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Beholders, Mind Flayers, and Strahd von Zarovich Released Into Creative Commons (Kinda)
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<blockquote data-quote="Benjamin Olson" data-source="post: 8919551" data-attributes="member: 6988941"><p>That is another purpose of trademark law, and I did oversimplify. But now you are oversimplifying in the much more dangerous direction. Yes you can reference a trademark to indicate compatibility, but if the trademark owner picks a fight with you it becomes an issue for a court to decide whether that was the actual intent.</p><p></p><p>No court would allow a tiny "compatible with" followed by a giant "DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS" that looked like the title of the book, followed by tiny "not endorsed by WotC" disclaimer. And I'm dubious that you would get away with your proposed "Compatible with Dungeons & Dragons, published by Wizards of the Coast. Trade Mark used without permission" because, having failed to indicate an actual edition, you have actually not informed anyone of what game it is compatible with. And my original point was precisely that as variations on "5e compatible" become increasingly standard on a wide variety of products actually compatible with 5.1 SRD derived products, the justification to reference WotC or their trademarks becomes more tenuous.</p><p></p><p>WotC has asked to not give them or their D&D brand free advertising on 5e compatible products, and I believe everyone benefits from following that request. They are just another producer of 5.1 SRD derived products as far as I'm concerned.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Benjamin Olson, post: 8919551, member: 6988941"] That is another purpose of trademark law, and I did oversimplify. But now you are oversimplifying in the much more dangerous direction. Yes you can reference a trademark to indicate compatibility, but if the trademark owner picks a fight with you it becomes an issue for a court to decide whether that was the actual intent. No court would allow a tiny "compatible with" followed by a giant "DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS" that looked like the title of the book, followed by tiny "not endorsed by WotC" disclaimer. And I'm dubious that you would get away with your proposed "Compatible with Dungeons & Dragons, published by Wizards of the Coast. Trade Mark used without permission" because, having failed to indicate an actual edition, you have actually not informed anyone of what game it is compatible with. And my original point was precisely that as variations on "5e compatible" become increasingly standard on a wide variety of products actually compatible with 5.1 SRD derived products, the justification to reference WotC or their trademarks becomes more tenuous. WotC has asked to not give them or their D&D brand free advertising on 5e compatible products, and I believe everyone benefits from following that request. They are just another producer of 5.1 SRD derived products as far as I'm concerned. [/QUOTE]
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