Greetings one and all,
I'm sure you have been wondering why I have not (once again) been updating. Among the usual suspects of life changing developments, a primary cause is also the rules of the Writing Contest that I did not read closely enough. You may have noticed I took down my short story - I had to per the rules of the contest. I don't even know whether or not I was judged on my writing; I may submit an inquiry later this week just out of curiosity.
I'm not bitter about the situation, at least not with Blizzard. I am, however, very upset with myself for failing to read the terms I agreed to closely enough. I have essentially forfeited the character Keeves and any related material to Blizzard, and the short story I wrote, beyond those of you who got to read it before I had to take it down, will likely never be seen again. There is truly nothing more painful to a writer than to create something you are so very proud of and know that it was for absolutely nothing.
The rules of the contest say that the character now belongs to Blizzard in its entirety, and should I wish to do something more with that character (for instance, continue the novelization of the original story I had begun writing as a screenplay), I would need to ask express permission. However, I do not believe this is any different from writing any other story with borrowed Blizzard characters. How is using Keeves in my story any different from using Thrall or Sylvanas? I now no longer own any of those characters, so as long as I claim no property over them (as I never have with any of the Blizzard owned content), I should, in theory, be able to continue my tale.
I'll be writing up a proper disclaimer to add to my fiction from now on, to claim no ownership over the Blizzard intellectual property and to passively ask express permission to use such characters in a story that is not for profit. If there happen to be any lawyers out there who read my blog (or perhaps Blizzard employees that poke around once in a while and find some interest in this particular topic), please contact me at esetenthepaladin@gmail.com . I wish only to continue enjoying my love of Blizzard games and lore through my creative writing, and to share the stories that unfold with others who might find my blatherings of interest.
Thank you faithful readers, as always, for sticking with me through the quiet times. I promise to have something of merit up as soon as I feel it is safe for me to submit something else to the vast expanses of the interwebs.
