Ok, so we know that lawyers can be, at times, a big overzealous in their hunt for copyright infringement and we now know a one-off gift of a Munny that resembles a Gears of War character is A-OK.
But what about original art inspired by a video game? I Am 8-Bit has a whole gallery filled with that sort of thing, but when Kotaku resident artist Pavel Dolgov created a "one-of-a-kind, hand painted, acrylic on canvas" inspired by Gears of War and posted it on his site he received a warning about IP infringement from Epic's general counsel. He was told he had to take down the painting from the site and has to either destroy it or send it to Epic Games.
Sheesh guys, there are better ways to buy a painting. Brian Crecente
Ed's note: In case it wasn't obvious, Dolgov makes a living selling his art.