Wai-Con Forum

mikokorochan

I only read your post just after i submitted my views on the current happenings. I just wanted to say that I am not attacking the artist Erry H. and that it was most likely an unfortunate coincidence, i'm just stating my views on how the mascot copyright isuue has been approached and the recent treatment of fellow artists expressing their concerns.

I recognise the conditional in your statement, but a conditional threat is still a threat. I believe it adds nothing to the discussion, and may be mis-interpreted as an indication that we wish to 'silence the dissenters', or similar; the last impression I wish to give.

I appreciate your concern that this issue may degenerate into exactly what we both fear, and I do not wish to undermine your authority as a moderator of these boards. However, I believe it is important to make it clear - discussion on this matter is welcome.

I'll leave one final thought on this matter..

as I mentioned in my post beforehand, this is not the first, and it certainly will not be the final time an incident such as this occurs.
while any unfortnate coincidince, the fact remains that the issue of the mascot is something that should not be biting at the heels of the committee a week before the largest convention that they have to run.
and to be honest, it drives me crazy that you people carry on like this as though it's the end of the world, when such issues in the grand sceme of things are petty.

the amount of copyright violations committed by people, INCLUDING artists such as yourselves, who claim to not do it, on a daily basis are astronomical.
the fact is, in this modern age, something someone thinks is original has more than likely been thought of, or done by someone else as well.
the pure scale of how many works around the world (be it art, or other things) are copyrighted around the world on a daily basis is too much for any person to keep a track of.
and to expect a single person to even know that what they have made hasn't been done before is, to be perfectly honest, stupid.

if you were to look at the mascot used by other cons, and heck, even past years of Wai-con itself, you could probably look around and find something thats similar that was "copyrighted" before they were created.
do they cause such a fuss? not that I've ever seen yet.

I personally have the feeling this is a case of "poor loser" syndrome, and think some people need to step back, look around and realise that they are in the real world, where it's not nice, and things don't always go their way.

We only live once, and not for long, such petty arguments take away time thats better spent doing other things.

now, as I mentioned before.. I'm going head back into my field of legal dynamite, as this really is more petty than it seems...

and I can't believe I just wrote a huge rant..

Rei, your posts give the impression that the committee's stance on this is 'we're going to do what we want, we don't care about you', which contradicts the other committee members I've emailed about this and seen post in this thread today. Perhaps you should take a step back and be careful of the way you are representing the committee. I know this isn't a fair world but don't see that as a reason to accept it.

I don't agree with the way the situation has been dealt with, but I do thank Mike, Trina and Riven for at least being open to discussion on the matter and responding to my complaints politely - it is appreciated.

wow! those are some fast replies...

anyway.. i'm leaving this matter to thosw who are in charge.

I am sorry if my reply may offends anyone. I just thoght that since the artist didn't correspond on this forum, I am apologizing on behalf of him regarding this matter and to clarify that this is an honest mistake. Just to let you know and for my peace of mind.

and thank you for those who shows their concerns about this matter.

I'll see u guys at the con

I just wanted to express my concerns and disappointment at the recent comments some people have been leaving and that I am hurt at the fact that by expressing ones opinion that people would react with threats.

I thank Riven for rectifying this misunderstanding but am exceedingly worried by rei-zero's behavior and comments to this matter. It isn't life or death I will agree with you on that, however i believe if people have something to say they should be free to express it and not be punished for it.

As a local, an artist and a lover of all anime/manga I am disappointed that your opinion of artists expressing concerns are so low. I was under the assumption that panic appreciated and even supported local artists but after this blatant disregard for what artists have to say i'm saddened to say i was very wrong.

This is no longer concerning the mascot but the attitude towards artists which you refer to as 'sore losers'. I myself have nothing to gain from all of this except the knowledge now of what you have expressed. I sincerely hope that these past few opinions are yours and yours alone and not associated with what panic thinks.

And I find it equally disappointing that people can accuse other people of theft at the drop of a hat. "Exceedingly worried?" Please. Stop dramatising the situation. The Board has already given reasons why it's not as easy as you think to just 'change the winner'. They haven't been 'blatantly disregarding' anything. Just because they're not jumping to attention when you snap your fingers doesn't mean they're ignoring you.

Because Erry is 'infringing copyright', he's not a local artist and shouldn't be supported? I'd be devastated if I won a contest with my hardwork and then get told "sorry, it looks too much like something else so we have to drop you like a hot potato, no hard feelings?"

I would like to take this opportunity to let everyone know where we stand on this current situation.

