Quick answer
A sticker is an image, so normal copyright applies to it. Sending a sticker privately between friends is low-risk personal use; publishing a pack built from someone else's artwork, characters or photographs is not, because distribution is what copyright actually restricts. Using stickers to promote a business raises the bar again.
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Sending is not the same as publishing
Two very different activities get called "using a sticker". Sending one to a friend is private communication. Uploading a pack for anyone to download is distribution — and distribution is the thing copyright law is mostly about. Almost every real problem involves the second, not the first.
This is general background, not legal advice. If a real dispute or a commercial launch is involved, ask a lawyer in your jurisdiction.
Where the risk actually sits
| What you are doing | Typical exposure |
|---|---|
| Sending a sticker in a private chat | Low — personal, non-commercial communication |
| Making a pack from your own art or photos | Low — you hold the rights |
| Publishing a pack of a studio's characters | High — copyright and trademark both apply |
| Publishing a pack of film or TV stills | High — stills are protected frames |
| Using a celebrity's face in a published pack | High — copyright plus personality rights |
| Any of the above to promote a business | Highest — commercial use removes most informal tolerance |
Fan art is still someone's art
Drawing a character yourself creates a new image, but the character remains protected. Rights holders vary enormously in how they treat fan work: some ignore it, some tolerate it while it stays non-commercial, some issue takedowns on sight. Tolerance is not permission, and it can be withdrawn.
What to check before publishing a pack
- Did you make every image in the pack, or do you have written permission?
- If the art is licensed, does the licence permit redistribution as part of an app?
- Does it require attribution — and have you included it?
- Does it exclude commercial use, and is your use commercial?
- Are recognisable people in the images, and did they agree to this?
"Free to use" on a stock site regularly means free to use in your own project, not free to repackage and redistribute. Read the actual licence rather than the badge.
How Sticko handles this
Packs on Sticko are uploaded by publishers and reviewed before they go live, and the review includes whether the artwork appears to be original or properly licensed. Review is not a rights clearance, so if you own a work and find it in a pack, the takedown route is the DMCA policy and it is acted on.
- Packs are published under the licence the publisher states.
- Reported packs are re-reviewed and removed when the report holds up.
- Deleted packs leave the site's listings within a short cache window rather than lingering.
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WhatsApp only accepts sticker packs from an installed app, so the last step always happens outside the browser. Sticko is free on Android and iPhone, and adds any pack to WhatsApp in a couple of taps.
