Legal question regarding avatars / avatar art [answered!]

[[Vi]x2 Section]

First off, I wasn't sure where to post this so I hope Q&A is the right place. >_> if it's not let me know.

Anyway, I do avatar art commissions. Lots of them- in fact the biggest portion of my artwork of late has been avatar art. And I know that the admins don't mind the selling of avatar art for gold, and I don't think they mind the selling of it for real money (although i've heard about complications over this transaction being made t hrough gaia, i dunno.)... but I'm not sure where this stands, officially. I'm trying to build my portfolio, and I guess I'm wondering - who do the avatar/item designs belong to? I know the actual pixel dolls belong to the gaia staff and gaia, but what about art made of them..? is that free for at least promotional use, if not for commercial use? (and what exactly does use in one's portfolio count as, anyway? is that promotional use? it's all legal mumbo-jumbo to me D: )

any clarification on this subject would be a huge help <_>; I don't want to put them in my portfolio and then get in trouble D:~

[TheMiniBrain]

It is considered fanart and it's allowed to be sold. I made hats and plushies and I added them to my portfolio. As long as you credit Gaia it should be ok.

Money sales through Gaia aren't allowed. They must be done offsite. You cannot solicite sales on Gaia, but you can have it in an out of the way corner of your sig. (Mine's in my WWW) You cannot create a thread specifically for promoting sales. Although I can show off what I made.

There are a few rules you must follow in order to sell fanart.
1. The item cannot be mass produced. No sending it off to a big publisher to make thousands from. You are limited in numbers to what you yourself can make.

2. You must credit Gaiaonline.com for the design. It can be very simply, "Hammi from Gaiaonline.com."

Those are the main points.

So... yeah... You can set up an booth in an artist alley at a con and charge money to draw someone's avatar for them. That's allowed under Gaia's current view of fanmade.

Of course views can change, but this is the current stance.

[[Vi]x2 Section]

phew, okay biggrin thank you for the concise and helpful response biggrin all clear now. heart

[TheMiniBrain]

[Vi]x2 Section

phew, okay biggrin thank you for the concise and helpful response biggrin all clear now. heart

Heh... People kept asking me because they knew I am a mod and I made fanmade hats. So I pinned admin down for an answer to tell them. xd