Tag: Podcasts

Even though it’s been a long time since I went to an anime convention, I remember how exciting and how much fun they are to attend. I also remember how much drama can surround an anime convention, especially when it comes to cosplayers and the people who like to take pictures of them. The topic of today’s podcast surrounds the dealer’s room at the recently concluded AnimeNEXT convention in Somerset, New Jersey, and one dealer in particular who decided that the next innovation in images on body pillows should be actual human cosplayers. Read along with us using the links below, and then listen to the podcast to untangle the legal issues involved.

• Here’s the article which prompted it all, written by Linwood Knight. As a side note, one thing that I think Knight should have disclosed in this article is that he, too, used to be a staff member at AnimeNEXT. I also believe it was irresponsible of OH! Entertainment to use the AnimeNEXT logo to illustrate its article.
• Later, Knight was able to get some commentary on the issue from the dealer in question, Eric Pearce from 2 Image Solutions. Don’t click that link, though, because the website has been disabled, either by Pearce himself or by the webhost.
• One of the affected cosplayers, this is Marie Grey’s account of her interactions with Pearce and how the situation was handled.
• Finally, Pearce’s decision to pull the product from general sale can be found on his DeviantArt site.
• And just for completeness, you can contact our legal commentator James Renken through his website.

In short, this kind of incident could have been easily avoided by all 93 of the cosplayers if they’d just read the agreement carefully, questioned its provisions, and/or refused to sign. That’s why the “Contractual Obligations” episode of “Strip Search” has been the most important one, and the one that all creative fans need to watch.

Here’s hoping everyone involved has learned a valuable lesson.