Not to be condescending or downright rude, but that statement is absolutely ludicrous. By your way of thinking, soemone could take Bugs Bunny and make him green and call him their own. You could take the Mona Lisa, make her hair blonde (eeww) and say it is the Mara Lisa, your latest work of art. We’re not talking about copying music lyrics into a rap song and calling it “mixing”. We are talking about using copywritten concepts and material without the explicit permission of the company who owns and maintains those copywrights.

By asking Mania to listen to your “opinion”, you are setting her up for a fall. Mania, be smart about it. Take every precaution possible.

Not to mention, they encourage people to do similar things, I.E., movie, cartoon, yadda yadda…..

Most industries such as this encourage “fan” material, but these same industries tend to take offence when people try to cash in on something they own. In layman terms, it’s all good til you try to turn a buck on their sh*t.

Oh, and they have had calendars in the past:

http://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-2007-Wall-Calendar/dp/0789314878 (2007)

Oh…. and less than a week later what does Blizz come out with? Ya, wonder where they got those ideas….. Now, there might be a problem as you are directly competing with their own sales of “like” material. Way to cover yer butt Blizz. Their PR department should get axed for this.

They can definitely sue for using actual screenshots, in-game material or any snippit, paragraph, page or pages of text written by Blizzard if it has not been authorized by Blizzard’s Legal Department. In most cases, you are charged a fee based on the content you wish to use, and in some cases, the context in which it will be utilized.

As far as fan-art is concerned, they will most likely only sue if the fan art clearly depicts anything that can be considered definitive Blizzard-born content. For instance, they probably will not sue for someone drawing a Night Elf, but they could sue for drawing the decorative tribal markings synonymous with Female Night Elves. In addition, they probably wouldn’t sue over using the term “Dwarf” simply because it is a common word, but they could (and would) sue for the use of the words “Draenei” or “Tauren”. Also keep in mind that they are not in the habit of suing fans who simply create fan art. They usually go after those cashing in on the use of Blizzard-native content without their explicit permission.

The best thing I can suggest to you Mania, is that you contact their Legal Department as an anonymous entity and simply inquire about what they would require for someone to sell World of Warcraft-based Fan Art in the form of t-shirts, mugs, calendars, etc. It’s best to be safe than sorry. Here is their address:

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
ATTN: Legal Department
P.O. Box 18979
Irvine, CA. 92623

You could also call the number below and ask for the Legal Dept.

(949) 955-1382

On the flip side, most large corporations first take action on accounts such as this by serving a legal Cease and Desist order. If that stops a person’s production, then they are usually satisfied. – So, you could simply ride it out until that fateful day when you receive a CaD order from Blizzard Legal.

My last suggestion is that you take a look at one of the books/manuals that contain World of Warcraft material, but are produced by a company other than Blizzard. Usually, in the front or back of a book, you will find a legal disclaimer. You could use that as a template and add it to your material so that you are at least acknowledging that it is in fact, Blizzard-based content.

I’ve seen CMs refer to Petopia on more than one occasion, so my guess would be they’ll find out about it sooner rather than later.

Fan art is good art, but unless it’s original – or significantly diverse from the source so as not to be distinctly recognisable – it’s not something you’re allowed to make a profit from.

Can I make and sell my own products (T-shirts, card games, models/figures, etc.) based on a Blizzard universe?
No. Blizzard Entertainment® does not enter into licensing agreements with individuals. To ensure the quality of all Blizzard products, all of our merchandise is created under a licensing agreement and all prospective licensees are thoroughly reviewed by Blizzard Entertainment before a license is granted. If you are a company that is interested in creating licensed merchandise and your company is looking to pursue a corporate licensing relationship with Blizzard Entertainment, please contact Merchandiselicensing@Blizzard.com.

Note: I have relied on Petopia for a long time, even when not looking for new pets it is fun to surf. =)