Editing WoW:Blizzard AddOn Policy

{{uiaddon}}
Details what's important for developers to know in creating or distributing WoW AddOns.

== Reference == 
Reference materials for the legal aspects of WoW AddOn development

=== Legalities ===
For those who are Legally minded, or are otherwise concerned or interested. Reading the '''AddOn Policy''' below is strongly suggested for everyone.

*[https://eu.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/wow-user-interface-add-on-development-policy/1642 World of Warcraft - AddOn Policy]
*[http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/legal/wow_tou.html Blizzard World of Warcraft - Terms of Use]
*[http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/termsofuse.html Blizzard BattleNet - Terms of use]
*[http://virtuallyblind.com/2008/03/23/mdy-blizzard-motions/ Historic "Glider" Summary Judgement]
*[http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/legal-faq.html Blizzard General Legal FAQ and Copyright Infringement Summary Reminders]

== Summary ==
Excerpt from 2010

With the release of Patch 3.1, [[\Blizzard Entertainment]] introduced a new UI AddOn development policy<ref name="policy">{{ref web|work=Old World of Warcraft Community site (US)|url=http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/policy/ui.html|title=UI Add-On Development Policy|author=[[\Blizzard Entertainment]]|date=24-Nov-2010|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20101124173826/http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/policy/ui.html|archivedate=24-Nov-2010}}</ref> which was further updated in May 2009 and later in November 2010.<ref name="policyupdated">{{ref web|work=Official UI and Macro forum (US)|url=http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1021053914|title=UI Add-On Development Policy|author=[[\Blizzard Entertainment]]|date=16-Nov-2010}}<br/>&nbsp; &nbsp;{{ref web|work=Official Interface and Macros forum (EU)|url=http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1820963720|title=WoW User Interface Add-On Development Policy|author=[[\Blizzard Entertainment]]|date=7-Mar-2011}}</ref> Here is a summary below: 
# AddOns must be free of charge.
# AddOn code must be completely visible.
# AddOns must not negatively impact World of Warcraft realms or other players.
# AddOns may not include advertisements.
# AddOns may not solicit donations.
# AddOns must not contain offensive or objectionable material.
# AddOns must abide by World of Warcraft ToU and EULA.
# Blizzard Entertainment has the right to disable AddOn functionality as it sees fit.

=== Updates: ===
# Enforcement began after May 19th, 2009.
# AddOns must not re-distribute in-game music and audio files or other copyrighted materials.

It isn't exactly clear how Blizzard plans to enforce this policy, but developers should follow the policy or risk some sort of exclusion of their AddOns from the game. The following sentence ends the introductory paragraph of the policy: "failure to abide by them may result in measures up to and including taking formal legal action."<ref name="policy"/><ref name="policyupdated"/> See the Reference section above for the "Glider" case.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}