critical mistake in filing the registration application: he described Sonichu as a "work for hire" in the apparent belief that this meant that the comic was his primary occupation, when it {{w|Work for hire|really means}} that he created it on behalf of someone else, who is considered the creator for legal purposes.
It should also be noted that the United States Copyright Office does not check whether or not a registrant's work is infringing.
 
If Nintendo or Sega were to sue Chris they would easily win; it's clear that they hold the rights to original characters like Sonic and Pikachu and Chris's work is derivative thereof.
 
'''IN SHORT:''' Chris's copyright registration doesn't mean his comics aren't non-infringing, nor does it effectively protect his own intellectual property.
 
===Use of copyright notices===
The way Chris maintains his so-called copyrights within his works is also baffling. It's possible he goes by the assumption that almost everything he draws must contain copious copyright notices, usually in a large disclaimer:
 
{{quote|© Christian Weston Chandler, March [[2000]]-????}}
 
It's worth noting that Chris obsessively includes copyright symbols in pictures he draws of Sonichu, including a picture he drew in the snow in his [[Holiday Greetings]] video and a doodle he drew on his ticket to the [[2005]] [[Anime Mid-Atlantic]] convention.
 
However, only daily newspaper comic strips have constant notices reminding about copyright due to their daily nature. In most forms of media throughout the world, one copyright notice at the beginning of the work is enough to assert rights, and only the year is noted in a copyright notice.
 
Finally, the year of the creation of the ''specific'' work in question should be noted in the copyright notice; for example [[Sonichu 10|''Sonichu'' #10]] should be "''© 2009-2010 CWC''". If Chris would want to specifically emphasize that Sonichu, in general, has existed since March 2000, he'd need to do so in an additional copyright notice (e.g. "''Sonichu'' #10 © 2009-2010 CWC. Sonichu character © CWC, March 2000.")
 
===Christian's On the Lookout!===
Long before his discovery by the trolls, Chris created a webpage called '''Christian's On the Lookout!''' which linked to his main [[CWC's Sonichu Site!|Sonichu site]]. Chris made the site no later than May 2006. Exactly how he used the site is not clear, especially since his main site did not link to this page. Chris's paranoia and arrogance regarding his copyright are on full display here.
 
{{quotebox|
'''A Message for all who are out to use the Sonichu Name!'''


Psychologically, this copyright registration represents a big win for Chris, because it gives him what he thinks are bragging rights ''even'' though he has no idea what the copyright registration ''actually'' means. In his confused state, receiving a registration from the US Copyright Office means that he has been right the whole time and now he ''officially'' has all imaginable intellectual property rights regarding his character and creations. In his mind, he now has the right and the power to tell everybody how Sonichu may or may not be used. The most annoying thing about this is that unless Chris actually sues someone or someone sues Chris, we can't make him shut up about it - the state of intellectual property legislation is such that people can make all sorts of weird assertions ("I patented forks and knives ''when used over the Internet''"), and if someone's wrong, that is up for the courts to settle.
From Christian Weston Chandler,


Now, here in reality, copyright registration is not an official ''recognition'' of copyright. It is an officially registered ''assertion'' that a person or company has created a specific work at specific date. Every new work automatically has copyright whether it's registered or not. The registration of copyright is only required if you're suing people for copyright infringement. One party asserts that a work has been created at one time, another party has used the work at another time, and then it's up to a judge to decide who is in the right. If Nintendo or Sega sue Chris, they can easily demonstrate that they've held the rights to original characters like Sonic and Pikachu and Chris's work is derivative. More important, Chris does ''not'' have a trademark on Sonichu; he has never had it, and this registration doesn't have anything to do with trademark rights.
Original Creator of Sonichu, and related characters and materials.


We know Chris messed the registration up, but the sad thing is that without complete documentation of exactly what he submitted, we may never know exactly ''how'' badly Chris messed this up. The documentation Chris published doesn't show exactly what he submitted. The application appears to be for "digital files", which is probably to say specific image files, created in 2000. (We'd need actual documents, because Chris will probably say that he has ''official'' copyright on a ''character'' he created in 2000 and babble some more confused nonsense.) It's also possible that he has submitted files that ''weren't'' created in 2000, and he's just insisting that the ''character'' was created at that time. These kinds of distinctions and little details can be extremely important in a court of law.
I just want to inform all persons, fans of Sonichu or otherwise, that Sonichu was originally Created on March 17, 2000, and I have a copyright on my faithful Electric-Hedgehog Pokemon. I am very proud to share my Sonichu with the people who appreciate my creativity in Sonichu's world.


There's also one more oddity in the registration: the registration is listed as [[wikipedia:Work for hire|work made for hire]], a whole different and more complicated tango that deals with transfers of rights as part of work contracts, typically in situations where workers create works for corporations. If Chris ever goes in court over this, ''someone'' will start asking inconvenient questions on who hired Chris, or whom did Chris hire, to create this work, and what sort of contracts were involved in this alleged transfer of rights. While such contract ''may'' have been made and we've not heard of it, nothing that Chris has said indicates anything otherwise, and it looks that he just checked a wrong box in the application form.
I often do a "Search" of "Sonichu," and, currently, and I only want to see links to my Sonichu Site, or related sites. If I see links to websites with any person who has used his name, I will view it. If I should see the "Sonichu" name used to describe any character, other than my original Electric-Hedgehog Pokemon, I will send you an E-Mail to inform you if you have intruded into '''Copyrighted territory''', and request that you remove the name from your website, or forum entry, and change it to something else. If, however, you do not abide to the request, or not reply to the E-mail within 14 days, I may take legal action against you.


