Is it possible to create an application (game) for fans of a franchise without having the rights to it?

Question

Mobile development

Is it possible to create an application (game) for fans of some franchise without having rights to it, if you indicate in advance that development is not a means of earning money, and all rights to this franchise belong to its owners?

Answer 1

and all rights to this franchise belong to its owners

well, contact the franchise owners and find out ;-)
Without communication - I would not risk it. Because they can still either start suing, or it's trite to remove it from the market.

Answer 2

Depends on the franchise owner.
For example, Rowling allows you to write fanfiction in the Harry Potter universe, if you do not pursue commercial gain.
And Disney can sue for the image of Mickey Mouse.
PS The author and copyright holder are not the same thing. For example, John Carmack is an active follower of open source. But the rights to IDSoft now do not belong to him, and such a joke that the source code of some products that he himself published is subject to copyright.

Answer 3

Can. But they can still sue. Better ask. If the authors don't mind, great. If against, then do not care, but there may be a subpoena.
But this is a double-edged sword. If you do not contact the authors, then they may never pay attention to you and everything will be ok, but maybe if you contact them they will pay attention to you, today they will be allowed, and tomorrow they will be sued. Everything can be.

Answer 4

From a legal point of view: no, you cannot, unless otherwise stated in the license to use trademarks and intellectual property.
From a factual point of view: they do so, but at their own peril and risk.
And there is also a separate hemorrhoids with the fact that, for example, when uploading to the App Store / Google Play, you will most likely be asked about the rights to trade marks and so on.
But this is when we talk about mobile applications.