Quote:
Originally Posted by kbs666
You wouldn't suggest that people playing 5e using home brew rules are somehow violating WotC's IP would you?
|
Nope, I'm not suggesting that at all; however, what I am stating is that when you use the IP of anything copy written, it doesn't give you the right to alter it any way unless permission is granted in the user agreement that is assumed you accepted when you purchased said IP.
As an example even in the OGL from WOTC they list this:
Quote:
Q: What are the penalties for violating the terms of the License?
A: You are potentially liable to three groups of people, for various types of lawsuits.
First, you could be sued by anyone listed in the COPYRIGHT NOTICE section related to any Open Game Content you copied, modified or distributed. Second, you could be sued by anyone who receives Open Game Content from you and relies on you to ensure that your work conforms to the terms of the License who subsequently discovers problems with the Open Game Content they received from you. Third, you could be sued by someone with a copyright or trademark interest in the work you've distributed, even if you did so while relying on a previous publisher's representation that they had followed the terms of the License.
You could be sued for a copyright infringement, you could be sued for misuse of a trademark, you could be sued for breach of contract, and you could be sued for any number of torts related to those three actions.
If you have concerns about the scope of your liability under the Open Game License, you should consult with your legal counsel.
|
Many do not realize that when you buy a product (Intellectual property) such as the Monster Manual, Player's Handbook, etc., while you own the book, you do not own anything in the book. In fact, you are essentially leasing the right to use what is in the book as the copyright holder states that they want you to use it.
This is why I followed up my original post with a quote from LW that stated:
Quote:
|
More importantly, once you’ve dropped ready-made content into your world, you are free to modify it however you choose for your game.
|
The companies that are allowing us to do this through RW with their IP are taking a brave leap past the norms of the copyright world and as such, I will support wholeheartedly for doing so.
Having worked with WOTC in the past, and by experience knowing how difficult they are to work with in this area, I don't see them ever allowing any of their IP to be sold with the possibility of being edited like that.
In the end, I certainly realize my opinion means nothing; however, the companies that are allowing this I will go out of my way to support for being so community friendly.
This is what LW listed in the same article I quoted above as initial content in the market:
- “Pirate’s Guide to Freeport” from Green Ronin Publishing (all systems)
- “The Freeport Companion” from Green Ronin Publishing (Pathfinder and Fate)
- “Razor Coast” from Frog God Games (Pathfinder)
- “Blood Drive Trilogy” from Pinnacle Entertainment (Deadlands – Savage Worlds)
- “Grande Temple of Jing” from Hammerdog Games (Pathfinder)
- “Masks: 1,000 Memorable NPCs for Any Roleplaying Game” from Engine Publishing (all systems)
- “Eureka: 501 Adventure Plots to Inspire Game Masters” from Engine Publishing (all systems)
- “Never Unprepared: The Complete Game Masters Guide to Session Prep” from Engine Publishing (all systems)
- “Halls of the Mountain King” from Kobold Press (Pathfinder)
- “The Blight” from Frog God Games (Pathfinder)
- “Isle of Kandril” from Super Genius Games (Pathfinder)