Copyright and Cosplay: Working With an Awkward Fit; Public Knowledge, August 29, 2018

Meredith Filak Rose, Public Knowledge; Copyright and Cosplay: Working With an Awkward Fit

"One of the questions about copyright that comes up most often at fan conventions is whether or not cosplay is “legal.” It’s a good question, but it gets into some of the murkiest areas of copyright law."

Cosplayers at Steel City Con, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 10-12, 2018

[Kip Currier]

Cosplayers at Steel City Con, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 10-12, 2018

Steel City Con's summer event was August 10-12, 2018 at the Monroeville Convention Center in suburban Pittsburgh. The Q & A session with film and stage star Kathleen Turner (Body Heat; Romancing The Stone; Serial Mom; Broadway's Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolff?) was entertaining and refreshingly candid, as The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette described here.

I had some illuminating IP-related conversations with several vendors at the Con and will have a post about that soon.

Cosplayers representing diverse genres and characters were in abundance...and I snagged some great photos of them (thanks for the impressive clarity, Google Pixel 2 camera!).

Sundry denizens of the Star Wars universe roamed the Con: 

Yes...Even Stormtroopers can't put down their phones:

DC heroes, anti-heroes, and villains posed proudly:

Marvel characters from The Avengers (plus Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, on loan from Sony) may have been on the lookout for Infinity Stones...and Thanos:

While the Guardians of the Galaxy in attendance (Mantis, Gamora, and Star Lord--with Baby Groot perched on his shoulder) may have been looking for teammates Drax and Rocket, as well as a script and a director for their eagerly-anticipated Threepeat flick:

[*Spoiler Alert*] 
Three of these four characters (Nick Fury, Wasp, Ant-Man, and Black Panther) disappeared with a snap in 2018's Avengers: Infinity War and Ant-Man and The Wasp.
Know which one didn't disappear?

See you in July 2019, Spider-Man: Far From Home...

Some of Marvel's most famous mutants--soon to be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)--were in the house:

Frank "The Punisher" Castle looked battle-tested and battle-ready:

Wizards with wands wandered the walkways:

Along with eclectic characters--like Ghost Spider (formerly Also Known As Spider-Gwen), Deadpool-cum-painter-Bob-Ross, and Captain Morgan (representing the Rum-imbibing community):

A Nexus of Fan Culture and IP: Steel City Con Cosplay Pics...AND the Real McCoy--err, Eden; Steel City Con, April 13-15, 2018

Kip Currier, "A Nexus of Fan Culture and IP:
Steel City Con Cosplay Pics...AND the Real McCoy Eden": 

Chewbacca and Frenemies
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

Jurassic Park ranger "Show & Tell"
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

Star Wars Families: They're Just Like Us!
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

3 Jawas and a Stormtrooper walk into a Bar...
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

Holy Sith!
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

R2D2 chillin' at Steel City Con
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

Black Sheep of the R2D2 Clan

Enter the Marvel Heroes...
Captain America: The First Avenger
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

Spider-Man striking a pose
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

Don't Mess with Cap and Ms. Marvel
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

(Hey, Phoenix....We Told You--No Avengers v. X-Men dustup right now...the Disney/Fox merger HASN'T been approved yet!)
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

And at the other side of the Thunderdome...Enter the DC heroes...
(Green) Arrow and Black Canary
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

The 1st Flash....Jay Garrick
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

Clark Kent and Zatanna
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

The Joker...sporting REALLY good hair product!
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

Shades of a DC Marvel meet cute?...
--"Joker, say Hello to Silk"
--"Silk...meet Joker"
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

"Fox and Friends" 2.0...
It's "Flash and Friends"
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

Newt Scamander...Have Wand Will Travel
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

A magnificent Maleficent
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

"Uh, guys...I'm here for the Game of Thrones Season 8 Extras Audition..."

James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

Freddy Krueger (...and Frozen's Elsa in the back left. Yikes!)
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

Michael Myers
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

Kylo Ren, Negan, and Lucille
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

Captain Kangaroo and Mr. Moose
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

King Ezekiel (AKA "not your king", "not your majesty", "just some guy") sans Shiva...
"Excuse me...Has anyone seen a really stealthy Bengal Tiger around here?..."
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

Seeing double...2 Jeannies
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

AND the REAL Jeannie herself...Miss Barbara Eden
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018