WoW:Blizzard AddOn Policy

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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.

• World of Warcraft - AddOn Policy
• Blizzard World of Warcraft - Terms of Use
• Blizzard BattleNet - Terms of use
• Historic "Glider" Summary Judgement
• 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 which was further updated in May 2009 and later in November 2010. Here is a summary below:

1. AddOns must be free of charge.
2. AddOn code must be completely visible.
3. AddOns must not negatively impact World of Warcraft realms or other players.
4. AddOns may not include advertisements.
5. AddOns may not solicit donations.
6. AddOns must not contain offensive or objectionable material.
7. AddOns must abide by World of Warcraft ToU and EULA.
8. Blizzard Entertainment has the right to disable AddOn functionality as it sees fit.

Updates:

1. Enforcement began after May 19th, 2009.
2. 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." See the Reference section above for the "Glider" case.