Canon picture refs and Original characters

[ThatLewdCat]

So in my roleplaying history, I've met a lot of people with a lot of opinions on this topic. And now I'm wondering what people on ED think about this overall.

You see, not everyone has the money (or desire) to pay sometimes crazy amounts of money for a drawing of our own Original Character. Let alone actually draw one ourselves, if we lack the skill. Which is why a lot of people - myself included, I don't deny it - often look for various images on the internet and use them as references for our own OCs.

I won't speak for others, but I always make it known that I don't own these artworks of someone else's OC's and will take them down upon request by the owner or the artist. And it has previously happened, even though only twice, actually. One time was the owner of an OC/artist (two in one! \o/) who contacted me and asked to not use their work for my own character. And I gladly took down the pics, found different ones instead. The second time was the owner of the picture messaging me and telling they are actually surprised to see an interesting concept for a different character, yet based on the same picture as theirs. And that person even allowed me to continue using it, if I want to. But I simply chose to take it down, just in case. To avoid confusion and misunderstandings  But this all applies to "Original characters" - those created by people like you and me. And this is not actually the question here, not the topic of discussion.

• What about reference pictures of Canon characters? The ones that are part of some kind of fiction - be that cartoon, comics, anime, games, etc. And even real life photos of actors playing those roles too. Or simply famous actor "face-claims".
• No, I'm not talking about literally playing AS those characters. Using 100% of someone else's work and then "perverting" it to fit our own desires, especially for lewd kind of RP... Which is a thing I would never understand or do myself... But I don't judge.
• I am specifically talking about using the canon character resemblance/picture for our own Original character. Everything about "who" the character is - completely original, created by you. While the looks are taken from a canon character.

What's your opinion on that?  ➡ Is this OK to use CANON CHARACTER reference pictures for your own Original Character? ⬅

Would also love to hear your more detailed opinions, not just only votes in the poll  

[Manni]

Well, for me at least, I find there's no issue with using a 'Face Claim' or using an Reference Pic of an already existing character as part of an OC apart from the one you describe @ThatLewdCat. It's certainly a convenience thing for me, as I don't have to go to the trouble of commissioning someone to draw me one OR draw one myself.

[Guess Who]

I'll admit, I probably should be more clear that any reference images I use are not drawn by me, instead of just assuming anyone looking at the character will just automatically know, but I don't see a problem with using them as long as you don't try and steal credit for the image. If anyone were to ever come to me and say they wanted me to use another image, I would be happy to comply with their wishes, though in the 6+ years of me RPing I haven't had that happen yet.

[ThatLewdCat]

1 minute ago, Guess Who said:

I'll admit, I probably should be more clear that any reference images I use are not drawn by me, instead of just assuming anyone looking at the character will just automatically know, but I don't see a problem with using them as long as you don't try and steal credit for the image. If anyone were to ever come to me and say they wanted me to use another image, I would be happy to comply with their wishes, though in the 6+ years of me RPing I haven't had that happen yet.

And what about the actual topic of the discussion/poll?  Not the whole thing with ownership, but specifically the use of CANON character references for original characters?

[Godot]

I am going to stay neutral about this.

Though I will say this: If you are posting your own work on the internet without a watermark on it, expect it to be used by anyone as they please.

Even if you simply say it out loud "Don't use this!" etc. People will always do whatever they want on the internet.

In my case I have never had anyone message me about using their art, because some people are passionate about their own drawings to the point where they share their drawings because they want the world to see them. And that's fine, but at least they sign the art, as every artist should do. Then credit is given automatically.

Although it's a whole different story if someone uses another person's art and calls it their own. That I think is bad, and should not be done by anyone. If, however, it is simply a mere picture for an OC, there's no issue with it, as long as there's a signature and credit given to the owner.

[Guess Who]

6 minutes ago, ThatLewdCat said:

And what about the actual topic of the discussion/poll?  Not the whole thing with ownership, but specifically the use of CANON character references for original characters?

Ah, I misread the question. Whoops. Yeah, I've done that too. Usually with superhero RPs since I like that settings so much and it's much easier to take a character from Marvel or DC and bring them into my own original setting in order to have an easily recognizable costume for them. Usually I'll take characters that aren't well known so unless my RP partner is a hardcore nerd like me they won't have any preconceived opinions on the character and then I'll make a completely new character out of them, leaving nothing left of the original except the appearance. Again, if the original artist or either company said I shouldn't, I'd find something else to use, but I'm sure I'm so below their radar they would never even notice.

[ThatLewdCat]

12 minutes ago, Godot said:

I am going to stay neutral about this.

Though I will say this: If you are posting your own work on the internet without a watermark on it, expect it to be used by anyone as they please.

Even if you simply say it out loud "Don't use this!" etc. People will always do whatever they want on the internet.

In my case I have never had anyone message me about using their art, because some people are passionate about their own drawings to the point where they share their drawings because they want the world to see them. And that's fine, but at least they sign the art, as every artist should do. Then credit is given automatically.

Although it's a whole different story if someone uses another person's art and calls it their own. That I think is bad, and should not be done by anyone. If, however, it is simply a mere picture for an OC, there's no issue with it, as long as there's a signature and credit given to the owner.

@Godot Looks like I explained the actual question wrongly and got carried away, so now you all miss the original point/question >.< Well, okay, I edited this a little. To actually point at the question itself. And altered the question of the poll too to resemble what I"m actually asking about lol.

[Anastasia]

I think what you are trying to state is a "play by" or a "face claim". Personally, I dont see a problem with using that or even photoshopping the work to match what you want for your OC. It is 100% acceptable, in my opinion, to fo that. It's just what is used to resemble your character and can be modified through roleplaying (change of clothes, hair color, etc). It gives people an idea of what your character looks like so people can picture it in their mind and.. I think you get my drift 

/ramble

[Minorikawa]

I end up trying to Google for face claims that match my character, and more often than not they're a canon character for a work that I'm not familiar with. So in the end I think it's kind of unavoidable since I don't have the time or talent to put together a face claim of my own. However, I intentionally try to avoid more popular characters that will be recognizable by most anyone. For example, I'm not about to snag Cloud Strife or Gendo Ikari and claim they're someone else. They're simply too recognizable.

If my partner were to recognize the character and explain that they know the original source and thus can't see them as an original character, I'd gladly try to change the photo to a different face claim. However, so long as the characters aren't so iconic, I don't see much problem.