'''IN SHORT:''' Chris's copyright registration doesn't mean his comics are non-infringing.
I am not a mean person, and I am not out to start any trouble, so [[Chris and religion|please do not use the Sonichu name in vain]]. If, however, you would like to create a fan website to describe my Electric-Hedgehog Pokemon, please send me an E-Mail to CWCSonichu@aol.com with information, and link, about your fan site. I will view your fan site, and if I like it, I, Christian Weston Chandler, will send you an approval E-Mail. And you may keep your website up on the web. If I find it offensive, I, Christian Weston Chandler, will send you an E-mail asking you to either change the content to something else, or remove the website from the web.


=== Use of copyright notices ===
Also, if you would like to see Sonichu as a real video game, or catch him in a Pokemon title, please send your request to Nintendo of America, inc., or ''Nintendo Power'' magazine; please raise the hype on Sonichu so that I will be able to legally talk to the people of Nintendo of America, inc., and make a deal.
The way Chris maintains his so-called copyrights within his works is also baffling. It's possible he goes by the assumption that almost everything he draws must contain copious amounts of copyright notices, usually in the form of this disclaimer, written in large cursive any third-grader would be embarrassed to maintain (pity any poor bank employee who must look at his checks).


{{quote|© Christian Weston Chandler, March 2000-????}}
[[Chris and reality|Sonichu and I]], Christian Weston Chandler, thank you for following the Legal Guidelines expressed here. I sincerely hope that you enjoy the stories of my Electric-Hedgehog Pokemon. And I also hope that you will voice your hype and interest about Sonichu, and my world of [[Cwcville]], to Nintendo of America, inc., so Sonichu can become a video game, cartoon (or anime), and all that other neat stuff.


However, only '''daily''' newspaper comic strips have constant notices reminding about copyright due to their daily nature, and usually these notices are edited out of strip compilation books for basic aesthetic purposes. In most forms of media throughout the world, one copyright notice at the beginning of the work is enough to assert rights, and only the year is noted in a copyright notice. The way his copyrights are written, they are not in the traditional "mouse type" which is unobtrusive to most readers, but in large written letters which distract incredibly from his work.
Have a Zappin' Day!


Finally, the year of the creation of the ''specific'' work in question should be noted in the copyright notice; for example [[Sonichu 10]] should be "''© 2009-2010 CWC''" (abbreviations are allowed in notices). If Chris would want to specifically emphasize that Sonichu ''in general'' has existed since March 2000, he'd need to do so in an additional copyright notice (e.g. "''Sonichu'' Issue #10 © 2009-2010 CWC. ''Sonichu'' character © CWC, March 2000.") Due to this highly confused specification of work creation dates, if a copyright lawyer were hired by Chris in an attempt to maintain his copyrights, it would be questioned and would take considerable time to sort out; not fixing the dates would likely put his whole case in jeopardy if this ever went to court. The Sonichu character itself would have its copyright written as "Sonichu © 2000 - 2010 CWC" as months, ''and fucking question marks'' are not ever included in copyright dates. The series, however, would be written as "''Sonichu'' © 2004 - 2010 CWC".
This has been a message from Christian Weston Chandler, Original Creator of Sonichu.


Chris also obsessively includes copyright symbols in pictures he draws of Sonichu, including a picture he drew in the snow in his [[Holiday Greetings]] video and a doodle he drew on his ticket to the 2005 [[Anime Mid-Atlantic]] convention.
All Sonichu Material is Copyrighted, March 2000-2005 by Christian Weston Chandler}}


===Chris's motivations===
===Chris's motivations===
Chris doesn't really understand what his copyright registration means and what it might or might not be good for, practically speaking. To him, it's mainly just a crutch for his ego. In the aftermath of his feud with [[Liquid Chris]], he sees it as the final and clinching proof that he himself is the TRUE and ORIGINAL creator of Sonichu. On 26 November 2009, he posted the following as part of an announcement on [[CWCipedia]], which is quite illuminating:
In any case, Chris doesn't really care so much about what his copyright registration means and what it might or might not be good for, practically speaking. To him, it's mainly just a crutch for [[Chris and his ego|his ego]]. In the aftermath of his feud with [[Liquid Chris]], he sees it as the final and clinching proof that he himself is the TRUE and ORIGINAL creator of Sonichu. On 26 [[November 2009]], he posted the following as part of an announcement on [[CWCipedia]], which is quite illuminating:


{{quotebox|Also, I have been thinking, although all Sonichu "Merchandise" sold online in the past I have labeled false; I did that, because it came as a surprise to me then, I felt outraged appropriately (most everyone can relate to that; it's comparable to if Godzilla or Clover [the Cloverfield monster] came to YOUR Metropolis and suddenly attacked your city). I realize now that even though it is still considerably Not Official, it all still is an homage to my creation. So I will make it clear to ALL those Vendors.
{{quotebox|Also, I have been thinking, although all Sonichu "Merchandise" sold online in the past I have labeled false; I did that, because it came as a surprise to me then, I felt outraged appropriately (most everyone can relate to that; it's comparable to if {{w|Godzilla}} or Clover [the {{w|Cloverfield}} monster] came to YOUR Metropolis and suddenly attacked your city). I realize now that even though it is still considerably Not Official, it all still is an homage to my creation. So I will make it clear to ALL those Vendors.


