There are some rules at our convention to which all visitors, but especially cosplayers, have to stick to.
Cosplay/weapon rules
Hardly any cosplay goes without weapons or accessories, but the German law on arms sets some regulations that have to be complied with. Also the sum of liability is legally specified: 10.000€ in case of injury, 100.000€ in case of death and 500.000€ in case of invalidity. Therefore, we have to perform a weapon check even at a small convention like the YaYuCo.
Please note that we haven’t set these rules to annoy cosplayers, and that they aren’t much different from those at other conventions, for they are deriving directly from the German law.
In general, bringing and carrying of the following items is not allowed:
- Items defined as weapons according to the German law and not allowed in public, regardless of holding a gun license.
- Swords, knives, cutting tools with sharpened blade
- Gas or flare guns, revolvers
- Lances, spears, halberds with metal blade or solid PVC-blade
- Paint mark pistols (“gotcha pistols”)
- Functioning replicas or models of long arms, rifles, guns, short arms
- Replicas or models of semi-automatic and automatic weapons
- Nunchakus, shuriken, tonfas or telescope sticks
- Bows, crossbows, blowguns/blow pipes and their arrows
- Explosive and highly flammable agents
- Baseball rackets
To guarantee safety to all guests and prevent injuries, there are also restrictions for bringing and carrying the following items:
- Weapon models with a size of more than 150 cm must be handed in at the entrance.
- Weapon models made of metal, Plexiglas, wood or solid PVC with a size of more than 120 cm must be handed in at the entrance.
- All visitors carry their weapon models at their own risk and are liable for all resulting damages and injuries.
- Visitors with protruding parts (e.g. wings, collars, …) or potentially dangerous parts (chains, applications made of wood or metal, applications with sharp edges) need to be careful not to hurt other guests. If there should be damages or injuries due to a lack of care or caution, the visitor will be made responsible.
- Cosplayers must take care to design their costumes and its protruding parts in a way that they can still pass through doors and entrances. Otherwise the responsible YaYuCo staff can decide to deny access due to “oversize” of the costume.
Harmless weapon models complying with the rules will be marked at the entrance. (*) In case that handing in the weapon is necessary, the owner will receive a receipt for his weapon to get it back when leaving the hall. Weapon models that have been handed in can be collected until 10 pm or the following day. Forgotten weapons or other items will be photographed and published at the website after the convention. They will be sent back to the owner with costs within 2 weeks or will be disposed of.
Participants of the cosplay competitions carrying weapon models classified as dangerous must hand these in at the entrance and will receive them back for their performance – but only if they have announced the use of their weapon beforehand! After the competition, the weapon has to be handed in again.
In case of violation of these costume and weapon rules, the affected items will be confiscated. The instructions of the YaYuCo staff have to be followed.
(*) Marking by a color band – no glue etc. The marking can be applied in a way that is not visible on pictures, but must remain attached to the item and can be checked together with its receipt at any time. This is necessary to prevent exchange of the marking with another item.