Two staff members came to my booth and told me that one of the dealers in the Dealers Hall was selling my DMMD print. We went over to the dealer’s booth, and staff immediately confronted her, asking, “Where did you get this print?” The dealer did not respond. Then staff pointed to me, saying I’m the artist and she should not be selling my print.
Dealer: “Oh, this is a personal copy! It’s not for sale.”
Staff: “Why is it out here?”
Dealer: “I just have it together with this.” (it was alongside an official dmmd poster)
That was some bullshit, because fun fact: my poster had a FUCKING PRICE TAG ON IT. What’s worse, she was selling it for $10 more than I usually do.
The dealer took off the price tag, and supposedly put my poster away, and it looked like there was nothing else we could do. Staff apologized to me because they didn’t know how to handle the situation, and felt that they asked the dealer the wrong questions.
Later that same day, my poster was back up at their booth again. Staff asked a stranger to try to buy my poster, and the dealer (or the dealer’s mother, I believe) did attempt to sell it to them. What they didn’t know was that other con workers were watching them, so they were caught red-handed. BUT the dealer argued that no, that poster is not for sale, so apparently the only thing staff was able to do was get the dealer to put my poster away for good.
But honestly, why the fuck would they have my poster at their booth if they weren’t trying to sell it?
I wasn’t able to get a pic of my poster at their booth, but a friend of mine did. Sorry it’s hard to tell, but the posters around it are official art of other series, which is what dealers are allowed to sell.
But fan art is not allowed in the dealers hall (unless you drew it yourself) because think how fucked up that is. This person bought a print from me at a previous con, and intended on profiting from it. And who knows if they’ve done the same to other artists. Not only is that a shitty thing to do and incredibly insulting to the artist, but it also doesn’t seem like a very profitable thing to do??? Honestly, why risk your credibility for ten fucking dollars?
Staff apologized to me again. One of them was particularly emotionally invested in this whole mess because she’s an artist too, and couldn’t stand knowing that people are profiting from others’ fan art, and there’s pretty much nothing we can do. When she told me not get discouraged (about me making art), she cried and oh my god I almost cried too. Girl, if you’re reading this, don’t worry, I’m more pissed off at the dealer than discouraged!
The dealer is MJ Anime Goods. Their facebook page can be found here.
I”m not attempting to get anything out of them since everything about anime conventions is in a legal grey area. I just want people to know what happened, and everyone please don’t buy fan art from the dealer’s hall unless you know the seller is the original artist!
MJ Anime Goods frequents California cons a lot, if they continue to sell unofficial fanart please do not support them. Artists have it hard enough as it is, they shouldn’t have to deal with third parties trying to profit off of them.
Reblogging to spread the word because that’s not cool at all. They should’ve been kicked out, honestly, especially when they put the print back up after the first time.
This is the story of a geeky anime/gaming gal by the name of Chibi. Please fasten your seat belts and prepare for... some sort of ride? Oh! I love to write, and I also love doing crafty things. I go to conventions with my partner and sell woodburned things, clocks, mirrors, and more! So expect to see those on here too :)