As long as it is NOT printed copies of my books' pages, or bootlegged copies of my "Christian Weston Chandler, Yep, I'm On T.V." DVD, AND As Long As I am quoted on ALL websites' and vendors' locations as Original Creator of Sonichu, Rosechu, Cwcville and all of such, I, Christian Weston Chandler, approve of such merchandise from Day Forward. At least to give you all, my patient, loyal Fans and Trolls, something to quell your pallets[sic] until Official Merchandise is sold in Official Stores such as Toys 'R' Us, GameStop, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, etcetera and such.
As long as it is NOT printed copies of my books' pages, or bootlegged copies of my "[[Christian Weston Chandler, Yep, I'm On T.V.]]" DVD, AND As Long As I am quoted on ALL websites' and vendors' locations as Original Creator of [[Sonichu]], [[Rosechu]], [[Cwcville]] and all of such, I, Christian Weston Chandler, approve of such merchandise from Day Forward. At least to give you all, my patient, loyal [[Fans]] and [[Troll]]s, something to quell your pallets [''sic''] until Official Merchandise is sold in Official Stores such as Toys 'R' Us, [[GameStop]], [[Best Buy]], [[Wal-Mart]], etcetera and such.


[[Chris and ego|I have spoken]], and I wish everyone a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving.
[[Chris and ego|I have spoken]], and I wish everyone a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving.


--ChrisChanSonichu 02:17, 26 November 2009 (CET) }}
--ChrisChanSonichu 02:17, 26 [[November 2009]] (CET)}}
 
In other words, Chris doesn't really care if other people use his supposed intellectual property, so long as he's the one that gets the credit, not some impostor in brown stripes. The idea expressed here is not unlike that in the {{w|Creative Commons}} Attribution license.
 
===Patreon leaks===
Since Chris began using [[Patreon]] for donations in exchange for his continued work on [[Sonichu 11]] and beyond, he had, for the first time, an actual financial incentive to enforce the copyright of his work. Chris announced that he would initially release 'Sonichu 11 only to Patreon supporters, and this plan seemed to go off without a hitch until several [[White knight|patrons]] leaked the exclusive pages that Chris had released so far, then [[Weening|notified Chris]] in his YouTube comments.
 
Chris took swift action to protect his only source of income besides his [[monthly tugboat]]. In [[CLog 06142017]], Chris begins by denouncing the leakers and comparing their actions (leaking the comic pages early) to the physical theft of purses and cell phones. However, Chris's copyright continues to be completely unenforceable, and it is almost certain that future patron pages will be leaked as well.


Translated from jackass, he's saying that he doesn't actually understand or care about the legal and economic ramifications of other people using his supposed intellectual property, so long as he's the one that gets the credit, not some impostor in brown stripes. Money isn't as important to him as his precious e-fame. This paragraph also shows another example of Chris's [[ego]]; he equates seeing himself being mocked with [[Chris and Death|seeing millions of people being killed by giant monsters]].
Interestingly, Chris's intentions to keep future Sonichu pages exclusive to his patrons could be considered a form of [[Chris and the law|fraud]], as [[DStecks]] already paid Chris ''$1000'' in [[September 2015]] to make 100 pages of Sonichu, which, according to Chris's page count estimate in [[CLog 06232017]], would cover the vast majority of the volume to be released.


==Chris's views==
==Chris's views==
{{main|Parody}}
{{main|Parody}}
Chris is ''very'' protective of his characters. Well, as protective as an autistic manchild could be to such unoriginal monstrosities. Chris believes that his characters are officially "parodies", thus, he is allowed to create his multimedia empire on a legal loophole. What Chris fails to realize that is that parodies are essentially mockeries of something they're based on, done for laughs or as a commentary on the original work. According to the US Supreme Court, parody "is the use of some elements of a prior author's composition to create a new one that, at least in part, comments on that author's works." So unless Chris was, say, making commentary on commercialization by making a pastiche of what was popular at the time, it would be fine. The fact that it is parody and not plagiarism must also be made obvious.


