D&D 4E 3rd-Party Publishers' Thoughts on 4E

[BonesMcCoy]

Well, closing content for a start. . .

Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt! You're glib!

Sorry, had a little Tom Cruise moment there.

 

[Rasyr]

Ridiculous. You must have a very liberal interpretation of "unfounded."

Two cases pop to the top of my mind almost immediately...

1) They sued a guy who made a parody of the "Get out of Jail Free" card from the monopoly game. They guy was not selling the cards, in fact he was giving them away for something related to his church.

2) Hasbro's recent lawsuit (which they lost) against a company who made something that expanded and extended board games like monopoly (board within a board).

Hasbro has filed many lawsuits over the years, many of them on the slimmest of premises, and it has lost most of them (at least those where the defendant did not have to settle because lawyer fees were putting them into bankruptcy).

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Two cases pop to the top of my mind almost immediately...

1) They sued a guy who made a parody of the "Get out of Jail Free" card from the monopoly game. They guy was not selling the cards, in fact he was giving them away for something related to his church.

Presumably you are talking about this:
http://www.thisistrue.com/hasbro.html

2) Hasbro's recent lawsuit (which they lost) against a company who made something that expanded and extended board games like monopoly (board within a board).

And this:
http://boardgames.about.com/b/a/151172.htm

And why you would consider either of those "unfounded" beggars belief.

I'm quite certain ICE would respond in a similar fashion to a "parody" or "add on" to one of their own intellectual properties. Ah, let's see:

ICE Trademarks
ICE’s publications are protected by copyright and trademark protection. Trademark protection applies to the identification of goods in commerce. A trademark infringement may arise when someone trades in commerce with a product that is in whole or part identified with an existing mark. For instance, if you sell a good on the basis of the fact that it contains “Rolemaster” material, you are using our trademark. If done without permission, this constitutes trademark infringement.

Sounds an awful lot like selling an add-on to Monopoly-- but that's just me.

How about that Get Out of Hell Free card? How's that stack up with ICE?

Our Thoughts About “Derivative Works”
Derivative works create special problems. They may fall into the category of “fair use,” as in the case of satire or commentary (analysis); however, it is generally held that you cannot quote/recreate copyrighted material to an extent greater than that necessary to achieve the underlying (and fair) goal. Copying a book and putting it in a different script/font is hardly satirical. It is certainly not commentary. On the other hand, adding humorous text to a musical composition (ala Weird Al Jankovich) may constitute fair use.

The standards of evaluation are simple:

* Was the derivative work published pursuant to the fair use doctrine?
* Is the derivative work substantively original?
* Has the publication of the derivative work created harm to the original publisher, or will it likely create harm? By harm, I mean does it dilute the value of the original work or otherwise harm the value because of poor quality, its libelous nature, etc.

ICE will vigorously defend its intellectual property rights. We will also be fair. We will in every case endeavor to encourage the free and fair use of ideas, especially in the context of the policy guidelines expressed above. In short, we ask that people who are interested in trading with our ideas communicate with ICE and pay attention to our policy. Should you follow such a course, you can be confident of our well-measured cooperation.

Damned if that doesn't sound an awful lot like exactly how it was resolved with Hasbro.

Hasbro has filed many lawsuits over the years, many of them on the slimmest of premises.

Ok, ok, Hasbro's the big evil corporation. I hear ya.


Wulf

 

[Rasyr]

Now you are just being silly.... hehe

 

[Brown Jenkin]

I?m not a publisher, just a player. I also don?t start the threads I just participate. Now let me tell you why though I participate in 4E threads and promote the possibility of 4E sooner rather than later. I may be in a minority, but I didn?t like the changes from 3.0 to 3.5. Unfortunately almost all the publishers dropped 3.0 for 3.5 leaving me high and dry. Much like when I skipped out on 2E I have skipped out on 3.5. I bought thousands of dollars of 3.0 material and $0 of 3.5 material. Now however it is hard to find 3.0 players, so my only real hope is for a 4E that restores current D&D into something I want to play. So whenever a 4E thread comes out I will jump in and promote by belief that 4E is coming in 2006 (based on Hasbro precedent) and my desire for it to come out as soon as possible. I hope that I can add to the 4E voices and Hasbro does decide that 4E is not wholly opposed and moves forward with the project as soon as possible. I have never started rumors or made unfounded statements, just shared my personal beliefs that I want 4E and as soon as possible.