No, Sin'dorei300, they are not.
I agree with your argument about the rules, but I would also like to ask you one thing:
Is there really a difference between manipulating Blizzard artwork to create an icon and
modifying an actual icon ?
Just because an original Blizzard Entertainment icon has the size 64x64, we still modify
it, adding WC3 borders to it, maybe improve it freehand to reduce noise and correct points.
So I don't see a difference, do you ? In both cases, users manipulate Blizzard artworks,
one case just has the correct size already.