Some examples: [[Wikipedia:"Weird Al" Yankovic|"Weird Al" Yankovic's]] songs are considered parodies. Note, however, that he obtains permission from artists whose songs he covers, going through the necessary legal process to make his work. Technically, as parodies, he wouldn't need to, but he does so out of good will, as the artist doesn't own the song, but rather the record company does. He also does his own work, including pastiche of artists' styles, and impressively so, with [[Wikipedia:Devo|Devo's]] frontman commenting that Weird Al's [[Transformers|"Dare to Be Stupid"]] encompassed his entire body of works in one gag tune. It's a known fact that Yankovic actually has one of the tightest, most competent legal teams in music to make sure his parodies don't get him in legal trouble down the road. [[Wikipedia:Mel Brooks|Mel Brooks']] works are considered parodies, but his most famous parodies either use works from the public domain (such as ''Young Frankenstein,'' based on the novel and done in the ''style of'' classic Frankenstein films) or cover similar plot points without actually lifting characters. In the case of ''Spaceballs'', which closely parodied ''Star Wars'', Brooks actually obtained permission from George Lucas in person, just to avoid even the possibility of trouble. Likewise, the creators of another famous parody, ''Airplane!'', acquired the rights to a film they were very closely parodying so there would be no legal trouble. Works that "parody" scenes by copying them verbatim, like ''Scary Movie'' or [[Family Guy|a certain animated sitcom]], are usually looked down upon for simply relying on [[Random Access Humor|constant references]] in lieu of actually parodying the original work.
Chris is ''very'' protective of his characters. Chris believes that his characters are official "parodies", thus, he is allowed to create his multimedia empire on a legal loophole. What Chris fails to realize is that parodies are essentially mockeries of something they're based on, done for laughs or as a commentary on the original work. According to the {{w|Supreme Court of the United States|US Supreme Court}}, parody "is the use of some elements of a prior author's composition to create a new one that, at least in part, comments on that author's works." So if Chris was, say, making commentary on commercialization by making a pastiche of what was popular at the time, it would be fine. The fact that it is a parody and not plagiarism must also be made obvious.
 
Sonichu and Rosechu are ''not'' parodies, just shitty recolors. Chris doesn't mean to make fun of the characters they're based on, nor make commentary of them. He slavishly imitates the kind of adventures they have in an attempt to tell his own stories. Even his most original characters are either based on [[Christian Weston Chandler (comic character)|someone he knows]] or [[Flame the Sunbird|are cribbed extensively from existing characters]].
 
Chris intended for [[Sonichu 13]] to be a crossover between his comic universe and the characters of the popular ''Planet Dolan'' YouTube channel. Much like Nintendo and (formerly) Sega, the producers of the channel likely have never heard of Sonichu, much less gave Chris permission to use their characters. Had his plans went through, Chris would've likely offered a similar "parody" defense to his ''direct'' use of someone else's intellectual property. Ultimately, though, Chris canned these plans due to the ''Planet Dolan'' cast blocking him on social media, and the [[Idea Guys]] having other ideas in mind for the comic.
 
In his disclaimer at the beginning of [[Sonichu 16|''Sonichu'' #16]], Chris revealed a new outlook on copyright law, made even more incoherent by the influence of the Idea Guys and his crumbling sense of [[Chris and reality|reality]]:
 
{{quotebox|Despite what this world's "Legalities" are, All of the events in this book HAS happened not only in in Cwcville and Equestria and Canterlot High School, BUT EVERYWHERE ELSE in that SAME Dimension where all of our "Fictional" Characters and Individuals DO Exist and Co-Exist. So, EVENTS where Bowser, Dr. Eggman, and even Voldemort WORK Together for a common goal of overtaking lands and worlds; That CAN Happen. So, in a Passive-Agressive statement, and a fair and just warning, I say to those Fat Cat Legal People of This World: ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE, and WHEN ALL of those evils attempt something in THIS WORLD, and someone Writes and Draws EVERY SINGLE DETAIL about it in Chronicling it all, DO NOT EVEN ENCOURAGE COPYRIGHT/TRADEMARK LAWSUITS, AT ALL.}}
 
==Music==
Many of Chris's "songs" from his old [[Christian and the Hedgehog Boys]] project have been taken down on YouTube for copyright. If Chris knew this, he would likely argue that his songs are "parodies" and thus Fair Use. The problem is that Chris's songs aren't parodies, nor they are reviewing the said songs, nor are they just covers with an instrumental version of the original song playing in the background. Just like how Sonichu and Rosechu are recolors and not parodies, Chris's songs are just rewrites of the originals with said original drowning out most of his voice.
 
Even if Chris's songs were legitimate parodies, he would still need to create his own instrumental since the song recording itself is copyrighted. Most professional parody artists (including "Weird Al" Yankovic) hire backing bands. Weird Al also asks the original artists for their permission, because simply changing the words to a song doesn't make it a legitimate parody – there has to be some kind of criticism, and singing about food or [[boyfriend-free girl]]s doesn't criticize the song itself. Words alone don't define copyright, and changing them will not get you out of a musical plagiarism lawsuit.
 
==Fanart==
Chris believes he has the right to use any fanart depicting a ''Sonichu'' character for his own purposes. A key example is his banner for [[Patreon]] and YouTube, which uses another person's fanart of Sonichu and Rosechu<ref>https://gabmonteiro9389.deviantart.com/art/Sonichu-Rosechu-Wild-and-Angelica-artwork-293015701</ref>, even though the accounts are meant to showcase his own work, and he has not given credit to the original artist.  


