Another Cease and Desist Letter: 4E Powercards

Admiral Caine · 19th February 2009, 07:07 PM

Power Cards - Dugeons & Dragons 4th Edition | D&D 4e Powercards

Quote:

4epowercards.com is going down

Unfortunately, the people at Wizards of the Coast have served me with a Cease and Desist letter. While I respect Wizards, and love almost all of their products, I am still disappointed. We can only hope Wizards will offer a service simliar to that provided by 4epowercards.com.

In the near future, once I'm done clearing out all the offending copyrighted materials, I will provide the source code used to drive this site. I hope it can be of benefit to someone out there.

Regards,

Ryan Paddock

I'll refrain from editorial comment in this first post. My apologies to the Moderators if this has been covered in another post that I have overlooked, or in another sub-board. I did do a quick skim before posting.

davethegame · 19th February 2009, 07:22 PM

A very interesting development for sure... since as far as I'm aware, that site did not charge anything for its use, unlike Ema's.

Byronic · 19th February 2009, 07:28 PM

Well, this poster gives WotC 2 thumbs down for that action.

avin · 19th February 2009, 07:30 PM

I saw that coming from miles.

Wotc is going to sell their own power cards.

Zaukrie · 19th February 2009, 07:32 PM

Any site that posts actual content from the game that WotC charges for should expect this to happen. If I sold a book, and people were extracting it's content and giving it away for free, I'd want them to stop.

Admiral Caine · 19th February 2009, 07:34 PM

I agree with Dave Chalker, it is interesting. Because there are a lot of Power Cards posted right here at EnWorld.

So while I don't expect an offical comment from WOTC, I am curious about the reasoning. So that I can understand what their perceived boundries are, if nothing else. What makes a "safe" power card and what constitutes a percieved infringement on their IP.

Without letting fire rush to my head, it strikes me as unreasonable to attack the concept of a 3rd party power card. People need to jot down how their abilities work in order to expedite play.

Nightchilde-2 · 19th February 2009, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zaukrie

Any site that posts actual content from the game that WotC charges for should expect this to happen. If I sold a book, and people were extracting it's content and giving it away for free, I'd want them to stop.

This. x2.

Scribble · 19th February 2009, 07:36 PM

What did the site do?

Did it simply have powercard templates? Or did it generate powercards based on the powers in the PHB? Or did it generate powercards with whatever you put on them?

Or something else?

Morrus · 19th February 2009, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Admiral Caine

I agree with Dave Chalker, it is interesting. Because there are a lot of Power Cards posted right here at EnWorld.

Could you report any posts where anyone's distributing chunks of WotC's IP on EN World? I know it's talked about a lot here, but I haven't personally seen any copyrighted material actually hosted here, although 'm the first to admit it could have skipped me by; but if it's here, it'd help us immensely if you'd point it out.

Admiral Caine · 19th February 2009, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zaukrie

Any site that posts actual content from the game that WotC charges for should expect this to happen. If I sold a book, and people were extracting it's content and giving it away for free, I'd want them to stop.

This is not an attack on you Zaukrie, I merely want to draw this out for the purposes of discussion and to understand where you're coming from.

So, by extension of this position, you would agree that all Power Cards not made by WOTC (or made 100% entirely by the individual for their own sole personal use) is a violation WOTC's rights?

ExploderWizard · 19th February 2009, 07:47 PM

Its not suprising. WOTC has every right to demand that its copyrighted materials not be distributed free of charge.

The genius part was letting the site operate for as long as it did. Why pay for market research when fans will do it for nothing? The site proved that there is a demand for such cards now WOTC can sell them.

Admiral Caine · 19th February 2009, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morrus

Could you report any posts where anyone's distributing chunks of WotC's IP on EN World? I know it's talked about a lot here, but I haven't personally seen any copyrighted material actually hosted here, although 'm the first to admit it could have skipped me by; but if it's here, it'd help us immensely if you'd point it out.

My apologies Morrus, I think I misspoke. Or rather.. I didn't think my words out carefully.

I have seen *links* to 4E power cards that people have posted. The actual hosting happened elsewhere. The poster merely offered a link to the hosted site.

That is a big distinction.

On the other hand, if you browse through the 4E creation forum looking for power cards and other materials, it almost starts to feel like that EnWorld is where these things come from, when that is not actually the case.

In any case, my apologies. In this Brand New World one must choose your words carefully.

EDIT: And for all I know.. those could have been templates. I'm a DDI subscriber, and mostly a GM, so my own use for Power Cards is/was limited.

hafrogman · 19th February 2009, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Admiral Caine

So, by extension of this position, you would agree that all Power Cards not made by WOTC (or made 100% entirely by the individual for their own sole personal use) is a violation WOTC's rights?

The creation of a copy by an individual, for personal use (probably) falls under fair use. I say probably because fair use is not very clearly defined.

However, what is clearly defined is the exclusive right of the copyright holder to distribute the information. As soon as those "for personal use" cards are posted on a public website, you are distributing that copywritten information. That is a violation of the copyright. And since 1997's NET act, such distribution can even be a criminal act if in sufficient quantities.

edit: This is, of course, assuming that the powers which the cards represent are from WotC's published and copywritten books, and not new powers written by the card creator.

Thasmodious · 19th February 2009, 07:55 PM

Power cards that copy wholesale the text from the PHB are indeed a violation of WOTCs rights, as things currently stand. Whether or not I agree with the laws themselves is a different topic, but yes, copying another's text and supplying it to end users without being licensed to do so is a violation of their rights.

I don't think Wizards has a leg to stand on if they went after templates and creators (like Magic Set Editor) that merely provide proper format and the end user can enter the text themselves. I use MSE and some templates to do any power cards I need outside of the Character Builder.

Xyxox · 19th February 2009, 07:56 PM

Interesting, though I must say not surprising, development.

I wonder if a fan site policy is ever coming.