Author Topic: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines  (Read 168725 times)

Helepolis

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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. (?)

« Last Edit: January 26, 2015, 09:12:01 PM by Helepolis »

Helepolis

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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2015, 08:40:16 AM »
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)
« Last Edit: January 25, 2015, 08:45:01 AM by Helepolis »

Helepolis

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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2015, 08:40:21 AM »
- Reserved post for future info -

Ozzy

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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2015, 03:44:23 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.
I thought we had learned that donationware is an acceptable means of receiving money. Am I confusing something?

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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2015, 04:29:17 PM »
You can accept donations, you just can't ask for them.
[22:40:12] <Drake> "guys i donwloaded esod but its not workan"
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Ozzy

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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #5 on: January 25, 2015, 06:15:30 PM »
Would putting say a Paypal donate button on a page saying something like "Donations are appreciated" count as 'asking' for them?

Suspicious person

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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #6 on: January 25, 2015, 06:49:41 PM »
I'd like to add a few precisions regarding the distinction between indie and doujin and why Touhou works are exclusively doujin :

At their "birth", it's not possible to classify such or such work as "doujin" or "indie" yet : I'll use the word "amateur" instead, and explain how an "amateur" work can become either "indie" or "doujin" :

Amateur works involves meager means for the development of the work (but the motives may vary): the developper (one person or a group) is likely to be in deficit, but he have two options : 1/ try to make profit or 2/ keep the work as it is. Option 1 essentially means that the amateur work'll be made for the sole purpose of profit and get labelled as "indie", while option 2 will keep things as they are and might as well be labelled as "doujin":

Indie works :
Since we already know that it's made for the sake of profit, just consider this as small scale COMMERCIAL work instead : the indie developer will aim for profit and follow the same reasoning professional have (hence resorting to crowdfunding to get more means for development's sake and aim for "big" distribution platforms): Indie works might as well be commercial ones, and therefore cannot fit in the scope of "doujin" (we'll talk about the case of Touhou doujin later)

Doujin works :
This is essentially the amateur work, except with a Japanese name and cultural add-ons. You do not make your work fit into this category, but it'll be considered as doujin automatically. It's a hobby, it's not aiming for profit (thus money is a very sensible topic, here), it's a niche genre that does not delve in the mainstream (hence the specialised distribution channels). There is an "ideal" for doujin works : not following that ideal (ie: choosing to aim for profit instead) will get you frowned but not punished : your work'll simply stop being considered doujin but indie.
同人 "doujin"
The word "doujin" consists of two kanji: 同 "the same", and 人 "people". The actual meaning of the word is "like-minded people", and 同人誌 "doujinshi" means "magazines by like-minded people". The word "doujinshi" was coined by the literary circles of Meiji era to refer to the non-commercial magazines they editted and produced themselves. According to wikipedia, at the beginning of Comic Market and otaku culture, the early otaku actually borrowed the English word "fanzine", referring to their self-published manga as "manga fanzine", and the adoption of the "doujinshi" word took place later.

I don't think the concept of "doujin" is particularly hard to understand if you look at its roots: people who share the same hobby gather together, and exchange their self-published writings or drawings. The early otaku would have preferred to exchange their works one by one; they only started charging money to simplify the process and cover each other's expenses. The otaku are far from saints, but they did not, and still often do not make doujinshi while wishing to make money, or let people outside of their own fandoms see their works. The vast majority of doujin creators still do it at a deficit.

These are how doujin and indie are in a nutshell.
Now, regarding Touhou DOUJIN works : Touhou doujin are unique in the aspect where they are the only doujin works that follow a specific guideline. In essence, the guidelines put a distinction between 2 categories of touhou works :
-The regular fanworks
-Commercial works

About the regular fanworks :
We've already established that not following the doujin way of doing things will earn you nothing more than some frown. BUT! As far as Touhou doujin goes, you MUST follow the doujin method :
The guidelines allow you to make use of ZUN's IP without consulting with him ONLY if you follow the doujin way of doing things, otherwise you're ground for copyright infringment. So long as you plan on doing a regular Touhou fanwork (ie: fanbook, fanart, fanfiction, fangame, etc...):
※ 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. (?)
By following the doujin method, ZUN's permission should not and should never be an issue. Do note that he have the right not to allow you to make your fanwork if he doesn't want you to.

About the commercial works :
Unless you are a representative of some company (or the like) and plans to commercialise a Touhou product, this should not be an issue for you (see above). But if you are, you will need ZUN's permission to do so. Do note that ZUN is not good with english, and might be busy dealing with other issues so you might have to need to wait for an undetermined period of time before you receive his answer. You MUST RECEIVE his answer before going on, otherwise you're illegaly using someone else's IP, with everything this implies (No answer does NOT imply "Yes, you can go on"). Obviously, if ZUN does not accept your request, you cannot go on.

