howto:copyright
Table of Contents
Definition of a copyright tag
In simple terms, a copyright tag refers to any single work of fiction or art, or a company / brand / group / etc. with associated official characters.
To get into the right mindset, when deciding whether to make something a copyright tag, ask yourself: "Are there characters within this?"
If the answer is no, then it's likely not a copyright tag.
Real life individuals also count as characters when dealing with things like musical groups.
Posts not based on any established works should be tagged with the original copyright tag.
Criteria
Examples of copyright tags:
- Works of fiction or art: K-ON!, House M.D., Yotsubato!
- This includes self-published works: for example Touhou Musou Kakyou, Narcissu
- Franchises: Fate, Monogatari
- Vocaloid songs: Rolling Girl (Vocaloid)
- This allows Vocaloid songs to be implied to the main tag, as cross-category implications are not allowed. Vocaloid songs are also often accompanied by unique character designs.
- However, other songs should remain general: Ren'ai Circulation
- Pixiv projects: Pixiv Fantasia
- Musical groups: Kalafina, Iron Maiden
- Companies, brands, and websites must have official mascots or otherwise officially recognized characters. See McDonald's with Ronald McDonald vs. Denny's, which has no mascot, or Wikipedia with Wikipe-tan.
Edge cases
Since cross-category implications are not allowed, properties owned by an entity tagged as a copyright that don't include any characters of their own may still be tagged as a copyright to allow for implications. Musical albums are one notable example of this: see Autobahn (Kraftwerk) vs. Kraftwerk.
Using company tags
Company tags such as Nintendo are not used in the way new users may expect - instead of being used on any post featuring copyrights owned by that company (i.e., every Mario (series) post is also a Nintendo post), company tags are only used when a post makes a direct reference to that company, such as its logo, products, or staff.
For example, compare post #11098345, which is just Rosalina with post #2067131, which is tagged Nintendo because of the presence of Iwata Satoru, a staff member.
How to make a copyright tag
To make a tag be a copyright tag, prefix it with "copyright:" or "copy:".
Copyright tags should be in the original language, for example Umineko no Naku Koro ni, not When the Seagulls Cry. You may request an alias from translated titles to the original language title.
- Note: There are some "grandfathered-in" exceptions to this rule, including Spice and Wolf, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Fullmetal Alchemist.
- Some copyrights may also be granted an exception if the translated title is overwhelmingly used: see Cave Story.
- Official romanizations take priority. Example: Azumanga Daioh over Azumanga Daiou, Yu-Gi-Oh! over Yuu-Gi-Ou.
- See forum #168087 for details.
If the copyright name includes a subtitle, this may be omitted from the tag name. For example, the tag for "Planetarian ~Chiisana Hoshi no Yume~" is simply planetarian and "Koihime † Musou ~Doki ☆ Otome Darake no Sangokushi Engi~" becomes koihime_musou. Similarly, if the original title is the same or similar phrase in two languages, e.g. 銀の匙 Silver Spoon, or 幼なじみは大統領 My girlfriend is the PRESIDENT, you may omit the second part.
Please follow Danbooru's Romanization Guidelines. Do not include symbols such as ☆ † ♪ ♥. Do include any punctuation such as ! & + ? . (Please note that the comma and the asterisk cannot be used in tags.) Replace × with the letter "x".
If you are unsure how to romanize the copyright name, ask in a comment or on the forum.
Do not use a fan-created title to bypass or circumvent two-tag search, such as Suzumiya Haruhiko no Yuuutsu for suzumiya_haruhi_no_yuuutsu genderswap.