When Is It Okay to Make a Fursuit Based on a Film Character?

Papabear,

​Hi! I'm a furry, and I really really love dinosaurs. Especially Blue the raptor. You see, I want to make her into a fursuit. It would have her same pattern as she has in the movie, of course. She would look just like she was out of the movie. This will be for my enjoyment. I would wear it at furry conventions and out in public etc. But I won't be making money off of the suit. 

I would like to know if it's okay for me to make a fursuit out of Blue. I have other OCs that I've designed and I plan on getting them made into fursuits as well. I've tried to design a raptor, but I don't really like any that I make (also can't find a good F2U [free-to-use] raptor base--I'm broke lol), so is it okay for me to make a fursuit out of her?

Blue the Raptor (age 17)

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Dear Blue,

Copyright is an interesting field. I've recently been working on obtaining copyright on some books and have learned a few things on the topic. A big part of copyright is that the thing you are copyrighting must be unique and original. A velociraptor like Blue in the Jurassic Park movies is not an original creation any more than trying to copyright, say, a horse. A name must also be unique. For example, I am currently registering Uncle Bear Publishing as a trademarked name. While the word "publishing" can't be trademarked, "Uncle Bear Publishing" is, indeed, unique and can be. When it comes to "Blue," that is certainly not a unique word in and of itself and is not copyrightable (rather like Trump trying to copyright "you're fired"). The only thing even vaguely unique about Blue is the blue stripe she has down her side. This is not enough to qualify as "original."

So, on those grounds, I would say you are fine. You are also fine because you are not using Blue the Velociraptor to make money, so your dressing up as Blue is not going to cost the movie studio any money. Indeed, by increasing awareness of Blue it could actually be seen as promoting the movies and helping Universal make some sales. 

A good touchstone on this topic is Disney. As you might know, Disney jealously guards its copyrighted characters. Even so, I have seen people in Minnie Mouse and Brer Fox fursuits at cons. It is highly unlikely that you will be "caught" in a Blue the Velociraptor outfit. And even if you were, the worst that would likely happen is you would get a "cease and desist" letter from Universal's lawyers, which means you wouldn't get a lawsuit if you stopped wearing the fursuit (scaley suit) in public.

Here's some more about Disney and copyright FYI: https://themouselets.com/whats-the-deal-with-using-disney-intellectual-property.

I hope this information is useful. In short, I think you're fine.

Have fun!

Papabear