So long as you plan to make a work based on Touhou project, you will have to respect it's guidelines. You join the game, you play by the rules.
Essentially, here's what you need to know about the different types of works regarding Touhou :
-Indie : aims to be commercial, therefore Touhou based works CANNOT follow the Indie method
-Doujin : Touhou works go in this category and MUST follow the Doujin method

I hope this was clear enough.
« Last Edit: January 25, 2015, 08:20:05 PM by Suspicious person »

Kaze_Senshi

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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #7 on: January 25, 2015, 06:53:39 PM »
What if I find a work that violate some of these rules (like a paid Android APK or an APK with adds), how to proceed?
My youtube channel with my creations: https://www.youtube.com/user/KazeSenshi2929
( ゆっくりしていってね)>

Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #8 on: January 26, 2015, 01:28:44 AM »
Touhou music produced by Western circles released on Bandcamp/similar platforms with a "name your price" option - thoughts?

Also, from a wider perspective, I don't really like Ruw's diagram as a guideline for Doujin as a whole.  This may be because of certain things that are implied or lost in translation, but either way I think it raises more questions than it answers for a Western audience.  For instance, there are some notable examples that directly contradict the guideline that Doujin works cannot become Indie works (or any other type of commercial works) - i.e., TYPE-MOON's transformation from doujin to commercial company; to a lesser degree 07th Expansion's Nintendo, Playstation, and (recently) Steam releases... are these particular groups 'frowned upon' for not adhering to the ideal?  Or are they excluded because they were original IPs and thus can also be considered Indie?  If so, then I think the diagram is needlessly complicated/confusing...

Firestorm29

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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #9 on: January 26, 2015, 01:45:35 AM »
Two things I got for this, first one is I think there might be a typo in the first post. I think Doujin can become Indie but Indie can't become doujin, it looks like it's reverse in the write-up.

Second, I don't understand how Nigoro's La-Mulana was an Indie project the whole time as according to the chart Ruw made up. All the MSX and game references plus it being available for free initially like most their other games is rather confusing for me that it was considered an indie project from the get go, where I would have considered it doujin -> Indie myself. I think I could say the same for Cave story. While it might not be too Touhou related, I think it might be an important clarification.

Prime32

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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #10 on: January 26, 2015, 01:55:03 AM »
Helepolis, I think you need to give an actual definition of doujin (and explanation that Touhou itself is one) at the start, before you start explaining how it differs from other stuff. :V Particularly since a lot of people still think it refers only to derivative works.
Maybe worth mentioning some stuff in the West that would be considered doujin - anime fansubs, Artist's Alleys at conventions, some webcomics, etc.
For instance, there are some notable examples that directly contradict the guideline that Doujin works cannot become Indie works (or any other type of commercial works)
Since this chart came up in response to a derivative work, it's possible that Ruw meant you can have a doujin that's a derivative work of someone else's indie project but not the other way around.
« Last Edit: January 26, 2015, 02:04:22 AM by Prime32 »

Moogs Parfait

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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #11 on: January 26, 2015, 03:10:22 AM »
Ruw also stated in one of the reply tweets that it was a simplified view and there there would of course be exceptions

N-Forza

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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #12 on: January 26, 2015, 05:32:36 AM »
I also brought up the case of Type-Moon to him, and he clarified that he was talking specifically about works and not companies.

And "pure" doujin can't become indie because, at least in the example above, he meant stuff like fanworks, be it Touhou, anime, or any IP you don't own.

I'm still not 100% sure of why Cave Story doesn't fall in the middle along with Touhou, but that chart shouldn't be taken as gospel truth or anything.

Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #13 on: January 26, 2015, 06:25:55 PM »
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 don't know about other people, but this sentence had me stumped until I remember the way each installment is named.

So I think this should say something along the lines of "Try to not use the same 'Touhou + 3 other kanji' naming system that the official games use."

Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #14 on: January 26, 2015, 07:01:00 PM »
Quote
It is preferable to not call your work "Touhou XXX".
Great. There goes the name for my adult-oriented Touhou fangame... =(

But seriously, I understand it's "discouraged" but how does this work in the case someone wishes to use "Touhou" in the name of their fangame? Should it be accompanied with a mandatory clear and visible disclaimer that the game isn't an official Touhou game? Seems to me like that would clear things up..... Or is it best to just avoid the use of "Touhou" in the title alltogether, with "preferable" being a subtle way of saying "don't do it, period"?

