Proxies

[Taysby]

I need a final answer on this.  Is it legal to sell proxies?  I'm not talking about whitedrake's alters, where he takes a card and makes it cooler.  I'm talking about taking Wizard's image and putting it on a black card.

Here's different evidence for each side.

It is legal
The artist's name is on there, with the copyright symbol, so you are giving credit to them

Illegal
Wizards has copyrighted it which makes all unauthorized use illegal


So which is it?

[Rass]

I believe it is illegal. But I have seen some people sell basic lands for ridiculous amounts with a bonus proxy card tossed in for free.

[#noided]

Absolutely illegal.

Think of it like selling burnt DVDs. Just because you put a copyright label on it doesn't make it legal. It's not an authorized copy, plain and simple.

[Apathy Reactor]

but is it illegal to mgive them away for free and charge shipping and handling fees?

[Butch1977]

I believe it is illegal. But I have seen some people sell basic lands for ridiculous amounts with a bonus proxy card tossed in for free.

I would go this route. ^^

[Moocow4u2]

Plus I'm sure proxies were thought up to avoid costs of expensive cards xD why would they pay for a card they don't wanna pay for lol

[Butch1977]

Plus I'm sure proxies were thought up to avoid costs of expensive cards xD why would they pay for a card they don't wanna pay for lol

Power 9! Hahah.

[Piotr]

You may not print a copy of copyrighted material unless it is Fair Use*.

* check Wikipedia what that legal term means.

[MuggyWuggy]

I mean you can sell em probably personally, but not officially ala eBay etc.

I had a friend make me foil dual lands for my EDH deck. They look amazing and I paid him around $50 for all the foils as they   Aren't easy to make them. Ill have to take pics of them eventually but it really helps not having to buy the revised dual set for my one EDH deck

[Mikefrompluto]

Now the big question is does wizards care enough to do something about it?

Take a roll of the dice and tell us what happens.

If your venture is extremely lucrative, they'll send you a C&D first, in which case just stop doing it. I would think if you only sold a handful then you wouldn't even pop up on their radar.

[Mikefrompluto]

Just found this article from two years ago stating that Wizards is initiating legal action against individuals who specialize in counterfeit cards. Use your best judgement when deciding on whether to sell proxies or not.

http://www.gatheringmagic.com/new-counterfeit-and-proxy-policy/

[Piotr]

US copyright laws forbid people to even make a photo of copyrighted material, unless for Fair Use.
WotC specifically requests that you do not make proxies using their copyrighted material: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Resources.aspx?x=magic/rules/cardpolicy