Sonichu and Rosechu are ''not'' parodies, just shitty recolors. As mentioned on the "parody" page, Chris doesn't mean to make fun of the characters they're based on, nor make commentary of them. He slavishly imitates the kind of adventures they have in an attempt to tell his own stories. The stories he makes aren't commentaries on the style, message, or story of Sonic or Pokémon; he simply lifts elements and characters wholesale in lieu of creating his own world. Even his most original characters are either based on [[Christian Weston Chandler (comic character)|someone he knows]] or [[Flame the Sunbird|are cribbed extensively from existing characters]]. He might be able to claim a trademark on Flame the Sunbird, of all characters, because he's merely relentlessly derivative as opposed to stolen wholesale. The non-Chris-Chan core of the comics, though, most certainly cannot. If he'd just acknowledge that his stuff was crossover fan fiction, we wouldn't have this problem, but then, Chris would no longer be able to use his comic as an excuse for why he doesn't have a job.
{{quote|It’s a lovely piece of art, I am not stealing it, I am using it in full appreciation of the artist that drew it, as much as possible.


Regardless of how much claim he's ''really'' entitled to, Chris will make a great deal of noise about protecting his work when he feels it is being threatened. Whenever he finds his work being used elsewhere without his permission, he ends up demanding that the offending work be taken down within 14 days or he will pursue legal action, sometimes accompanied by a picture of Chris and Sonichu glaring at the offender as if they can actually ''do'' something. Thus far, there is no evidence of Chris actually pursuing legal action against anyone. Whether the Chandlers even have access to a lawyer is questionable.
And, it doesn’t matter: it has Sonichu and Rosechu; they both, all the others and the city of Cwcville, are mine, regardless.|Chris, responding to a fan's accusation of plagiarism<ref>[[September 2017 tweets#Chris attempts to justify stealing from fanartists]]</ref>}}


With the use of Sonichu, the [[Chaotic Combo]] and Chris himself in the [[Asperchu]] comics, Chris has used a brand new method to get his characters away from others - by [[death threats]].
==References==
<references/>


== See also ==
== See also ==
 
*[[Liquid Chris]]
*[[CChanSonichuCWC]]
*[[Robert Simmons V]]
*[[Jimmy Hill]]
*[[Jimmy Hill]]
*[[Parody]]
*[[Parody]]
*[[Asperchu]]
*''[[Asperchu]]''
 
==External Links==
* {{w|Copyright|Wikipedia article}}
* <s>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060513032521/http://sonichuchandler.tripod.com/CWCcop.htm| Archived copy of Chris's "Christian's On the Lookout!" page.]</s> broken link


{{Chris and}}
{{Chris and}}
[[Category:Chris-chan]]

Latest revision as of 01:57, 20 September 2024

Chris's copyright registration certificate.
Chris telling some trolling stupid corporate lawyers that he owns the rights to Sonichu.
...anyone using my characters and all Without My Consent are Criminals, and such people should be reported to the Police immediately.
Chris, CWCipedia's Copyright page[1]

As with many things, Chris has a very limited understanding of copyright and how it's enforced. He is vaguely aware of what it is: some sort of a legal right that creators of things have that lets these creators to tell others what they can and can't do – a very naïve view, though not entirely incorrect.

Sonichu as a copyrightable work

Chris really only had one real firsthand experience on the copyright questions that formed the basis of everything that followed. While working on a school project that required making a CD cover, his teacher successfully explained to him that Sonic the Hedgehog and Pikachu are characters created by others, and he has no right to use them and has to create something original instead. Chris reacted to this by creating an "original" combination of the two characters, and thus Sonichu was born. In the Father Call, he also says the teacher told him he had been in the clear with the beginning as far as copyright is concerned. However, the fact that the teacher (unwisely) accepted Sonichu as original cemented Chris's vague understanding of the law, and now Chris is simply unwilling to learn the truth. In his mind, mashing together two different characters and "[putting] a little C-In-A-Circle and [his] John Hancock" creates completely new intellectual property that is his and his alone.

In reality, any work that uses previously copyrighted work as a basis is a derivative work. This means that while it may have substantial original elements that the creator definitely holds a copyright on, it cannot be published or distributed without the permission of the original copyright holders. The reality isn't entirely clear-cut, however, and there are several exceptions to this rule, both well-understood (Fair Use doctrine, which allows limited use of copyrighted material for journalistic and scholarly purposes) and less well understood (there's an ongoing debate about the emerging copyright issues like digital rights and the remixing arts).

Unfortunately for Chris, Sonichu is a fairly clear-cut case of a derivative work. While the character design itself has some originality despite its blatantly derivative style (and as such might have passed the teacher's inspection), as far as backstory is concerned, Sonichu is explicitly said to be a fusion of two existing characters - by Chris as its creator and in the comic story itself.

Fundamentally, Chris wanted Electric Hedgehog Pokémon; if they are just some made-up characters and not Pokémon, they just aren't true enough for him. Unfortunately, Chris doesn't understand that such "made-up" characters are how people define creativity. Many creators do indeed borrow ideas from another work to create inspiration for original stories and concepts. Had Chris took inspiration from Pokémon and Sonic and made his own original creations that weren't just the two franchises mish-mashed together, it would be fine. However, the Sonichu comic makes copious usage of concepts from them both (as well as a myriad of others), meaning that anything Chris does to profit from Sonichu would render him liable to be sued.

