Technically, by scanning a cel and putting it on
line, you are in violation of international
copyright law. This means that the copyright
holder (most likely Tohei, NOT Funimation) can
ask you to cease and desist in exibiting your cel
on line without credit despite the fact that you
own the original artwork, as Tohei likely still
holds the copyright to said artwork, and likely a
trademark on the included characters.
This being said, Funimation is likely NOT the
copyright holder. Its IS however possible, even
likely, that they purchased FROM Tohei exclusive
rights to exhibit said properties (being
Dragonball and Yu Yu Hakusho) on-line, which
would give them the right to prosecute other
people IN THEORY depending on the nature of the
rights licensed. Some rights are licensed "in
whole" meaning they would have the right to show
Dragonball episodes in their entirety, but those
wishing to show screen shots or clips of said
episodes would have to license from Tohei. They
could have also license those rights "in part"
which would authorise them to go after you.
There's an additional hitch. You COULD trump
copyright law by claiming "fair usage", much like
you can make copies of musical recordings for
your own use. You could argue that the nature of
your site is to show friends and family members
things you have purchased, and that the site is
not for public consumption, and that since you
own the artwork, you are within your legal rights
to make limited copies for your own personal use,
which you could claim your website is for.
All this being said, I can't really elaborate
further without seeing Funimation's distribution
contract. Either way, they are unlikely to go
beyond warning you, since you're not making any
money. Then again, funimation is run by a bunch
of prick assholes, so they may attempt to make
you cease and desist just to make a point, even
if they don't have a clear legal right to, just
knowing that you likely do not have the money to
fight them. |