Oh, Lila!

I'm an unionized worker in the video game industry. I don't know how things are going on at Spindlehorse right now as I'm absolutely not working in any kind of way for this company but from my experience as an illustrator in the entertainment industry and as a syndicalist, I migh have some few ideas.

But let's not speculate. Instead, we should try to use what we know.

So. Is it legal to forbid official artists to sell fanmerch of a show when they don't own the intellectual property?

Yes. It's the law. There is some grey areas but overal, if a company sue someone for copyright infrigment, chances are, they will win. To be frank, I'm even surprised those interdictions didn't happen sooner. Spindlehorse gave a lot of leeway to their artists and it's very uncommon in the video game / animation industry.

But! Is it morally correct? I think not.

Spindlehorse exists and thrived thanks to queer fandom culture. They hired fanartists who are known and are talented thanks to said culture. And now that they're famous enough, they're starting to forbid parts of what's making the community a place of joy and creativity? It doesn't really feel okay, does it? Morover it's a disservice to Spindlehorse itself since a lot of talented artists will think twice now before working for them. It's kind of a of breach of a tacit agreement: you let me make money out of your famous story and I nurture your community with my time, effort and creativity.

I think it's important to remember that laws are human made and can be changed. So "it's the law" can't be an acceptable argument. Remember that a lot of unacceptable things used to be legal.

The real question is, who is benefiting from this law? And I think we all know the answer. It's a very big corporation famous for its greed and infamous for its lack of ethic.

To me, this situation is concerning for our community. We can legitimaly ask ourselves: if today official artists can't sell fanmerch anymore, what's preventing greedy corporations to do the same to unofficial fanartists afterwards? It is the law as well, after all. Nobody is allowed to make money out of a franchise if they don't own the intellectual property. Not being a Spindlehorse worker won't protect fanartists. Worse, by not showing a united front, we might be targetted as little group, one by one, and in the end, the community will suffer and maybe desapear.

You can think "well, it's only fair, isn't selling a product based on a story you didn't create theft?" and if it does sound like a valid point I think we need to have a true reflexion on this. Who is the real thief here? The people who have money and power and bought a whole story to make more profit and power out of it? Or the creators working to make a compelling story that wouldn't exist without them (as talented as Viv is, the show wouldn't exist without ALL the workers) and who use this story to make some money on the side so they can make a decent living out of it?

Is the actual system treating content creators right? Because in a world where big corporations are in search of the next big story they will be able to turn into a trademark, let me tell you creators are at the end of the foodchain. Said corporations can buy intellectual rights for next to nothing and decide on what they will allow or not based on how much money they can make. The community around it? The workers? The fans? They don't care.

The vast majority of the artists and other content creators are being paid less and less and less and work in aweful conditions, lots of creative jobs are replaced by IA (stealing our creations but hey, when it's benefiting big corporations at the expense of humble artists, it's no big deal suddenly) and for a lot of us, fandoms are a place where people still appreciate and value creativity and thus, places where we can maybe make a living out of our hard work.

If you've read everything until then and that you kinda agree with me, you might think "okay Lila, but they're billionaires and I'm only me. What do we do?" and I'm so glad you asked.

You might've heard that boycott, petitions and other things like that are pointless. As a worker in the entertainment industry, I strongly disagree. Believe me, there is nothing more scary for CEO or a publisher than angry customers. As a worker, I feel so relieved and supported when customers voice their concerns and are angry towards the company I work for because customers are often free to tell things that I'm not allowed to (because of my contract). I don't thank them out loud because my job is on the line, but my gratitude towards those people who express their frustration in a polite and constructive way is endless. I can use their messages to argument with the people I work for and make a solid point based on mail and feebacks we receive.

Customers and workers unionizing against an unfair decision is really powerful, don't underestimate what you can do.

If you're worried about putting Spindlehorse in a hard place (and I feel you because I love the Hellaverse too), remember that the chances that they're reluctantly taking orders from Amazon are high. By voicing your concerns, signing petitions and boycotting official merch, you're giving Spindlehorse a leverage in negociations with Amazon and other greedy souless publishers. Let's stand behind the artists we love and let's hold Spindlehorse accountable. We trusted them. They need to show us now, during this trying times, that they're worthy of our trust.

✊ Boycott official merch. 💝 Specifically support the official artists in any way you can. 🌺 Support small artists and normalize giving money to artists for nothing more than the fact they create and post things you like online for free. 📧 Write a polite message to Spindlehorse asking them to reconsider their decision at [email protected] ✒️Sign this petition: https://www.change.org/p/let-spindlehorse-employees-make-fan-content

''Ma'am, Sir, Please forgive in advance this message that might not be as well written as I wish it was since english isn't my first language. Nonetheless I'm reaching out to voice my concerns about your recent decisions regarding your official artists and how they are now forbidden to sell Hellaverse fanmerch products. I am absolutely no lawyer and thus I can't tell what is legally allowed or not. All I know is that I'm an illustrator myself, working in the entertainment industry, and that I feel like this decision is unfair. To your worker who not only always do their best to make the Hellaverse a fantastic show AND nurture your community by making fanarts and sharing fantheories etc, but also to your fans who won't be able to interact with and support the Spindle artists they love, as much as they want to. You are depriving us of connexion. The blow to our community (we won't be able to create fanzines with the Spindle artists, for exemple, and it is a crushing new) seems extremely unfair when we supported with all our energy, creativity and dedication both Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss since the very beginning. Worse, I'm afraid the severity of this decision will harden from now on and that it's all the fanartists that will be targeted at some point, which would be very damaging to the whole Hellaverse fandom. So I'm sending this message in hope that you will reconsider this decision. We want to support Spindlehorse but we also want to support the content creators as we know that, in the current economy, most people need different sources of income to survive. As a sign of protest, and as support to my fellow content creators working for Spindlehorse, I will stop buying official Hellaverse merch until an acceptable solution for both parties is found. I also deleted all my Amazon subscriptions and won't interact with anything related to Amazon in any way until further ado. My love for the SpindleHorse team is strong so please, believe me when I say you have my support. That is why I'm asking and taking the time to write my concerns: because I think I might be heard (with some other companies I wouldn't even bother and simply move on). I believe in Spindlehorse, and I want all the people working there being happy and working in good conditions. I cannot enjoy a show if I'm not absolutely sure the people who create it are well paid and supported by the company to generate a necessary second source of income.

