I couldn’t really find an appropriate place to ask a question in regards to how 343/Microsoft handles the creation of fan made merchandise like T-shirts and such. This seemed like the most appropriate forum considering its community content related.
A friend of mine takes really cool screenshots in theater. He has been doing so since roughly 2008 and I want to highlight his work by making some T-shirt designs with the screenshots he has made in game, clean them up a little and make them more shirt oriented, and sell them on a site like T-spring or something.
My concern is that this may or may not violate the content usage rules.
It speaks clearly:
> You can’t use any of Microsoft’s trademarked logos or names except in the ways described in the pages linked from: (LINK)
One concept I had drafted was a custom logo covering the red team flag, this would not violate the use of the UNSC logo that is printed on the flag by default.
However, this following line is where I cant tell considering its an in game screenshot:
> Except as described here, you can’t sell or otherwise earn any compensation from your Item, including through advertisements in the Item. This means you can’t charge money in exchange for your Item, post it on a site that requires subscription or other fees to view the Item, or post it on a page you use to sell other items or services (even if they have nothing to do with Game Content or Microsoft). You also can’t use Game Content in an app that you sell in an app store.
That stands out to me, I see people selling all kinds of halo related merchandise at conventions and the like, as well as custom fan made halo shirts and such, but if this is the case, a cease and desist could be a possibility I dont want to put him in because of my lack of knowledge.
Any clarification on this would be greatly appreciated, especially in these trying times. The idea seems solid, but i dont want to give him false hope.
My personal understanding is as long as it is a derivative work, it should be fair use. But im no lawyer.