While strolling or on our way to the mall or to school, we come across with people wearing cute shirts or shirts displayed on the sidewalks showing faces of famous cartoon characters and our usual reaction would be: “Oh! That's so cute!”; “Captain America looks so adorable!”; or “I wanna get one of those!” Adorable as they may seem, yet, when we analyze things, these creations may pose an issue.

By the way, I am referring to fan art, which has found its way into our society. I intended to look for an exact definition of fan art. However, when I typed the words in the search tab, I was surprised to see that there are a lot of materials-from pictures, blogs, forum, online fan art community, among others-on line. Wow! Where have I been?!

Wikipedia defines fan art as a “work of art that is based on a character, costume, collage, item, or story that was created by someone other than the artist, such as a fan, from which the word is derived from. The term, while it can apply to art done by fans of characters from books, is usually used to refer to art derived from visual media such as comics, movies or video games. In addition to traditional paintings and drawings, fan artists may also create web banners, avatars, or web-based animations, as well as photo collages, posters, and artistic representation of movie/show/book quotes. “ In other words, fan art is a creation using an already existing movie, pictures, comics or other visuals.

In the Philippines' legal setting, this fad may lead to the determination of whether or not the rights of the original creators are infringed by fan artists. Under Section 173. 1 of the Intellectual Poroperty Code, it is provided that, “ (T)he following derivative works shall also be protected by copyright: (a) Dramatizations, translations, adaptations, abridgments, arrangements, and other alterations of literary or artistic works; and(b) Collections of literary, scholarly or artistic works, and compilations of data and other materials which are original by reason of the selection or coordination or arrangement of their contents. (Sec. 2, [P] and [Q], P.D. No. 49)” Therefore, fan artists need not fear of being sued for copyright infringement since the law governing literary creations expressly declares so. Furthermore, Section 173.2 of the same Code provides that, “(T)he works referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of Subsection 173.1 shall be protected as new works: Provided however, That such new work shall not affect the force of any subsisting copyright upon the original works employed or any part thereof, or be construed to imply any right to such use of the original works, or to secure or extend copyright in such original works. (Sec. 8, P.D. 49; Art. 10, TRIPS)”

As a matter of fact, these fan art creations may deem to be a manifestation of the freedom of expression granted by the Constitution. Fan artists, bearing with them their creativity, have the tendency of altering , modifying, arranging or adding something to the appearance of their favorite cartoon character like Hulk, Black Widow, Tazmanian Devil, Naruto and Fujiko, among others. Yet, these acts doesn't mean that they are defacing, demeaning or degarding the work of the original creators. It may be also that fan artists want others to see the other side of their favorite cartoon characters or enhance the superpowers of their favorite ninja superhero.Or it may be their hobby. An outlet for their passion or creativity.Simple as that.