Occasionally people make comments, usually in passing, usually innocently enough, relating to copyright issues. Well y’know what, maybe they’re right, maybe we oughta put up some sort of disclaimer over here.

Sonic the Hedgehog is © Se- Waitaminute. Sonic isn’t in this comic. Hm. Oh well.

Miles ‘Tails’ Prower is- No. No. He’s not there either.

Knuck- You know what? The only thing remotely resembling a copyright infringement is the chao before it became Blasphemy.

Contrary to what drama queen online artists would have you believe, you can’t copyright a style. Eastwood is a fox drawn in the style of the Sonic characters. He therefore has an innate similarity to Tails who is also a fox. A lot of anime shows share a similar design style, and many characters of the same species – human. Some of the main differences in the character designs are build, size/shape/arrangement of facial features, hair colour/style, eye colour and clothing. Huh. Well lookit that. Those are exactly the things that differentiate Eastwood from Tails. Why is it that human characters in anime can all look the bloody same and nobody notices, but when I give my character conjoined eyes, people call him a ripoff of Sonic?

I’m not trying to claim our characters are completely original, because they’re clearly derivative. But, and I admit I’m no lawyer here, I’m unconvinced that Sega can sue on the grounds that our characters ‘look a bit like’ theirs. Remember in the 90s when there was a slew of high speed copycat platformers, trying to cash in on the success of the Sonic games? If Sega has a case against Exterminatus Now, then they surely could have sued the proverbial trousers off of those games developers.

Besides, there’s a very good reason Sega wouldn’t sue us. Multinational corporations don’t like to crush 4-man indy organisations beneath the heel of their evil corporate boot. Oddly enough, it’s seen as bad publicity.

So, now that I’ve justified myself… *plots ways to earn a living drawing EN – Anything to avoid real work*