Darkholme, people do care. And those people are the people with morals. It's all about respecting other people's property. That's important, and obviously you don't care about other people's rights at all. Hence you deserve none yourself - I shall feel at liberty to steal any work you make. And no, I won't give credit, but I don't feel that I morally have to.
Naw, you're just talking about being an ass. I'm not saying don't give credit where credit is due, I'm saying if you use something, permission or no, give them credit. If it comes from a professional source, and you're not making money off of it, you should give credit, but I'm saying nobody would get upset about if he used them while giving credit. The company that owns guild wars wouldn't try to sue him, he's not making any money, hell it might even be free advertising for their product. And he's not claiming the icons to be his work, he's giving them credit. If I make something, and you use it, give credit, but I'm not going to demand permission be asked every time. That's absurd. If that were the case I'd just horde it all to myself and make sure it never sees bnet ot hive. seriously.
We're not discussing the difference between having no morals and having morals as you imply, we're discussing one particular difference in morals. I would never intentionally use someone else's work without giving them credit for it, but at the same time I probably wouldn't ask permission, not when I know the answer just won't come. If I do ask permission to use a model, instead of just using it and giving credit, then its a courtesy to them, likely because I have prsonal respect for that person. If they're anonymous or I think they're rude and unpleasant to talk to, I'm much more likely to use it and then give credits. It's a bit like the saying "Often it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission". That doesn't always alpply but it does in this case
People have emailed companies asking about it. One is in the WoW models forum, hell I emailed blizzard too! they just give a generic response that doesn't answer your question at all. They don't say no, they don't say yes.
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And I wouldn't be that upset if someone used something I made in a larger project without giving credits. If they explicitly claimed it as their own I'd be pissed, but if I was unnamed for a model in a big project I wouldn't be. The only type of theft on this subject that would really piss me off would be when people steal a map, make one little change and submit it as their own. They aren't making derivative work with it, it's not being used in some bigger project, and they aren't just not naming a resource they borrowed, they're actively claiming they made it. That's a different scenario. If I had something professionally published (like a model, or icon) and someone used it in a fan-project without my consent, but they used an icon or a model or a bunch of them, and actually did something relatively creative, I wouldn't be angry, I'd be flattered. My game has been published, people already know who made it/ owns it, so if someone makes something new based on/using my work when people know its mine that's a compliment.
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I should note that all of these opinions on how to conduct oneself only apply for non commercial, non-profit use. If someone makes a profit by using my work, that's different than if its something free or if his free something is like advertising for my work. In the case of a For-Profit use of my work, more than just credit is required, as I'll expect a percentage of the cash based on what he used. If he doesn't give me that percentage initially I'll likely sue him for it+more for the hassle of having to sue him. As I have pointed out time and time again it totally depends on whether its for profit or not.
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Following the concept I explained here, use of other people's materials would not be illegal in the united states in most cases even on a technical level, as it would often fall under fair use.
