Okay, so obviously Sega doesn't use fan characters, and frowns on their usage in the comics. We have also heard from Ian Flynn that characters appearing in the IDW comics are owned by Sega, circumnavigating some of the issues Sega had with the Archie book.

So back to my original question: what happens when a writer/illustrator inserts their fan characters into the comic? Even if it's a nameless cameo? I ask because the issue introducing Rough and Tumble included a couple of fan characters from one of the artists. Could Sega hypothetically use those characters now, if they wanted to? Or does that not work if they appeared on Deviantart first?

I'm obviously not counting on a definitive answer, but I figured I'd see what you all think.