Even so, I can't help but feel that ComicMix has screwed the pooch on this one. This could have simply been done as a fan comic and made freely available.
Instead, they wanted people to give them money for it.
That is usually where the screaming starts - the moment someone wants to start charging money for what is really just a fan work.
The worst part is that the copyright trolls are going to feel emboldened by this, and we'll see a new rash of infringement lawsuits - primarily targeting people that put fanworks behind paywalls... But there will be collateral damage in that the copyright trolls will probably also go after others that don't seek any monetary compensation for their fanworks, arguing that even if the artist doesn't make any money from it, they're drawing from the IP owner's revenue stream.
(God forbid anyone else takes Hasbro's example with MLP:FiM and, you know, actually encourage the fanbase to generate content.)
Instead, they wanted people to give them money for it.
That is usually where the screaming starts - the moment someone wants to start charging money for what is really just a fan work.
The worst part is that the copyright trolls are going to feel emboldened by this, and we'll see a new rash of infringement lawsuits - primarily targeting people that put fanworks behind paywalls... But there will be collateral damage in that the copyright trolls will probably also go after others that don't seek any monetary compensation for their fanworks, arguing that even if the artist doesn't make any money from it, they're drawing from the IP owner's revenue stream.
(God forbid anyone else takes Hasbro's example with MLP:FiM and, you know, actually encourage the fanbase to generate content.)