No, Gravity has already announced that they are in favor of private servers, they make their game popular and alot use private servers to test out new builds, gear, tactics, etc.
And it's not "in my perspective". It's fact, you can even search it up on the internet.
Your banners, may be free of charge, but they are being used for servers who accept donations to keep their server alive.
If you make a banner and take someone's drawing and put it on, give it to a server which accepts donations(98% of all servers), then that banner is used to get donations.
Even if the banner looks like a third grader made it, it is being used in that context.
So you have to ask for permission. If the author of the drawings were the creator of a game, or has a trademarked, patentet -something-(indicating a game, a brand, something like in that fashion) then you can create fan art of it.
If the author has not done so, and has made something that does no resemble any game, and is created by the authors imagination(for example), then you need to ask for permission, as it wouldn't be fan art, but ripping.
If you take the picture as a whole, it is also stealing if you don't ask for permission, or just use it without asking.
We just had a case where a serverFeelRO had taken an artists work, and used it on their website and server, without her permission. Then, 1.5 years later she found out about it, and brought it up. According to law, they were not allowed to have those pictures on their site, as the drawings were used on their website, and ingame to create a cute look and attract more players. After alot of bickering from the gm's side, their "artist" traced the images, and created her own using the original artist's work as reference. By doing that they were still breaking the law, seeing that they had not gotten permission to take and use, or copy her art. I believe they are still using the modified art their artist traced, and created bad replicas of.
There are many laws, if it still sounds complicated, send me a pm.
