An Amendment to the FC Rules

§ Profile Picture Backstory and Profiles

Images are not allowed to be nude photos or half-naked upper bodies. Furthermore, refrain from using actors from ‘Harry Potter’ or ‘Fantastic Beasts’ as face claims. You are not allowed to use triggering profile images that display alcohol, drugs, or real criminals such as serial killers. It is highly recommended not to use a picture of yourself, as we are open to the public and want to make sure your privacy is ensured.

I am asking for an amendment on Site Rules / Profile and Backstory / Rule 6 / Profile Picture, specifically on the part that claims we cannot use actors. 

I am not sure if this rule was made in place by Warner Brothers or not with the whole cease and desist (no pettifogger, no house names, no nothing), but they do not own the right to completely block actors from being used. 

“Under U.S. law (governed mostly at the state level, such as in California and New York), individual actors retain a "right of publicity" over their own name, face, voice, and likeness. A studio cannot take an actor's face and put it on an unrelated commercial product or advertisement without explicit consent and compensation.”

This also means that they cannot control who uses the actor themselves, but can control the actor’s likenesses in their film with their performance, portrayal, promotional photos, etc.

On other sites, there are rules that allow the actor in a movie in the fandom to be used, just not in the role of the character they played in that specific fandom.

“You may also not use a faceclaim from the movie or show, you may have the same actor but it can not be from their time during the show. This means you could have Walker Scobell as your faceclaim and use images/gifs from The Adam Project but you couldn't have him as your faceclaim and use images from the Percy Jackson and Olympians show.” - WoO EU

I will say my personal grievances with this rule come from losing two characters.

One of which was Joe Average’s FC David Tennant, and the other was Emil Medellsson’s Mads Mikkelsen FC, which was forced to be removed shortly after the third Fantastic Beasts movie came out, despite having it as his FC for over 6 IRL years.

With the new Harry Potter HBO show coming out, there are already concerns about people who will lose their FCs due to something they can’t control, and this will continue to happen as long as Warner Bros/HBO continues to churn out Wizarding World content. 

I politely ask that you make a change to the rules where the characters can be the same actors but not the same roles that they were in Harry Potter, as it would be much appreciated amongst the user base who will not have to worry about losing their FCs that they have grown to associate with their characters.

Benefits

• More Face Claims to choose from

• No worry about losing their face claim

• Increased gratitude towards the site

• More freedom of choice

• Some people get their FCs back

Downsides

• Some people might not understand and need redirection

• (^^^ This already happens regardless of FC amendment ^^^)

For me, a Face Claim is more than just an image of a character. When you give an FC to a character, it gives a feel to them that you come to associate with the character itself. It’s not just an image to look at, but often an identity and an aesthetic.

• On Joe I have gotten remarks that - “It just doesn’t feel like Joe anymore” on my switch to Lee Pace

• On Emil I had to completely redo his character because his personality doesn’t match the new Actor… which made me sad tbh.

I can assure you that if this rule is in place, it will be greatly appreciated amongst the staff and students, and it will be a positive amendment with no criticism. 

As the joke goes: It feels like it’s the same 5 British actors in everything. (and unfortunately, all of them are taken by Warner Bros.)

I hope this reaches you Mugwumps, and I hope you understand the desire for us to be able to keep our FCs and select them without worrying that they will be taken by a new Harry Potter Spinoff show.