Is Hero Lab ever going to go beyond the Core rule books

[rob]

At 07:18 PM 6/20/2007, you wrote:

larylich wrote:
I don't see why not. As long as we're not businesses, and we're not making profit from it. It's a mod. [img]./modules/mdforum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Unfortunately, WotC disagrees with you. We at PCGen thought that we were operating under the "Fair Use" when we included datasets based off of WotC material. When PCGen and WotC sat and talked at GenCon '02, we were told that WotC considered that an infringement upon their IP. From that point on, PCGen hasn't included the WotC closed-content material.

There's a huge difference between a small group of people coordinating activities amongst themselves and an organized, public distribution system such as what PCGen was doing. WotC came down on PCGen when it was actively, widely, and openly distributing material under the premise of "fair use", which was anything but a valid claim.

This comes back to my previous post on the subject. A small group that shares the work in an informal manner probably won't run afoul of WotC's largely supportive policies towards its player-base. However, if you get seriously organized and/or start distributing material without regard for whether the recipient has purchased the books, then you'll likely run into significant problems. It's about finding the balance and keeping things reasonable. The PCGen team stepped well over the line.

Paul, I find it quite interesting that a major representative of the PCGen team finds it important to "police" our forums. I also find it interesting that you feel the need to conflate the ill-conceived actions of the PCGen team with a few players informally working together. I expect you're just trying to help, but please don't potentially mislead people on our forums by drawing implied analogies that conflate substantially different actions and entail leaps of assumption that aren't necessarily valid.

Thanks, Rob

[kingpaul]

Originally Posted by rob

Paul, I find it quite interesting that a major representative of the PCGen team finds it important to "police" our forums. I also find it interesting that you feel the need to conflate the ill-conceived actions of the PCGen team with a few players informally working together. I expect you're just trying to help, but please don't potentially mislead people on our forums by drawing implied analogies that conflate substantially different actions and entail leaps of assumption that aren't necessarily valid.

Rob,

I'm not trying to "police" your forums, just trying to offer advice from past interactions with WotC.