~Hakurei Shrine~ > Rika and Nitori's Garage Experiments
※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
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Helepolis:
Information is incomplete, there are few important links we found which needs to be processed. Content information is subject to change.
Warning: This thread is a general information, inquiry and possible experimental discussion thread. The elaborate discussion of your fan work or specific work doesn't belong here. Any irrelevant discussions or hostile posts will be moderated or removed.

※ How to make Touhou derived work ※

ZUN's guidelines in a nutshell
If you want to make touhou derived work you're allowed to as long as you stick to the guidelines written by ZUN. Some confusion seems to exist but it is very simple:

* The guidelines create a play ground for you to make fan work. No matter what, ZUN remains the Intellectual Property owner of Touhou Project.
* Asking for money as direct aid to make fan work is not allowed. "Please give money to do X Y Z". Examples are: begging, donations, crowdfunding and similar cases of direct monetary help.
* You can publish your work for smartphones as long as they are free and without any profit-mechanism (advertisement, premium, upgrade, etc.)
* Your work cannot be published on Steam and similar platforms. It doesn't matter if it is for free or paid.
* Your work cannot be published on consoles for now like WiiU, Xbox, etc. (A PS4/Vita Doujin fan game opportunity for Japan is being made. Read here)
* If you decide to release your work on your own website, you are not allowed to ask money for it.
* Additionally, you are not allowed to sell your work online through websites or programs if they:
* Don't have relationship with Touhou Project or ZUN.
* Are not Doujin orientated. (For example: Devian Art is NOT a Doujin and Touhou affiliated website. You can post art, but cannot sell it.)

* Regarding naming your work, there are a few things you should keep in mind (source):
* The title or name should not match actual names in Touhou Project. (Do not call your work "Hakurei Reimu" or "Hakurei Shrine")
* The title or name should not cause easy to mistake for an official work. (Do not call your work "Imperishable Night Gaiden")
* It is preferable to not call your work "Touhou XXX". In a 2013 seminar, ZUN said he considered making this a rule, but didn't do it.

I want to sell my work(to make profit)!
Doujin work is a hobby activity, meaning usually Doujin circles or individuals have no purpose of making money as a profit by default. That is why people will frown if you purposely make a fan work, just to make some cash. But if you insist on selling your work, you need to follow the guidelines of ZUN which is basically:

* You're allowed to sell your work physically at events as a booth or circle owner (Example: (Touhou) cons, Comiket and Reitaisai)
* You can only physically sell your work in one of the Doujin and Touhou affliated stores in Japan only! (Example: Melon Books, Comic Toranoana)
* No, you cannot sell your work digitally anywhere, not even in Japan. (?)
Helepolis:
The boundary explained between Doujin and Indie
Doujin & Indie are NOT the same.  Below Ruw-san (ルーさん) explains it very roughly from a relative view point. Note that this is not a written law or guideline but a graph to reflect the differences between them. However, it is smart to understand it as it might impact your fan work. It also shows what happens when a certain work tries to evolve into something.


Ruw-san's very rough and relative view on Indie & Doujin boundaries (credit goes to Ruw-san from his Twitter. Original tweet here)

The graph states 2 important facts. An Indie work CAN be transformed into a Doujin work, but a Doujin work CANNOT be transformed into Indie work. Basically: Your Touhou fan work can NEVER be claimed as your Indie work and can also be never published under Indie discipline. Because you are operating in the Touhou Guideline box (yellow).

- The black dot shows the starting state of a project. (A book, 4koma, fangame, etc)
- The arrow shooting out from it shows the path it takes. (Development, production)
- The white dot resembles a milestone or release moment. (Pixiv, personal webspace)
Helepolis:
- Reserved post for future info -
ExPorygon:

--- Quote from: Helepolis on January 24, 2015, 03:15:35 PM ---Asking for money as direct aid to make fan work is not allowed. "Please give money to do X Y Z". Examples are: begging, donations, crowdfunding and similar cases of direct monetary help.

--- End quote ---
I thought we had learned that donationware is an acceptable means of receiving money. Am I confusing something?
Kilgamayan:
You can accept donations, you just can't ask for them.
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