FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention Bans AI-Generated Art to Protect Human Artists

Key Takeaways

Utah's largest pop culture convention has joined a growing movement of events banning artificial intelligence-generated artwork from their vendor floors.

FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention announced in early September 2025 that it would prohibit AI-generated art and merchandise at its upcoming event, which runs September 25-27 at the Salt Palace Convention Center.

The decision came after Dragon Con in Atlanta made headlines for ejecting a vendor who was selling AI-generated artwork while misrepresenting it as original art.

FanX founder and producer Dan Farr said that while AI art has not yet posed a problem at the Salt Lake convention, concerns about misrepresentation at other events led to the ban.

"If customers come and buy a piece of art and they don't realize generative AI was used to create that, they may pay a lot of money for it, not realizing it's something not quite as valuable," Farr said.

Artists applaud convention's decision

Utah artist Tony Poulson has been a fixture at FanX since the event began 12 years ago. Known for his "Hand Over the Hero" series of fan art stickers and prints, Poulson said he supports the decision to keep AI creations out.

He said some sellers at other conventions have misled buyers by presenting computer-generated images as handmade originals.

"They are selling it like, 'I physically made this piece,' and it's like, yeah, you printed it," Poulson said. "Everything we do as far as creating art, every brush stroke, every color choice, has purpose."

The announcement has largely been met with praise from both vendors and attendees who have spoken out on social media.

Painted Dragon Studios, run by artists Aaron and Shannon Long, applauded the move in a Facebook post and shared the negative effects AI-generated art has had on their own business.

Dragon Con incident Sparks industry-wide response

Dragon Con organisers in Atlanta removed vendor Oriana Gertz on September 1 2025 after determining that she had been selling AI-generated artwork in violation of the convention's policies.

According to the organisers, Gertz had misrepresented her work as original. After concerns were raised, staff investigated and found that the pieces in question were AI-generated. She was subsequently asked to leave the venue and was escorted out by both convention staff and police officers.

In a statement provided to the Deseret News, Dragon Con organizers stated that all its vendors and artists, including the artist who was asked to leave the convention, had signed contracts agreeing not to sell AI-generated art.

"In the case involving O.G. Art, after her use of AI was brought to the convention's attention, we asked the artist to provide videos and other materials demonstrating her process," the statement reads. "These materials clearly showed that she had used AI to create the works offered for sale at Dragon Con."

Following the Dragon Con incident, GalaxyCon LLC announced a sweeping ban on AI-generated art across all its shows, effective immediately.

"The way artificial intelligence is currently being trained presents many ethical and moral issues that simply can no longer be ignored in our industry," said Mike Broder, Founder and President of GalaxyCon.

Legal grounds remains unclear

Brandon Amacher, a professor at Utah Valley University who heads the school's emerging tech policy lab, said the law hasn't caught up with AI technology. "That's something policymakers are grappling with right now," Amacher said.

Amacher said just like lawmakers have not set clear rules about social media, which is now over 20 years old, there will be a lag in setting laws for AI.

Artists have long used the internet to share and promote their work, not realizing that those same images could be used to train AI models capable of mimicking their style. Amacher said that raises difficult questions about intellectual property.

"Is it directly stealing that person's art? No. But if your art has been sucked in, and the model has been trained on it, it can get pretty good at emulating your style. It raises the question: At what line is that infringing on intellectual property?" he said.

Enforcement challenges and future considerations

Farr said the convention staff accepted applications only from vendors who agreed to sell original work. While there's no way to fully enforce that policy, he plans to rely on feedback from artists who attend the event.

After this year's convention, Farr said he will consider potential rules for future events.

One option could be a vendor section specifically for AI-generated art from ethical vendors, clearly labeled so customers know what they are buying. "We will learn year to year on this," he said.

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