I'm an unionized worker in the video game industry. I don't know how things are going on at Spindlehorse right now as I'm absolutely not working in any kind of way for this company but from my experience as an illustrator in the entertainment industry and as a syndicalist, I migh have some few ideas.

But let's not speculate. Instead, we should try to use what we know.

So. Is it legal to forbid official artists to sell fanmerch of a show when they don't own the intellectual property?

Yes. It's the law. There is some grey areas but overal, if a company sue someone for copyright infrigment, chances are, they will win. To be frank, I'm even surprised those interdictions didn't happen sooner. Spindlehorse gave a lot of leeway to their artists and it's very uncommon in the video game / animation industry.

But! Is it morally correct? I think not.

Spindlehorse exists and thrived thanks to queer fandom culture. They hired fanartists who are known and are talented thanks to said culture. And now that they're famous enough, they're starting to forbid parts of what's making the community a place of joy and creativity? It doesn't really feel okay, does it? Morover it's a disservice to Spindlehorse itself since a lot of talented artists will think twice now before working for them. It's kind of a of breach of a tacit agreement: you let me make money out of your famous story and I nurture your community with my time, effort and creativity.

I think it's important to remember that laws are human made and can be changed. So "it's the law" can't be an acceptable argument. Remember that a lot of unacceptable things used to be legal.

The real question is, who is benefiting from this law? And I think we all know the answer. It's a very big corporation famous for its greed and infamous for its lack of ethic.

To me, this situation is concerning for our community. We can legitimaly ask ourselves: if today official artists can't sell fanmerch anymore, what's preventing greedy corporations to do the same to unofficial fanartists afterwards? It is the law as well, after all. Nobody is allowed to make money out of a franchise if they don't own the intellectual property. Not being a Spindlehorse worker won't protect fanartists. Worse, by not showing a united front, we might be targetted as little group, one by one, and in the end, the community will suffer and maybe desapear.

You can think "well, it's only fair, isn't selling a product based on a story you didn't create theft?" and if it does sound like a valid point I think we need to have a true reflexion on this. Who is the real thief here? The people who have money and power and bought a whole story to make more profit and power out of it? Or the creators working to make a compelling story that wouldn't exist without them (as talented as Viv is, the show wouldn't exist without ALL the workers) and who use this story to make some money on the side so they can make a decent living out of it?

Is the actual system treating content creators right? Because in a world where big corporations are in search of the next big story they will be able to turn into a trademark, let me tell you creators are at the end of the foodchain. Said corporations can buy intellectual rights for next to nothing and decide on what they will allow or not based on how much money they can make. The community around it? The workers? The fans? They don't care.

The vast majority of the artists and other content creators are being paid less and less and less and work in aweful conditions, lots of creative jobs are replaced by IA (stealing our creations but hey, when it's benefiting big corporations at the expense of humble artists, it's no big deal suddenly) and for a lot of us, fandoms are a place where people still appreciate and value creativity and thus, places where we can maybe make a living out of our hard work.

If you've read everything until then and that you kinda agree with me, you might think "okay Lila, but they're billionaires and I'm only me. What do we do?" and I'm so glad you asked.

You might've heard that boycott, petitions and other things like that are pointless. As a worker in the entertainment industry, I strongly disagree. Believe me, there is nothing more scary for CEO or a publisher than angry customers. As a worker, I feel so relieved and supported when customers voice their concerns and are angry towards the company I work for because customers are often free to tell things that I'm not allowed to (because of my contract). I don't thank them out loud because my job is on the line, but my gratitude towards those people who express their frustration in a polite and constructive way is endless. I can use their messages to argument with the people I work for and make a solid point based on mail and feebacks we receive.

Customers and workers unionizing against an unfair decision is really powerful, don't underestimate what you can do.

If you're worried about putting Spindlehorse in a hard place (and I feel you because I love the Hellaverse too), remember that the chances that they're reluctantly taking orders from Amazon are high. By voicing your concerns, signing petitions and boycotting official merch, you're giving Spindlehorse a leverage in negociations with Amazon and other greedy souless publishers. Let's stand behind the artists we love and let's hold Spindlehorse accountable. We trusted them. They need to show us now, during this trying times, that they're worthy of our trust.

✊ Boycott official merch. 💝 Specifically support the official artists in any way you can. 🌺 Support small artists and normalize giving money to artists for nothing more than the fact they create and post things you like online for free. 📧 Write a polite message to Spindlehorse asking them to reconsider their decision at [email protected] ✒️Sign this petition: https://www.change.org/p/let-spindlehorse-employees-make-fan-content

They shine bright in my brand new shop. ✨✨✨