User blog comment:ChishioKunrin/How would you react if someone sold traced RWBY art?/@comment-25555436-20150421005627/@comment-4010415-20150421013811

I suppose it depends on how touchy RT is. Hasbro fiercely guards its IP, since any slipup in letting people use IP (Intellectual Property, btw) in certain ways can lead to the company that owns the IP actually losing the IP. Meaning, if Hasbro isn't careful and doesn't fire off some C&D's (Cease & Desist), they can actually lose their copyrights and trademarks for MLP, and that's not good at all. Sure, there are third party companies that sell MLP stuff, but they have to pay Hasbro for the right to.

Unfortunately, Hasbro has come down hard on MLP projects that were completely free, so... I'd be surprised if they won't jump at the fact that there's finally proof of this guy selling traced art, if they legally can. I mean, they've had two fan-made free-to-play MLP video games taken down for using their trademarked characters and having My Little Pony in the title. They've also had Youtube take down some videos where the creator had animated them so well that they were practically identical to the animation style and quality of MLP and had a trademarked character in them.

So, it really depends on how someone selling and making tons of money off of traced RWBY artwork would affect Rooster Teeth. It's a pretty shitty thing to do, y'know? I mean, this guy was selling prints and posters for $20-$90 a piece and sells a blanket for $150.

And then, like Maki said, tracing to make art that you're gonna sell is a pretty shitty and lazy thing to do, especially if it's for commissions.

Like... here's one example of tracing in that $150 blanket, and another example. And then there's this admittedly nice looking print that you can get as a pillow case. He got caught with a picture where he traced a giant chrysalis from the show and then traced a pony from the show to where she'd be inside the chrysalis. He's pretty much outright just using Hasbro's art (because yes, an animated show is a form of art) to make money, and that's pretty shitty of him.

So, if someone did the same with RWBY, tracing the characters and such to make epic pictures to sell, they'd be using Rooster Teeth's art to get money.

Even if you're not physically stealing, you're making money off someone else's copyrighted material, so it counts as pretty much stealing. Plus the fact that Intellectual Property laws can be very, very touchy. If you lose your IP because of some jerkoff or multiple jerkoffs in the public, you no longer hold copyright or trademark over that thing.