Hi! People have asked about making fanart, translations, and all kinds of fan-stuff for TWI. It’s a tricky legal area, but I’m taking a page and most of Brandon Sanderson’s fan-rights legal policy so it’s clear and laid out. Legal stuff is tricky.
Fanworks Policy (Modified based on Brandon Sanderson’s policy):
– No fan-films.
-You may not use any of my trademarks in your marketing material (e.g., the names of any of my books or book series).
-You may not use the covers of my books to advertise your derivative works.
-You may use the names of characters or descriptions of scenes, so long as you credit me with the characters and ideas that belong to me.
-You may not use any copyrighted materials, including interior art and text, from my books or website.
There are two exceptions to the above rule:
-One is when a character has one of these as part of their design.
-And second, when they are used for non-commercial or promotional purposes for fan websites, fan conventions, and scholarly, web-based endeavors like podcasts. However, you may not sell any merchandise of any logo that incorporates my intellectual property.
-You may not license (or otherwise permit the use of) any fan art created by you to third parties.
-You may not claim that something is official, or that you have permission to sell something related to my works.
-You may not use crowd funding to finance works based on my intellectual property.
The following applies to fan art.
-You may take one-off commissions in any form at the request of a buyer. However, if they are not prints or stickers, you may not sell them on the open market.
-You may sell prints and stickers of your fan art and other transformative works on your website, or sites such as Artstation and DeviantArt.
-You may sell prints and stickers of your fan art and other transformative works at your regional convention.
-You may not sell any merchandise other than prints or stickers. This includes but is not limited to, t-shirts and other clothing, mugs, plushies, pins, jewelry, figures, phone accessories, and replicas. These rights are reserved for my licensed partners.
-You may not use words verbatim from the text of a book by itself or as a part of any art or graphic design which you intend to sell in any form.
The following applies to fan fiction.
-You may write fan fiction as long as you credit me and the original work you’re basing it on.
-You may not copy large portions of my work for use in your fan fiction.
-You may not sell fan fiction in any way or form.
If you’re inspired to create songs or music using our art or text, you can share it online without payment, but I can’t authorize it for sale, or condone backdoor ways of “sharing” that are selling by another name.
If you have any questions as to whether my policy allows you to do something, please err on the side of caution and assume that it is not allowed.