First of all, I would like to express my appreciation to everyone for contributing to this discussion, and my gratitude that contributors have remained civil in a topic as potentially controversial and touchy as this one.

I would also like to thank Chisa, wredrat and akaisaru for expressing their feelings on this matter, as it has allowed myself and the PAniC board to further gauge the opinion of our members and the art community in general. Without discussion, PAniC cannot hope to adequately follow its stated mission, to promote Anime, Manga and Japanese culture in Western Australia. We deeply appreciate communication from our members and those in the community at large, as it helps us work towards this goal more effectively.

As I'm sure everyone can appreciate, this is not a simple issue, and does not have an easy solution. The PAniC board must consider a vast number of issues related to this matter, including but not limited to:

- The opinions of the Perth manga/art community
- The reputation and feelings of the competition winner, and all competition entrants
- The reputation of PAniC and WAI-Con
- The impending convention

Simply put, I ask everyone for patience. The PAniC board has much to discuss in resolving this issue to the best of our ability. Unfortunately, I am not optimistic enough to say that we will be able to reach a decision that pleases everyone, but I stress the fact that we are trying our very best to do the right thing by everyone involved.

The fact that WAI-Con 2007 commences in one week means that the board is the busiest it is ever likely to be in any given year. This leaves us with insufficient time to properly address this issue until after the convention. This issue will be resolved as soon as is humanly possible following the convention - I appreciate that no-one likes to leave an unhappy situation such as this open for any length of time.

So that everyone is aware, Erry H's competition entry can be seen on the final page of the Official Programme Book 2007. The issue was raised with the board only a few hours before the programme book went to print, leaving us with insufficient time to even debate the issue. I requested a rapid modification be made to the image to protect both Erry H and PAniC from possible copyright infringement. This modification was not made with the intent to avoid the issue nor deflect queries from the community. Please do not misconstrue the use of the image as a final decision on the mascot competition.

I hope this sheds some light on the matter from PAniC's point of view, and I can only ask once more for your patience and understanding.

I'm the artist.
I used to like panda z about 5-7 years ago, i completely forgot about it until i got this on WAICON



Panda Z have the same helmet, goggle, henshin belt, neck warmer with USA BOY. And Panda Z also got ears too....but its not rabbit ears tho cos he's a panda.
If you guys think i'm taking the design of USA boy, i'm not. I watch lots of ultraman, kamen rider, tekkon kurinet and many others anime. And the design of the mascot comes from all that. And maybe the creator of panda z, usa boy also have the same influence as me.
As for me, i've been drawing kids for all my life. I've already publish 3 children books, making the mascot for HONDA back in my country(it's also a guy with helmet but without body, so just the head with leg and hand ).

Aw, no one's posted in this sticky lately? Oh well, I'm a bit of a late-comer but I'm interested in entering 2009's mascot competition!

*sneaks off*

Would Sky Gunner be classified as Steampunk setting? Just wondering.

I've got no artistic talent but if Sky Gunner is consider steampunk hopefully some artist will draw inspiration from it. It's a great game with a memorable cast and atmosphere.

As someone who is fairly close to graduating from a degree in Design and Illustration - I thought I'd vouch my opinion (especially as I have no vested interest in this - other then being a Perthite and sincerely wishing that the perth anime convention has a good reputation ).

Whenever I do a design - I always check myself to make sure I'm not accidently being influenced by what I've seen. I keep myself caught up with what's going on in the wider world of design so that I am able to understand the place of my work in relation to that of the rest of the design field.

I don't think the way people have reacted on this forum is that of sore losers. I also don't think there is anyway in a snowball's chance that the design was not a plagiarisation - be it intentional or the result of unconcious plagiarism.

I know Perth is a small city, and whatnot - but I don't think there should be anything stopping the convention from trying to be as good as possible - going with a redesign of an unoriginal design would be settling for less.


On another note, if anyone still reads this thread: is the competition as a method of selection always going to be the way to go, or at any point as the convention continues to grow- is there a point where the convention would choose to employ a proffesional?

I think you could actually get some of the designers/illustrators/anime fans around perth to be willing to undertake the project probably just for some free tickets or soem form of payment by trade.

And I think after these years people are generally familiar with some local artists who are quite good so it to me looks like it could be a feasable option.

What's the official thoughts on this?

The competition has always been the method for getting the next year's mascot. I think it's the same for various other conventions as well. It works fine, but the winning artist should get an additional reward (other than getting their art used and publicised) such as free con tickets.

Guys,

I'm going to lock this topic and let it sink.

ST~