This would be harmless enough if he weren't actually profiting from it, but he is, and if any of the franchises he has plagiarized from decided to pursue legal action, Chris would be torn to shreds in court. Fortunately for Chris, an autistic moron hocking products on Etsy is unlikely to incur the wrath of a major multinational company; the worst he's likely to receive is a cessation demand.

Ban from Lulu

Chris was banned from the self-publishing site Lulu in December 2015, since the staff recognized that Sonichu is a piece of fan fiction. The sting of an actual business calling him out on the truth seemed to finally impress upon him the impossibility of defending Sonichu as an original work.

More than a year after the ban, Chris continued to scapegoat Lulu to explain why he was unwilling to work on the comic he had been paid over $1,000 to do, saying in January 2017 that "the pester of "legality" questions and disputings in my creations and work" is the biggest reason that caused him to have an "inability to feel like drawing and writing the stories.[2]"

Chris as an enforcer of rights

Chris is very paranoid regarding his copyright, and will frequently hand out all of his personal information to complete strangers if he thinks it is being contested. This has backfired in a number of ways.

Chris has encouraged people to report copyright infringements to the police. The police, unfortunately, can't do much when random citizens report civil offenses such as copyright infringement. Even if Chris had the rights to the works in question, suing people for copyright infringement would be Chris's job and his job alone, or that of a representative whom he has specifically appointed to that specific task.

Unsurprisingly, Chris is a total hypocrite when it comes to abusing the work of other creators. In the space of 13½ issues, Chris pulled characters and concepts from innumerable franchises and even went so far as to steal "original" characters from fans and sweethearts with little respect shown to their creators. He's even had the balls to take another creator's characters, alter them and demand that thenceforth they be portrayed the way he has made them in the original material. Despite how firmly Chris holds on to his views of copyright, when directly challenged on why it's okay for him to rip things off but not for other people to do the same to Sonichu, he's unable to think of a response.[3]

Furthermore, Chris refuses to listen to the original creators of these "original" characters when they ask to have their characters removed. The best example would be the fight between Evan and Chris over the character Simonla Rosechu, a ripoff of Evan's original character Simonchu. When Evan demanded that Chris remove Simonla from the comics in an on-page death, Chris refused because it would take Wild Sonichu's girlfriend away. As time went on, Chris fought tooth and nail to keep Simonla in, going so far as to write out a scenario where Simonchu is told to tell Evan that Simonla likes CWCville. In the end, it took two shutdowns of the CWCipedia for Chris to finally surrender and kill off Simonla, and he just resurrected her a few years later anyway.

Licensing and terms of use

The MediaWiki software used on CWCipedia had various built-in settings for content licensing. During installation, MediaWiki defaults to GNU Free Documentation License, which states that the content can be reused elsewhere for any purpose, as long as proper copyright holder attribution and license references are given.

On 6 September 2009, a fan wrote to Chris and thanked him for allowing this reuse, which provoked an uncharacteristically swift response from Chris, demanding WikiSysop not-so-politely to remove the obviously erroneous "GDU FDL" license.[4]

This prompted Chris to write his own Copyrights and Terms of use pages.

The legal problems caused by Chris's terms are detailed elsewhere in this article. The Terms of Use are even weirder:

  • "Any and All Visually Grotesque, Shocking and Offensive works will be Immediately Deleted and NOT be uploaded, or seen ever again; NO RESUBMISSIONS ALLOWED of such pieces."
  • ALL letters addressed to any NAME other than "Christian Weston Chandler" or "Christopher Weston Chandler", will be Immediately disposed of with Paper Recyling, or be "Returned to Sender" with a frown face on it. ALL Visually Grotesque, Shocking and Offensive art works and letters will be disposed of properly as well."
  • Fan sites should be pre-approved by Chris.
  • Sending spam to Sega and Nintendo about making official Sonichu games is apparently part of Terms of Use.

Copyright registration

Believe it or not, Chris seemingly did pay the necessary $45 to somehow get Sonichu approved by the United States Copyright Office. On 12 November 2009, he also posted a scan of the confirmation letter he received to CWCipedia, and posted a highly predictable my-Heart-Level-just-went-to-100%-again video.

Psychologically, this copyright registration represents a big win for Chris, because it gives him what he thinks are bragging rights, even though he has no idea what the copyright registration actually means. Copyright registration isn't an official recognition of copyright, however. Copyrights are granted automatically, and copyright registrations are only an official assertion that a specific work has been created at a specific date by the registrant; the registrations are only needed when suing another party for copyright infringement. It is also not a registration of a trademark; Chris has no special rights for the name "Sonichu" itself. Finally, Chris made a critical mistake in filing the registration application: he described Sonichu as a "work for hire" in the apparent belief that this meant that the comic was his primary occupation, when it really means that he created it on behalf of someone else, who is considered the creator for legal purposes. It should also be noted that the United States Copyright Office does not check whether or not a registrant's work is infringing.

If Nintendo or Sega were to sue Chris they would easily win; it's clear that they hold the rights to original characters like Sonic and Pikachu and Chris's work is derivative thereof.

