While I don't do the whole buying/trading designs thing (specifically because of how accepted sellers retaining control over sold/traded designs are in the community), me and JennaBlackmore have licensed designs to each other for creative work, so I know what it's like to have someone else's OC on my account!! Whether or not they have full profiles varies (Miss Flame has a full profile and I've drawn her a handful of times, but Emma Angel doesn't have a profile yet and Jenna has drawn her more times than I have, outside the drawings I did of her in the manga she was licensed for use in.) It's not that I prefer one more than the other, rather that Miss Flame is easier to draw, and Emma plays such a pivotal role in the manga that typing her profile would take a long time, so it's happening in a hidden WIP tab slowly. If someone didn't know Emma Angel was in a manga, they might think she wasn't well cared for on my account, despite being in a published work.
Likewise, I designed Feris von Ospren, and she still has the same profile text she had when I made the profile to transfer, and I'm okay with that! I love the book Feris is in, and if I wanted someone to know all about her so badly I'd lend them a copy of Jenna's book Rainbow!!
In cases where someone owns a character someone else designed, with the understanding that ownership transferred instead of being licensed for a particular project, it's their character to do whatever they want with. I've never been a fan of terms of service or expectations that extend beyond paying for the character and crediting the designer. If someone purchases a character, whether with money or another character, with the understanding that ownership transfers to them, I think they should do whatever they want forever. If there are seller expectations or restrictions of use imposed on the buyer, in that case, the character's new owner doesn't have the full ownership rights they think they have, and it's a scam (assuming shady terms of service are even enforceable anyway -- if the character is listed as a Sale/Trade rather than Renting or Licensing, imo that overrides any weird ultimatums). Because of this, I think that if someone's mad or upset about how their design that is now owned by someone else is used, they need to separate that from their business of OC designing, because they don't have that control anymore. They're allowed to feel however they want, but it shouldn't reach or impact the buyer in any way.
Overall, I wouldn't be upset about it, and I don't think it would be professional to hold those feelings in any manner that might reach the buyer. On a personal level, people can feel what they want. But I do believe that transactions and feelings shouldn't mix when it impacts another individual who is buying/trading for a character, rather than the performative responsibilities that would ease the seller's feelings. No one can tell just how much an OC is loved just from a look at a profile on a character repository. And really, it's out of the seller's hands. If they wanted any control at all over the sold/traded OC, they should have looked into licensing agreements instead
I think I look at this from a less toyhouse-centric perspective and more of a 'character-designer-as-a-role-in-a-production-team' focused standpoint, so I think that also factors in why I think of this topic the way I do ^-^'
Chocolatewoosh
Personally I'd be completely okay with it!!
While I don't do the whole buying/trading designs thing (specifically because of how accepted sellers retaining control over sold/traded designs are in the community), me and JennaBlackmore have licensed designs to each other for creative work, so I know what it's like to have someone else's OC on my account!! Whether or not they have full profiles varies (Miss Flame has a full profile and I've drawn her a handful of times, but Emma Angel doesn't have a profile yet and Jenna has drawn her more times than I have, outside the drawings I did of her in the manga she was licensed for use in.) It's not that I prefer one more than the other, rather that Miss Flame is easier to draw, and Emma plays such a pivotal role in the manga that typing her profile would take a long time, so it's happening in a hidden WIP tab slowly. If someone didn't know Emma Angel was in a manga, they might think she wasn't well cared for on my account, despite being in a published work.
Likewise, I designed Feris von Ospren, and she still has the same profile text she had when I made the profile to transfer, and I'm okay with that! I love the book Feris is in, and if I wanted someone to know all about her so badly I'd lend them a copy of Jenna's book Rainbow!!
In cases where someone owns a character someone else designed, with the understanding that ownership transferred instead of being licensed for a particular project, it's their character to do whatever they want with. I've never been a fan of terms of service or expectations that extend beyond paying for the character and crediting the designer. If someone purchases a character, whether with money or another character, with the understanding that ownership transfers to them, I think they should do whatever they want forever. If there are seller expectations or restrictions of use imposed on the buyer, in that case, the character's new owner doesn't have the full ownership rights they think they have, and it's a scam (assuming shady terms of service are even enforceable anyway -- if the character is listed as a Sale/Trade rather than Renting or Licensing, imo that overrides any weird ultimatums). Because of this, I think that if someone's mad or upset about how their design that is now owned by someone else is used, they need to separate that from their business of OC designing, because they don't have that control anymore. They're allowed to feel however they want, but it shouldn't reach or impact the buyer in any way.
Overall, I wouldn't be upset about it, and I don't think it would be professional to hold those feelings in any manner that might reach the buyer. On a personal level, people can feel what they want. But I do believe that transactions and feelings shouldn't mix when it impacts another individual who is buying/trading for a character, rather than the performative responsibilities that would ease the seller's feelings. No one can tell just how much an OC is loved just from a look at a profile on a character repository. And really, it's out of the seller's hands. If they wanted any control at all over the sold/traded OC, they should have looked into licensing agreements instead
I think I look at this from a less toyhouse-centric perspective and more of a 'character-designer-as-a-role-in-a-production-team' focused standpoint, so I think that also factors in why I think of this topic the way I do ^-^'
4 months, 26 days ago