The Snopes of copyright & trademark law (for fangirls, fanboys, creators & hipsters). Created and maintained by hllangel/untitledbychoice and Heidi Tandy aka travelingheidi/heidi8. Nothing we post here is legal advice.
In the last 18 months, fans have been paid for fanfic, have licensed fanart to networks and shows for use on T-shirts and DVDs, crowdfunded projects, ...