Something to note about all of this stuff, as well, is that we are looking at interpretations based on individual knowledge. The freestuff, galleries, and Marketplace are overseen by different individuals, who, it is my understanding, have pretty strong leeway. These different people will, generally, act on their own authority to determine what is and what is not considered risky for renderosity. They might consult with the legal department, but that is not always the case -- they have to have personal reason to do so, as they legal department is unimaginably busy, since she's also a lot of other departments ;) (and before anyone wonders, no, I don't work for rosity, nor have I ever. I don't even know these people except through the site. But there is a LOT of info available on this site.) Fan Art is not a grey area in IP law. There are a great many strong precendents and rulings which clearly show that most of what is considered fan art is simple infringement. But Copyright and trademark rely on reactive enforcement on the part of the rights owner. In many cases, the rights owner will not pursue cases of infringement until the value of those rights becomes too diluted. At which time the larger, wealthier owners of said rights (ie, corporations) will tend to swoop down in the most broad fashion imaginable. Shoot first, ask questions later sorta stuff. Based on that, it makes a hell of a lot of sense for Renderosity, which has grown very large and could be considered a fairly decent target monetarily, to avoid being caught in that initial barrage when they do the next round of stuff. So they are now enforcing that. As noted before, that they have not done so in the past does not excuse the persons who already violated the TOS from having uploaded it, nor does it excuse them for the manner in which they are doing so. It simply is. A rule doesn't necessarily need to be enforced all the time when personal responsibility is involved. If you ignore a stop light or stop sign and get hit and then get a ticket, do you complain about how only then do you get in trouble for it? oh, um, wait -- sorry, Forgot the answer is yes. or is it? Looking through the reactions of the last few days, I have to wonder...

thou and I, my friend, can, in the most flunkey world, make, each of us, one non-flunkey, one hero, if we like: that will be two heroes to begin with. (Carlyle)