WoTC and The Monster Builder

There have been a few threads about what you can and can't legally do with 43 DnD Material and fansites/the web. I don't see any currently active.

Some of you may know that I put in a ticket with WotC Customer Support. They're finally closing the ticket. Here's the final answer:



Response (Support Agent) 11/05/2009 09:10 AM
Brian,

I am sorry it does not look like I will have an answer for you on this any time soon. Once we have sorted everything there will be an announcement in the forums and more likely a news article or the like.

Please let me know if you need anymore help!
We would appreciate your feedback on the service we are providing you. Please click here to fill out a short questionnaire.

To login to your account, or update your question please click here.

Chuck
Online Response Crew
Wizards of the Coast
1-800-324-6496 (US and Canada)
425-204-8069 (From all other countries)
Monday-Friday 9am-6pm PST / 12pm-9pm EST
Saturday-Sunday 10am-4pm PST / 1pm-7pm EST

--------------------------------

And the rest in order

Brian Liberge to wizardscusthelp
show details Sep 28
The EULA for the Monster Builder, section 2, seems to indicate that we can't share or distribute things made with the Monster Builder. Yet we seemed encouraged to do so by the Wizards Community leaders on the new community and even by the programs very nature.

Can I receive some clarification on whether we can share content created with the Monster Builder?

Brian A Liberge

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* Response (Support Agent)*09/29/2009 12:56 PM Brian,
>
> This email is to inform you that we have received your incident and have
> escalated it for further review. A representative should be contacting you
> concerning your incident in 24-48 hours or less. We apologize for this delay
> and appreciate your patience while we work to resolve this.
>
> We would appreciate your feedback on the service we are providing you. Please
> click here to fill out a short questionnaire<http://deploy.ztelligence.com/start/index.jsp?PIN=15TTLS9M6TYC2>
> .
>
> To login to your account, or update your question please click here<http://wizards.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wizards.cfg/php/enduser/myovr.php>.
>
>
> Jason
> Online Response Crew
> Wizards of the Coast
> 1-800-324-6496 (US and Canada)
> 425-204-8069 (From all other countries)
> Monday-Friday 9am-6pm PST / 12pm-9pm EST
> Saturday-Sunday 10am-4pm PST / 1pm-7pm EST

---------

Subject* Monster Builder EULA * Discussion Thread* * Response
> (Support Agent)*10/05/2009 11:13 AM Brian,
>
> Just wanted to let you know I am still looking into an answer for you. You
> email has not been lost or forgotten.
>
> We would appreciate your feedback on the service we are providing you. Please
> click here to fill out a short questionnaire<http://deploy.ztelligence.com/start/index.jsp?PIN=15TTLS9M6TYC2>
> .
>
> To login to your account, or update your question please click here<http://wizards.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wizards.cfg/php/enduser/myovr.php>.
>
>
> Chuck
> Online Response Crew
> Wizards of the Coast
> 1-800-324-6496 (US and Canada)
> 425-204-8069 (From all other countries)
> Monday-Friday 9am-6pm PST / 12pm-9pm EST
> Saturday-Sunday 10am-4pm PST / 1pm-7pm EST

------------------

Customer (Brian Liberge) 10/23/2009 11:13 AM
May I receive an update on this issue? It's been a few weeks now.

Brian

-------------------

Response (Support Agent) 10/26/2009 09:06 AM
Brian,

I have passed it along but there is still some decision making going on about how to treat this so I don't have a answer for it yet. Your email is sitting at the top of my box waiting for word, so you will hear as soon as we have an answer to share.

Please let me know if you need anymore help!
We would appreciate your feedback on the service we are providing you. Please click here to fill out a short questionnaire.

To login to your account, or update your question please click here.

Chuck
Online Response Crew
Wizards of the Coast
1-800-324-6496 (US and Canada)
425-204-8069 (From all other countries)
Monday-Friday 9am-6pm PST / 12pm-9pm EST
Saturday-Sunday 10am-4pm PST / 1pm-7pm EST

----------------

WotC is part of a large corporate with a lot of IP. There will be a fundamental tension between the RPG folks who know that custom content and sharing that content is a key part of building the brand and building brand loyalty and the legal folks who will see their job as protecting their IP no matter what.

In the first instance I think it is a mistake for people to constantly seek clarification of their fansite policy.

The RPG side is probably advocating for a more loose approach while the lawyers will be advocating for a far more restrictive approach (because that's their job). The more emails that arrive the more likely it is that the responsible manager will just say something like, "We don't know what the risks are to our IP so just shut them all down."

I really don't know why you or others are seeking clarification. Just do what common sense suggests is permissible and enjoy the freedom to post content until the next barrage of "I am seeking clarification"-emails and instances of piracy forces WotC's hand and they just issue C&Ds on everything.

Well I think this has been discussed at length, as it is. While I of course don't mind discussion, yeah discussion, I just wanted to clarify that I was not looking to start another debate. I have however made it known in a few places that this was happening and I thought people might want to know how it ended.

That said, I understand you're position Derul, and know many sharing. However, as someone who has worked in publishing and who is seeking writing work in the RPG Field, when developing content I do not want to do it illegally.