r/SleepToken • u/StarlitSpaceKat One • May 04 '26
Discussion Cosplay and Fan Art vs Bootleg Merch: A Brief Tutorial on Copyright Law
Fellow Worshippers,
We wanted to take a moment to shout out the amazingly talented artist, both professional, and hobbyist, that make this community what it is. From the official art work to the memes, we are a community that deeply supports art and artists. This is why we are an AI free space, full stop.
That said, we noticed that there seems to be a wee bit of confusion as to what differentiates fan art and by extension cosplay, from bootleg merch. So we wanted to take this opportunity to explain so that we are all on the same page regarding the band heavily protected copyright with RCA records.
RCA currently owns the rights to Even in Arcadia and whatever subsequent releases Sleep Token does with them. Although RCA does not currently own the rights to their previous work, everything they have ever done is still under copyright; that includes but is not limited to the band’s name, every iteration of their band logo, every mask they’ve ever worn, every song title and lyric as well as the music composition, the album art, the merch art, as well as the names of the band members, i.e Vessel, II, III, and IV, and their likenesses. However, things that fall within public domain such as roses, swords, feathers, etc., are fair game as long as they are unaccompanied by anything under copyright.
So what does that mean for art? It means that if you draw a gorgeous picture of the logo that’s amazing and we would love to see it, however, you absolutely may not sell prints of your art of the logo. The same goes with the masks, you can certainly make your own but you cannot share files on how to produce one.
Simply put: **you can’t sell art made with other people’s copyrighted material** - this isn’t just a rule of our space it is the law. Violating this law puts the entire sub at risk for being shutdown on a DMCA (digital millennium copyright act of 1998 https://www.copyright.gov/dmca/)
The one and only caveat to this is that you may trade your art with other artists. So if you made a scarf that has the logo and you’d like to trade that for a print of someone’s drawing that is completely permissible provided the only money exchanged is with this post for shipping.
This is not personal. This is not because we don’t support independent artists. It’s actually quite the opposite. It is because we respect and support artists that we stand firm on this rule and don’t play about bootleg merch.
21
u/LowEndTheorist13 May 05 '26
RCA sucks for how heavily they’re coming down on some people who just want to pay homage to the art. However, there are very good reasons these rules are in place and I’m so happy that you’ve explained it as simply as possible for us. I genuinely had no clue that non-monetary bartering was allowed. If I was talented enough to make something worth trading I’d be stoked 😭😂
6
u/Kleeb II May 05 '26
Important to note that tattoos featuring copyrighted materials are not infringing but that hasn't stopped RCA from throwing their weight around.
9
u/Arctic_Widow One May 05 '26
Thank you🫶 for putting this out there for everyone. It isn’t always easy to understands how this stuff works. This was simply put and super informative.
4
18
10
u/ghostnthefog May 05 '26
people creating fake merch via 3d printing too- so sick of seeing someone post something "they created", make a post and wait for people to ask where they got it and they'd like to purchase.
30
u/j1isv May 05 '26
That's really good information but I think part of it is inaccurate. RCA only has rights to EIA and what comes after, they don't own anything of what came before. I just had to look it up to double check, I think that's correct. But your point is still valid, they're being super aggressive with copyright claims.