What exactly is it that you have an issue about?

Implying that a fan artist is anymore guilty of 
copyright infringement than someone who takes 
artbook scans, pastes them on t-shirts and then 
sells them for incredible mark-up, is rather 
ludicrous. I know for fact that there are a ton 
of those on ebay. There are also, as you say, a 
boatload of bootleg DVDs, as well as Taiwanese 
CDs, bootleg posters, scrolls and various and 
sundry. 

If you're going to point the finger, why 
exclusively implicate fanartists? I get the 
feeling that this has less to do with concern for 
the legality of it all than with a sense of being 
threatened. I'm sorry, but personally I'm not 
impressed with how much people pay for cels. 
That's a personal choice on the part of the buyer 
and something they have to deal with, not an 
exclusive right to 'lord it over' everyone else.

Animation belongs to everyone that sees it, if it 
touches you deeply, if it excites you, then it is 
a natural human reaction to want a memento. Of 
course there is going to be a higher 
concentration of people that connect with 
particular moments and scenes. Given the highly 
collectible nature of cels, it would be 
impossible for everyone that wanted one to have 
an original.

Fancels make it possible for anyone to have a 
particular moment they love. I refuse to see 
anything wrong with that. The owners of the 
original cels still have something no one else 
does. The original, the work of art into which 
the heart and soul of the animator was breathed. 
To begrudge others a mere shadow of that same 
heart and soul seems petty and greedy.

How many times have thrifty, devoted collectors 
of a particular show been thwarted when the 
casual collector with deep pockets comes along 
and buys a wish cel 'because it was pretty.' Why 
is it wrong for someone in that situation to seek 
a reproduction? Japanese studios plainly see 
nothing wrong with it, because they regularly 
release reproductions of their own cels.

Bottom line, if you're into cels to impress 
others with the rarity of your cels, if you're in 
it as an investment, then you're into cels for 
the wrong reasons. I am so tired of seeing 
tantrums over sellers pricing things down or 
generally doing anything that might hurt 
someone's chances of getting back the money on a 
cel they overpaid for in the first place. I can 
understand a desire to protect prospective buyers 
from dishonest sellers, but as with any large 
purchase, buyer beware. 


--Jennifer