Tengukami

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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #15 on: January 26, 2015, 07:04:24 PM »
Great. There goes the name for my adult-oriented Touhou fangame... =(

But seriously, I understand it's "discouraged" but how does this work in the case someone wishes to use "Touhou" in the name of their fangame? Should it be accompanied with a mandatory clear and visible disclaimer that the game isn't an official Touhou game? Seems to me like that would clear things up..... Or is it best to just avoid the use of "Touhou" in the title alltogether, with "preferable" being a subtle way of saying "don't do it, period"?

Well, it seems one of the more common ways around this is to incorporate the name of one of the featured Touhou characters in the name of the game, e.g., Super Marisa World, MegaMari, etc.

"Human history and growth are both linked closely to strife. Without conflict, humanity would have no impetus for growth. When humans are satisfied with their present condition, they may as well give up on life."

Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #16 on: January 26, 2015, 07:32:30 PM »
I guess my post was too long....

Or.... Is just everyone ignoring me?

I'll keep it simple this time.



The contact for ZUN is not realistic. How should one reach ZUN?

Everyone claims you need permission to do something. Then how should someone actually get permission?

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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #17 on: January 26, 2015, 08:11:08 PM »
You don't get in contact with ZUN, you get in contact with his people. It helps if you write in polite business Japanese I guess.

For example back in 2013 we received permission to enter Danmaku into a western game design contest.

I don't know what to tell you since it hasn't been an issue for us so I don't know what you're doing differently.
« Last Edit: January 26, 2015, 08:13:35 PM by Moogs Parfait »

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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #18 on: January 26, 2015, 08:29:52 PM »
Or is it best to just avoid the use of "Touhou" in the title alltogether, with "preferable" being a subtle way of saying "don't do it, period"?
Definitely. Zun himself uses the rule with some of the spin offs, meaning the distinction is important. 'Touhou' is probably Zun's personal mark on his games.
I forget, but this applies to any title containing 'touhou' or '東方' and not just 'touhou xxx' or '東方xxx' correct?
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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #19 on: January 26, 2015, 08:34:01 PM »
That's interesting :D Thanks for answering!

Oh, and I know it's really ZUN's people not really ZUN himself but I just said it that way. I'll be more specific next time.

So you guys actually contacted thru the e-mail that's on the guidelines?

How did you guys get in contact? Did you guys use a different e-mail?

I know some people have contacted thru the e-mail posted but they didn't get any reply.


Moogs Parfait

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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #20 on: January 27, 2015, 12:09:39 AM »
Carrot handles the JP stuff and is at mahjongg tonight but I'm 99% sure we used ZUN's email form.  After we were contacted by Oyamada, we sent stuff directly back and forth.

Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #21 on: January 27, 2015, 03:15:13 AM »
While this may not have much to do with specificaly ZUN's guildines, as far as doujin culture is concerned, I do recall Yonjin making this statment about my case:

Quote
They exposed the Touhou Project without ZUN's permission in a forum (Indiegogo) used by people who are unfamiliar with the doujin culture or the Touhou Project. This will invite criticism even when the service used is not crowdfunding.

And later Fumio Oyamada reinforcing that it is for that reason that they don't want to see Touhou in public sites that are not mostly for a Japanese audience.

Tengukami

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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #22 on: January 27, 2015, 03:29:36 AM »
Saijee, I think you're seriously stretching the meaning of what Oyamada was talking about. You can of course talk about and discuss Touhou on public sites. Steam, in this case, is being used for TTS; not for touting a Touhou doujin game.

Also, it would be awesome if this thread could be used for its intended purpose - to ask questions about/receive clarification on ZUN's guidelines - rather than as a platform for needling other users here or turning it into a proxy discussion thread for the thread that was locked with the specific statement that said discussion was over.

"Human history and growth are both linked closely to strife. Without conflict, humanity would have no impetus for growth. When humans are satisfied with their present condition, they may as well give up on life."

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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #23 on: January 27, 2015, 04:48:25 AM »
To answer more directly, no, this is not particularly vague at all. First and foremost, Danmaku!! is at the very basics a free to play printable card game. TTS is on Steam, but Danmaku!! is not related to Steam in any capacity. TTS is a sandbox game and has nothing to do with any user-made content.

If you weren't aware on how importing in TTS works, you literally just have an image of the cards to import.

Please take further discussion about Danmaku!! to its own thread.

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Helepolis

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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #24 on: January 27, 2015, 06:49:16 AM »
This is an immediate and last warning out to Saijee. As Tengukami and Drake pointed, you're bringing up your own case again indirectly here and we're done with your case.

We're not here to discuss specific games or stir any further drama concerning the guidelines.

Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #25 on: January 27, 2015, 07:05:38 AM »
Hey~ Nice to see you Helepolis!

I didn't think what Saijee was asking was unrelated to the thread.

We are talking about guidelines and how some games can be on a quirky border of going over the guidelines.

