Last updated: April 20, 2026
MeMakie is a platform for user-generated characters. We don't pre-approve what you create, but we do set rules — because real people, trademarked brands, and copyrighted fictional characters have legal protections that bite if you ignore them. This page explains what you can and can't create, and why. For the enforceable version, see Terms of Service §3 and §4.
The short version: Real people may never be shared to the community — period. Public-domain historical figures and archetypes are always fine. For private creations involving real people or copyrighted characters, you are solely responsible; we don't pre-screen your private collection, but you own every legal consequence of what you make.
| Category | Private use (just you) | Share to community |
|---|---|---|
| Public-domain historical figures (Lincoln, Cleopatra, Shakespeare, Augustine) | Allowed | Allowed |
| Public-domain fictional characters (Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Alice, Sleeping Beauty) | Allowed | Allowed |
| Archetypes inspired by real/copyrighted figures ("a cardigan-wearing PBS mentor," "a brooding boy wizard") | Allowed | Allowed |
| Your own original characters (OCs) | Allowed | Allowed |
| Yourself | Allowed | Allowed |
| Living public figures (celebrities, politicians, influencers) | Your risk, your liability | Prohibited — zero tolerance |
| Private individuals (friends, coworkers, classmates, exes, neighbors, family) | Your risk, your liability — and bad idea | Prohibited — zero tolerance |
| Recently-deceased public figures with active publicity rights | Your risk, your liability | Prohibited |
| Copyrighted fictional characters (Harry Potter, Marvel/DC heroes, Disney characters, modern anime) | Your risk, your liability | Prohibited |
| Trademarked brand mascots (Mickey Mouse, Ronald McDonald, Geico Gecko) | Your risk, your liability | Prohibited |
"Your risk, your liability" means: MeMakie's AI platform technically won't stop you from creating the character in your private collection, but by doing so you warrant that you take sole responsibility for any legal claim — publicity rights, defamation, copyright, trademark, harassment — that arises from its existence. We cooperate fully with takedown notices, subpoenas, and law enforcement. We strongly recommend you don't.
You can create characters based on deceased historical figures whose right of publicity has expired. In practice: anyone who died before ~1950 is safely out of all active US publicity windows. Examples: Abraham Lincoln, Cleopatra, Shakespeare, Napoleon, Emily Dickinson, Frederick Douglass, Julius Caesar, Joan of Arc, Augustine of Hippo, Mark Twain.
Do not share to the community any character designed to depict an identifiable living public figure — actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, CEOs, YouTubers, streamers, authors, artists, comedians, or any other named living person. Publicity rights, defamation law, and platform reputation all apply. This holds even if the character is "flattering" or "in jest." Examples: Taylor Swift, Elon Musk, any sitting President, any NBA/NFL player, any MrBeast-style creator, any named podcast host. Shared submissions that match living public figures are removed on detection; repeat offenders are banned.
If you create such a character in your private collection, you alone bear the legal risk. We don't think you should — it's a lawsuit waiting to happen — but we also don't pre-screen your private library.
Under no circumstances may you share a character based on a real person you know — coworker, classmate, neighbor, ex-partner, family member, teacher, someone you saw at a bar. This is the harassment / stalking / "revenge roleplay" vector, and it's the fastest way to get banned from MeMakie and served with a harassment complaint. Even if you change the name slightly, if the character is recognizable as a specific real person, it's not allowed in the community.
In private: strongly discouraged. If you create a private character of someone you know and they find out, you're the defendant, not us. If they get hurt by something you do with that character — stalking behavior, revenge fantasies you act on, content you leak to them — that's a criminal matter in many jurisdictions and we will cooperate with investigators. Just don't.
If you want the vibe of a real person you know, describe the vibe without the identity: "a sarcastic 30-something software engineer who's into climbing" is fine; "Steve from work" is not.
Right of publicity survives death for 20–100 years depending on state. Without getting technical: anyone famous who died in the last 30 years is probably still protected by an active estate. Don't share Fred Rogers, Robin Williams, Prince, Stephen Hawking, Steve Jobs, David Bowie, Tom Petty, Carrie Fisher, Bob Ross, Anthony Bourdain, or similar. When in doubt, check whether they have an active estate that licenses their name — if yes, they're out of the community. Private creation is your risk, same rules as living figures.
Characters from works where copyright has expired are free to use. In the US, this means works published before ~1929 (the date moves forward each January). Examples: Sherlock Holmes (most stories), Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, Alice from Wonderland, Dorothy from Oz, Huckleberry Finn, Mowgli, Long John Silver, Captain Nemo, Peter Pan (varies by country), Sleeping Beauty, the Brothers Grimm characters, most Greek/Norse/folkloric figures.
Characters that are still under active copyright — Harry Potter, Marvel/DC superheroes, Disney characters, Star Wars characters, modern anime, video game characters, characters from any post-1929 novel or TV show — are technically infringing if you create them, even for private use. Rights holders rarely go after individual fan creators, and fan fiction is a long-standing cultural practice, but legally it's in a gray zone. We allow these characters in your private collection because enforcement would be impossible and heavy-handed, but you cannot share them to the community and you accept any legal risk yourself.
You may not share a copyrighted fictional character to the MeMakie community feed. Those characters get removed. Rights-holder takedown notices for shared characters will be honored promptly (see DMCA process). If you want to submit a Hogwarts-style wizard to the community, describe the archetype without the branded identifiers: "a gifted young wizard at a boarding school in Scotland" works; "Harry Potter" doesn't.
You may not create characters that impersonate trademarked mascots, brand ambassadors, or corporate icons — Mickey Mouse, Ronald McDonald, the Geico Gecko, Tony the Tiger, etc. Same rule for community: if you want the archetype, describe it without the registered mark.
A huge amount of creative work lives in the space of "the type of character" rather than "the specific character." That space is yours. Some substitutions:
Archetypes carry none of the IP risk and give the AI more room to be its own thing.
US law protects some parody and commentary under the First Amendment and fair use. But "I'm parodying them" is not a blanket defense — courts look at transformation, market impact, and whether your use substitutes for the original. MeMakie does not determine whether a given use qualifies as fair use; we apply our own platform policy, which is more conservative than the law. If you believe your use is protected speech and we've removed it, contact [email protected] with your reasoning and we'll review.
You may create a character of yourself. You may create original characters of your own invention. You own your original characters and can share them under the community licensing terms.
We use a combination of AI review, keyword detection, and human moderation. Characters that violate this policy will be removed. Accounts that repeatedly violate will be suspended or banned. Rights holders can report infringement via the DMCA process. We'll generally resolve good-faith takedown requests within a few business days.
This is a platform policy, not legal advice. Your specific situation may have wrinkles we haven't covered. Email [email protected] if you have a question about whether a character is allowed — we'd rather answer upfront than remove something later.