IN SHORT: Chris's copyright registration doesn't mean his comics aren't non-infringing, nor does it effectively protect his own intellectual property.

Use of copyright notices

The way Chris maintains his so-called copyrights within his works is also baffling. It's possible he goes by the assumption that almost everything he draws must contain copious copyright notices, usually in a large disclaimer:

© Christian Weston Chandler, March 2000-????

It's worth noting that Chris obsessively includes copyright symbols in pictures he draws of Sonichu, including a picture he drew in the snow in his Holiday Greetings video and a doodle he drew on his ticket to the 2005 Anime Mid-Atlantic convention.

However, only daily newspaper comic strips have constant notices reminding about copyright due to their daily nature. In most forms of media throughout the world, one copyright notice at the beginning of the work is enough to assert rights, and only the year is noted in a copyright notice.

Finally, the year of the creation of the specific work in question should be noted in the copyright notice; for example Sonichu #10 should be "© 2009-2010 CWC". If Chris would want to specifically emphasize that Sonichu, in general, has existed since March 2000, he'd need to do so in an additional copyright notice (e.g. "Sonichu #10 © 2009-2010 CWC. Sonichu character © CWC, March 2000.")

Christian's On the Lookout!

Long before his discovery by the trolls, Chris created a webpage called Christian's On the Lookout! which linked to his main Sonichu site. Chris made the site no later than May 2006. Exactly how he used the site is not clear, especially since his main site did not link to this page. Chris's paranoia and arrogance regarding his copyright are on full display here.

A Message for all who are out to use the Sonichu Name!

From Christian Weston Chandler,

Original Creator of Sonichu, and related characters and materials.

I just want to inform all persons, fans of Sonichu or otherwise, that Sonichu was originally Created on March 17, 2000, and I have a copyright on my faithful Electric-Hedgehog Pokemon. I am very proud to share my Sonichu with the people who appreciate my creativity in Sonichu's world.

I often do a "Search" of "Sonichu," and, currently, and I only want to see links to my Sonichu Site, or related sites. If I see links to websites with any person who has used his name, I will view it. If I should see the "Sonichu" name used to describe any character, other than my original Electric-Hedgehog Pokemon, I will send you an E-Mail to inform you if you have intruded into Copyrighted territory, and request that you remove the name from your website, or forum entry, and change it to something else. If, however, you do not abide to the request, or not reply to the E-mail within 14 days, I may take legal action against you.

I am not a mean person, and I am not out to start any trouble, so please do not use the Sonichu name in vain. If, however, you would like to create a fan website to describe my Electric-Hedgehog Pokemon, please send me an E-Mail to CWCSonichu@aol.com with information, and link, about your fan site. I will view your fan site, and if I like it, I, Christian Weston Chandler, will send you an approval E-Mail. And you may keep your website up on the web. If I find it offensive, I, Christian Weston Chandler, will send you an E-mail asking you to either change the content to something else, or remove the website from the web.

Also, if you would like to see Sonichu as a real video game, or catch him in a Pokemon title, please send your request to Nintendo of America, inc., or Nintendo Power magazine; please raise the hype on Sonichu so that I will be able to legally talk to the people of Nintendo of America, inc., and make a deal.

Sonichu and I, Christian Weston Chandler, thank you for following the Legal Guidelines expressed here. I sincerely hope that you enjoy the stories of my Electric-Hedgehog Pokemon. And I also hope that you will voice your hype and interest about Sonichu, and my world of Cwcville, to Nintendo of America, inc., so Sonichu can become a video game, cartoon (or anime), and all that other neat stuff.

Have a Zappin' Day!

This has been a message from Christian Weston Chandler, Original Creator of Sonichu.

All Sonichu Material is Copyrighted, March 2000-2005 by Christian Weston Chandler

Chris's motivations

In any case, Chris doesn't really care so much about what his copyright registration means and what it might or might not be good for, practically speaking. To him, it's mainly just a crutch for his ego. In the aftermath of his feud with Liquid Chris, he sees it as the final and clinching proof that he himself is the TRUE and ORIGINAL creator of Sonichu. On 26 November 2009, he posted the following as part of an announcement on CWCipedia, which is quite illuminating:

Also, I have been thinking, although all Sonichu "Merchandise" sold online in the past I have labeled false; I did that, because it came as a surprise to me then, I felt outraged appropriately (most everyone can relate to that; it's comparable to if Godzilla or Clover [the Cloverfield monster] came to YOUR Metropolis and suddenly attacked your city). I realize now that even though it is still considerably Not Official, it all still is an homage to my creation. So I will make it clear to ALL those Vendors.

As long as it is NOT printed copies of my books' pages, or bootlegged copies of my "Christian Weston Chandler, Yep, I'm On T.V." DVD, AND As Long As I am quoted on ALL websites' and vendors' locations as Original Creator of Sonichu, Rosechu, Cwcville and all of such, I, Christian Weston Chandler, approve of such merchandise from Day Forward. At least to give you all, my patient, loyal Fans and Trolls, something to quell your pallets [sic] until Official Merchandise is sold in Official Stores such as Toys 'R' Us, GameStop, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, etcetera and such.

