Fan art provides you with an outlet through which you can combine your creativity with your love of popular culture. Creating fan art can also give you products that you can sell to the public in order to generate a profit. It's important that you take measures to protect yourself against a potential lawsuit if you plan to sell your fan art online.

Here are three tips you can use to ensure you are legally selling fan art through online vendors.

1. Contact the original copyright owner.

Many artists fail to realize that the characters and images associated with their favorite movies and television shows are protected by copyright. These copyrights prevent a third party entity from profiting from the sale of any images protected under the copyright.

If you want to avoid a potential legal battle when selling your fan art, it can be beneficial to contact the original copyright owner and ask for permission to create and sell fan art. Some companies may ask for a portion of the proceeds, while others might view your fan art as free promotion for their television show or movie. 

2. Determine if your fan art violates an existing copyright.

Some forms of fan art may not be in violation of an existing copyright. Intellectual property law allows for work that is classified as transformative to be sold for profit while being exempt from copyright violations.

If you are not sure whether or not your fan art could be considered transformative, you can consult with an experience intellectual property law attorney. These professionals will be able to evaluate your artwork and determine if it gives new meaning, insight, understanding, or aesthetic to the original work. 

3. Check to see if a copyright exists.

While major motion pictures and television shows will almost always be protected by copyrights, some lesser-known characters or online video series may not enjoy copyright protection.

You can have your attorney run a search to determine whether or not the subject of your fan art is protected by a copyright. If no copyright is on file, then you will not be subject to legal repercussions for selling your artwork online.

Creating and distributing fan art can be a fun and lucrative way to engage with your favorite characters, television shows, or movies. Be sure that your fan art doesn't get you into legal trouble by working with an attorney to ensure you aren't violating any copyright laws.