do the copyright laws protect a concept of a literary character or only the artwork that is manifested?

Answer 1

Hi.

Quite simply, a "concept" is not protect-able under ANY form of intellectual property protection (copyright, trademark or patent). What IS, however, eligible for protection are the "idea(s) in a tangible medium of expression". This means that to be able to protect an IDEA, you have to reduce it to writing/paper/computer first.

So, if you have an idea for a character who is 6'0" tall, with brown hair, brown eyes, and an athletic build... those words, in and of themselves, are not eligible for protection (mostly because they're too vague to receive copyright). But if you sketch out the character in a drawing... you would be able to obtain a copyright on the drawing.

I hope this answers your question.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Only the artwork manifested is protected. The sites I refer to on copyright and fair use will prepare you for conversation with your lawyer.

Answer 3

The concept in question would be stipulated by the creator, and you wouldn't know unless you had the creator's legal stipulations that accomodated the concept, or that of his/her lawyer.

Copywrite can cover a lot of bases if the creator is familiar with how to protect his intellectual property.

Answer 4

Copyright laws protect any and all recognizable trademark figures of any book, movie, ad agency, or whatever. Thankfully there is a thing where if it is changed sufficiently creatively it will pass.