There's a lot of controversy among fans of many media as to whether the buying and selling of fanwork, art, fiction, and other marketables using the intellectual property of the main author, is legal and/or moral. Is selling character redrawings, spinoff doujinshi, etc. for profit considered stealing? If it is illegal, how can the original artist protect their work? Can art and media based off a preexisting character or universe be considered high art? Consider the relationship most Renaissance paintings have with the Bible. Can that be considered 'fan art?'
You could also consider Bleedman and his Powerpuff Girl Dojinshi comics and Grom Adventures comics, both of which are quite popular. – Adnan Bey9 years ago
This is a very interesting topic, but I think it might be a good idea to narrow down the work to a degree. For example, fitting different forms of art into one article maybe too large of an undertaken. The visual arts category itself is huge. I think one approach maybe to see how artists of the Renaissance protected themselves in comparison to the system we have today in western societies. – Arazoo Ferozan9 years ago