Wow- so cosplay *might* be a new gray area when it comes to copyright. It's true that these people were making costumes for money, but I mean, what about people who make commissioned costumes? I suppose if it's pursued any further and they start cracking down on seamstresses and tailors who people pay to make a costume for them, it'll start forcing people to make their own costume and more people will want to learn how to sew (which is a useful skill to know anyway ^_^). Perhaps maybe sewers will start charging at-cost instead at-cost+small profit (which will lead to cheaper costumes ^_^), but this gets into such sticky places.
Sewers? isn't that a pipe underground that smells real bad?
I just love people who use that word for describing people who sew. My mother had/has an account on E-Bay that was Simple Sewer. I laughed so hard I thought I was going to bust something.
In response to the thread. I pretty much agree with AnimeMatrix. I was wondering how it would effect seamstresses and tailors as well. It seems to me, that unless you are mass producing, or selling the pattern for, a copyrighted character, it should be OK. Making a custom costume that will only fit the customer, isn't mass production, and copying a clothing design isn't a crime, unless you try claiming that what you make is by someone else. That could get you into trouble. Don't go around making blue jeans and sticking a "Levis" label on them for example.
I was trying to determine if the guy actually worked for Toei or not. The way I read it he had created a suit for himself, and was going around town performing for kids. He then helped to make another suit that was then sold to someone else. I guess Toei then got upset, because of how he was portraying the character they had the rights to. Sounds more like they didn't like him cutting in on an oportunity for them to make money selling the costumes themselves, and charging for public appearances.
