Larian Studios's policy and guidelines restrict the selling of fan content or goods for any of its games, including Baldur's Gate 3…
…The five basic rules for making fan content of Baldur’s Gate 3 and other Larian Studios games are:
- Keep it free.
- Keep it clear it’s fan content.
- Keep it honest.
- Keep it clean
- Keep it legit.
The fourth rule of “Keep it clean” simply means that Larian Studios reserves the right to stop your use of its IP if it deems your content “inappropriate, offensive, damaging, or disparaging.” It isn’t forbidding you from making R-18 content.
“Keep it honest” and “Keep it clear it’s fan content” are very similar. The main rule in question is the first one, in which you cannot sell “fan content to any third parties for any type of compensation.”
If you really want to make Baldur’s Gate 3 fan content, you can do so. You simply cannot do it for profit. This would include putting something behind a paywall, or selling items at a convention. For reference, Larian Studios defines “fan content” as “fanart, videos, stories, screenshots, cosplays, mods, or anything else.” Uploading or giving things away for free are both totally alright.
I'm guessing this may be more a WotC thing than a Larian thing. Still annoyed to hear it, since things like cosplay can be expensive and I imagine they're things you put your heart into the same as art.
I've seen some damn incredible stuff at conventions before, and I'd hate to be deprived of them rather than force the artist to give their work away for free. This also makes commissioned work feel weirdly shaky, depending on what they're calling a third party?
Wonder if this will turn into a panini situation . Free amigurumi Karlach with every purchase of a $40 pencil.
Sounds pretty similar to the terms most corporate IPs have. Everyone quietly ignores the issue of commissioned art, and often convention sales of original content derived from the IP; the restriction is primarily in place to allow them to pursue groups that would otherwise pump out a bunch of junk merch to profit from the IP, and to provide evidence, in case of a copyright dispute, that they have been 'protecting' their IP by setting up such rules.
Yeah, if these kinds of rules really stopped people from selling art at conventions, I’d have dozens fewer prints waiting to be hung up.