I have spoken, and I wish everyone a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

--ChrisChanSonichu 02:17, 26 November 2009 (CET)

In other words, Chris doesn't really care if other people use his supposed intellectual property, so long as he's the one that gets the credit, not some impostor in brown stripes. The idea expressed here is not unlike that in the Creative Commons Attribution license.

Patreon leaks

Since Chris began using Patreon for donations in exchange for his continued work on Sonichu 11 and beyond, he had, for the first time, an actual financial incentive to enforce the copyright of his work. Chris announced that he would initially release 'Sonichu 11 only to Patreon supporters, and this plan seemed to go off without a hitch until several patrons leaked the exclusive pages that Chris had released so far, then notified Chris in his YouTube comments.

Chris took swift action to protect his only source of income besides his monthly tugboat. In CLog 06142017, Chris begins by denouncing the leakers and comparing their actions (leaking the comic pages early) to the physical theft of purses and cell phones. However, Chris's copyright continues to be completely unenforceable, and it is almost certain that future patron pages will be leaked as well.

Interestingly, Chris's intentions to keep future Sonichu pages exclusive to his patrons could be considered a form of fraud, as DStecks already paid Chris $1000 in September 2015 to make 100 pages of Sonichu, which, according to Chris's page count estimate in CLog 06232017, would cover the vast majority of the volume to be released.

Chris's views

Main article: Parody

Chris is very protective of his characters. Chris believes that his characters are official "parodies", thus, he is allowed to create his multimedia empire on a legal loophole. What Chris fails to realize is that parodies are essentially mockeries of something they're based on, done for laughs or as a commentary on the original work. According to the US Supreme Court, parody "is the use of some elements of a prior author's composition to create a new one that, at least in part, comments on that author's works." So if Chris was, say, making commentary on commercialization by making a pastiche of what was popular at the time, it would be fine. The fact that it is a parody and not plagiarism must also be made obvious.

Sonichu and Rosechu are not parodies, just shitty recolors. Chris doesn't mean to make fun of the characters they're based on, nor make commentary of them. He slavishly imitates the kind of adventures they have in an attempt to tell his own stories. Even his most original characters are either based on someone he knows or are cribbed extensively from existing characters.

Chris intended for Sonichu 13 to be a crossover between his comic universe and the characters of the popular Planet Dolan YouTube channel. Much like Nintendo and (formerly) Sega, the producers of the channel likely have never heard of Sonichu, much less gave Chris permission to use their characters. Had his plans went through, Chris would've likely offered a similar "parody" defense to his direct use of someone else's intellectual property. Ultimately, though, Chris canned these plans due to the Planet Dolan cast blocking him on social media, and the Idea Guys having other ideas in mind for the comic.

In his disclaimer at the beginning of Sonichu #16, Chris revealed a new outlook on copyright law, made even more incoherent by the influence of the Idea Guys and his crumbling sense of reality:

Despite what this world's "Legalities" are, All of the events in this book HAS happened not only in in Cwcville and Equestria and Canterlot High School, BUT EVERYWHERE ELSE in that SAME Dimension where all of our "Fictional" Characters and Individuals DO Exist and Co-Exist. So, EVENTS where Bowser, Dr. Eggman, and even Voldemort WORK Together for a common goal of overtaking lands and worlds; That CAN Happen. So, in a Passive-Agressive statement, and a fair and just warning, I say to those Fat Cat Legal People of This World: ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE, and WHEN ALL of those evils attempt something in THIS WORLD, and someone Writes and Draws EVERY SINGLE DETAIL about it in Chronicling it all, DO NOT EVEN ENCOURAGE COPYRIGHT/TRADEMARK LAWSUITS, AT ALL.

Music

Many of Chris's "songs" from his old Christian and the Hedgehog Boys project have been taken down on YouTube for copyright. If Chris knew this, he would likely argue that his songs are "parodies" and thus Fair Use. The problem is that Chris's songs aren't parodies, nor they are reviewing the said songs, nor are they just covers with an instrumental version of the original song playing in the background. Just like how Sonichu and Rosechu are recolors and not parodies, Chris's songs are just rewrites of the originals with said original drowning out most of his voice.

Even if Chris's songs were legitimate parodies, he would still need to create his own instrumental since the song recording itself is copyrighted. Most professional parody artists (including "Weird Al" Yankovic) hire backing bands. Weird Al also asks the original artists for their permission, because simply changing the words to a song doesn't make it a legitimate parody – there has to be some kind of criticism, and singing about food or boyfriend-free girls doesn't criticize the song itself. Words alone don't define copyright, and changing them will not get you out of a musical plagiarism lawsuit.

Fanart

Chris believes he has the right to use any fanart depicting a Sonichu character for his own purposes. A key example is his banner for Patreon and YouTube, which uses another person's fanart of Sonichu and Rosechu[5], even though the accounts are meant to showcase his own work, and he has not given credit to the original artist.

It’s a lovely piece of art, I am not stealing it, I am using it in full appreciation of the artist that drew it, as much as possible.

And, it doesn’t matter: it has Sonichu and Rosechu; they both, all the others and the city of Cwcville, are mine, regardless.

Chris, responding to a fan's accusation of plagiarism[6]

References

See also

External Links

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