Revised guidelines so that the popular game 'Genshin' can freely publish derivative manga and novels



Record sales of more than 260 billion yen per year popular online RPG that was ' original God management team of' is, SNS 'that miHoYo of the development company operated HoYoLAB announced the guidelines of the secondary creation on'.

Important Information on Merchandising Authorization --miHoYo Player Community
https://www.hoyolab.com/article/1372702

Genshin Impact's creators have opened the door for commercial fanfiction writers --The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/12/22777194/genshin-impact-fanfiction-merchandise-rules-creators

In October 2021, miHoYo published ' Guidelines for Derivative Work'.



Then, we set up a separate guideline for secondary creation that should be followed when selling and distributing secondary creation works related to Genshin, and announced it on HoYoLAB. The secondary creation guidelines announced by the management team of Genshin are as follows.

◆ 1:
The fan art used in fan-made products must not violate any relevant laws or regulations under any circumstances. Also, it must not damage the reputation of other companies, Genshin's development team, or miHoYo.

◆ 2:
Derivative work creators may not register related content as a national or regional trademark. In addition, copyrights and patents for derivative works and fan-made products cannot be registered in any country or region.

◆ 3: Product production
1: The production of 'light hobby products' through interaction between fans is permitted for groups and individuals, and there is no need for financial restrictions or prior permission at this time.
2: Light hobby products created and sold online by the group do not need to apply for prior license if the quantity of the products is 200 units or less. If you have more than 200 units, you need to apply for prior permission through the official channel.
3: Light hobby products created and sold by individuals online do not require prior permission if the quantity of the products is 500 units or less. If you have more than 500 units, you need to apply for pre-license through the official channel.
4: For 'figures' such as fan-made dolls, Nendoroids, plastic dolls, capsule toys, and resin dolls, you need to formally apply for permission for sale.
5: Fan-written novels and stories, whether for profit or not, do not need to be officially pre-licensed as long as they comply with the basic national regulations and laws. However, if these works come with physical merchandise, you will need to apply for pre-license according to the corresponding process.
6: Requests such as 'licenses for all Genshin characters' will not be accepted during the license application review.

◆ 4: Considering the relationship between the products made by the fans and the official source materials, the following actions are not permitted.
1: In fan-made products, it is strictly prohibited to use official materials or materials on the product detail page directly, or with retouching or partial modification.
2: Commercial activities such as selling products under the guise of officials are strictly prohibited.
3: Commercial activities such as forging official products or other derivatives (same or similar to official products) are strictly prohibited.

The official source refers to the original material of the game, official promotion material, official model, official CG, official monster, scene material, etc. In other words, fan-made content must be created after the creator himself understands the 'Genshin' when creating derivative works. Also, please note that using or modifying the official materials as they are, whether it is the product design or the image showing the details of the product, may lead to unnecessary misunderstandings.

◆ 5: For certified fan-made products, please follow the rules below for product release pages, related promotion pages, and related texts.
1: The word 'Fan-made product' is clearly displayed on the product page.
2: There is no description in the product description that suggests that 'Genshin' or miHoYo is directly involved, such as 'Genshin original product' or 'Official collaboration product'.
3: It is prohibited to directly use, partially modify, or retouch the official source in the image or design of the product detail page.



Genshin Official gives examples of 'light hobby products' such as douujinshi, derivative illustrations, manga, stuffed animals and cushions. To summarize the guidelines, secondary creation light hobby products such as novels and manga can be distributed without permission regardless of commercial or non-profit, but if the number of units exceeds the specified number, prior permission is required. On the other hand, when selling three-dimensional objects such as figures, prior permission is required regardless of the quantity. There is no need to pay the copyright fee for the license application.

To apply for prior permission, please apply for the applicant's name and contact information, creator information, proof of ownership of the work, link to the initial distribution platform and proof of account ownership, the name of the character to be licensed, and permission. You need to submit the category, price, etc. to miHoYo. If the 'registrant of the initial distribution platform', the 'license applicant', and the 'owner of the online store' are the same person, it is considered as the 'individual content creator', and if they do not match, the 'group content' It seems to be the creator.

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in Game, Posted by log1i_yk