Steam is absolutely not permitted so it's a totally relatable subject and valid reason to be curious of it. Is it not?

It's not just about Saijee's game. It's about every doujin game.

You guys are the experts and say this is okay.

This game seems to be able to utilize a function of Steams network without infringing on guidelines.

I don't know about Steam much so... Is there actually a way to play with other people online without going on steam?

This is the most important question. If the answer is yes than it is definitely within the guidelines and if not I think it's worth questioning.

I think its important for future western doujin game designers to be aware of their options regarding steam as this game has.



Tengukami

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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #26 on: January 27, 2015, 08:59:11 AM »
Both Moogs and Drake have effectively answered this question re: Moogs. Steam is used strictly as a platform for TTS. TTS, in turn, is just empty cards. This is vastly different fron using Steam as a platform to sell a Touhou doujin game, should be obvious on its face and was already covered in the OP.

"Human history and growth are both linked closely to strife. Without conflict, humanity would have no impetus for growth. When humans are satisfied with their present condition, they may as well give up on life."

Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #27 on: January 27, 2015, 10:21:10 AM »
I also brought up the case of Type-Moon to him, and he clarified that he was talking specifically about works and not companies.

And "pure" doujin can't become indie because, at least in the example above, he meant stuff like fanworks, be it Touhou, anime, or any IP you don't own.

I'm still not 100% sure of why Cave Story doesn't fall in the middle along with Touhou, but that chart shouldn't be taken as gospel truth or anything.

Like I said - I understand the meaning behind the diagram, but I don't like it because it's confusing and leaves certain things unsaid or misunderstood.  The bottom line should be that if you're producing derivative work, you're playing with someone else's toys - in the case of Touhou, ZUN is kind enough to even give us a sandbox (the guidelines) where we're free to do as we please so long as we don't leave those guidelines.  The Doujin vs. Indie discussion is one that is somewhat interesting, but ultimately irrelevant when you're playing with someone else's IP.

With regard to the current discussion, it's clear that ZUN restricts the use of particular platforms as distribution/publishing methods, as they are currently markets that reach beyond doujin channels.  "Using Steam" in this case means you can't put your game up for download via Steam, not that you can't employ Steam's other functionality as a piece of software.  Do you think it's outside of guidelines if you import your Touhou games into your Steam library so that you can access them easier?  No, of course not.  Furthermore, in this specific case, you're downloading Tabletop Simulator, a 3rd-party piece of software, via Steam, and using it to play a Touhou fangame that can only be found via Touhou fan-sites.  If you think this is in violation, you might as well argue that your ISP is the one violating the guidelines whenever you engage in netplay in TH12.3 or 13.5, because you're using a 3rd-party system with reach beyond the original games.

Lastly, I'd still like a discussion on how Western music circles should offer their albums.

Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #28 on: January 27, 2015, 10:52:55 AM »
No, you cannot sell your work digitally anywhere, not even in Japan. (?)
Does making commissioned artwork based on Touhou fall under this? Say someone tells me they want X Touhou character drawn so I do that on a computer and send them the illustration digitally in exchange for money. Should this be avoided?

Also, here are two existing examples that contrast with the point of not selling digitally(correct me if I'm wrong):
Rin Ginsuke
Imizu

Drake

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Re: ※How to make Touhou derived work - Doujin & ZUN's Touhou guidelines
« Reply #29 on: January 27, 2015, 12:48:16 PM »
Does making commissioned artwork based on Touhou fall under this? Say someone tells me they want X Touhou character drawn so I do that on a computer and send them the illustration digitally in exchange for money. Should this be avoided?
Commissions are done between people, and unless you're going to take your commission and sell it somewhere else there is no problem with you throwing money at someone to make a thing just for you, nor accepting such an offer. It isn't really about whether it's digital or otherwise, it just isn't a commercial endeavour to begin with.

Also, here are two existing examples that contrast with the point of not selling digitally(correct me if I'm wrong):
Rin Ginsuke
Imizu
Good note. Bandcamp if anything is the main grey area, since there isn't really a precedent for its model. I don't think it's too problematic, but best practices would mean making it clear that it's a Touhou music arrange and composed by ZUN like any other doujin album would. Having it free to play probably helps.

About Melonbooks DL: In the original guidelines, distribution through doujin shops was already given exception, so the only part that should be in question is that it's for "download". We probably shouldn't be saying "no digital sales in any circumstance". Being downloadable in and of itself isn't really a problem; the reason that can potentially be an issue is because of the rules regarding distribution channels and exposure, which isn't an issue considering Melonbooks is a doujin shop. If a "Touhou-approved" large-scale download site could be anywhere out of the whole Internet, it would be at a doujin shop's site.
« Last Edit: January 27, 2015, 12:56:43 PM by Drake »

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