Pathfinder 1E Paizo Copyright Issues at Obsidian Portal?

Agamon · Jul 5, 2011

So, it being July, I'm a little late checking on June's Campaign of the Month at Obsidian Portal. It sounded pretty cool, so thought I should check it out. A little late for sure, it's no longer open to the public.

Apparently, Paizo issued a C&D to the campaign owner, due to what he describes as tiny thumbnail images of item cards being handed out to his players (check the comments section at the bottom of the interview).

Seriously? If that is all there is to the offending material, tiny, unusable images, then this seems pretty silly to me. Sounds to me to along the lines of the good ol' days at TSR, or White Wolf's current draconian measures regarding use of their IP.

I like the guys and gals at Paizo, they do good work. But this, I don't like, just seems very player-unfriendly.

Crothian · Jul 5, 2011

Paizo is a company first and that's one of the reasons they are a successful company. I don't see anything wrong with them protecting their properties.

Dannager · Jul 5, 2011

Let me be the first to point out that there is probably more to this than the one side we're hearing from the DM, and how about let's withhold judgment until we have a better picture of what's going on here.

Was the Obsidian Portal page in question making use of the Pathfinder Community Use Policy?

Agamon · Jul 5, 2011

Dannager said:
Let me be the first to point out that there is probably more to this than the one side we're hearing from the DM, and how about let's withhold judgment until we have a better picture of what's going on here.

Was the Obsidian Portal page in question making use of the Pathfinder Community Use Policy?

Well, kinda the second...I did go out of my way to say, "If what he says is true." But that's all we really have to go on.

The guy has his own RPG company. I'm sure he understands that Paizo needs to protect their IP, so I'm more likely to lean his direction than that of the bored corperate lawyer with the itchy trigger finger.

AeroDm · Jul 5, 2011

Crothian said:
Paizo is a company first and that's one of the reasons they are a successful company. I don't see anything wrong with them protecting their properties.

I think this statement cuts too broad. Paizo is successful because they produced a high quality product but also differentiated themselves from WotC by treating their customers more like partners than customers. People dug that, it earned them immense loyalty, and that, in my opinion, drove their success more than the quality of their products. From the little bit of info we have, this seems out of sorts for Paizo because it does seem a bit corporateish (highlighting how a product can be used in a personal game via a thumbnail of said product? That sounds like free advertising). However, due to their immense goodwill, I'm more than willing to reserve judgment until more info is available.

AdmundfortGeographer · Jul 5, 2011

I dunno, if it is tiny and unusable, don't use it.

Agamon · Jul 5, 2011

Eric Anondson said:
I dunno, if it is tiny and unusable, don't use it.

Unusable as a proxy for what Paizo sells.

billd91 · Jul 5, 2011

AeroDm said:
From the little bit of info we have, this seems out of sorts for Paizo because it does seem a bit corporateish (highlighting how a product can be used in a personal game via a thumbnail of said product? That sounds like free advertising).

There's a big difference between using a product in a personal campaign - and posting it publicly on the internet as part of a personal campaign. You shouldn't really think of it as free advertising like you would other word of mouth or textual descriptions that do not include actual copyrighted items.

Mark CMG · Jul 5, 2011

Agamon said:
Sounds to me to along the lines of the good ol' days at TSR, or White Wolf's current draconian measures regarding use of their IP.

Agamon said:
I'm sure he understands that Paizo needs to protect their IP, so I'm more likely to lean his direction than that of the bored corperate lawyer with the itchy trigger finger.

You clearly have chosen a side.

Protect your IP or lose it. Fan policies and licensing for reuse of materials are readily available and easy to use. "Corperate" lawyers don't generally weaken a company's position for future proceedings by simply sending out C&Ds as a matter of course. They weigh many situations and usually target the most egregious. This is the first and only time I have heard of a Paizo C&D letter in the eight or whatever years since their inception. What seems to be missing here?

Treebore · Jul 5, 2011

I don't know. I am far more aware of copyright law than most people, but if its someones artwork, or own written word, you do not use it in any way that distributes it in a public manner. Period. Its been a long time since I read over Paizo's usage rules, but I am pretty sure there are no exceptions in there either. I remember the package having very specific things to use, not an allowance to use anything.

Either way, its cool to distribute such things among your gaming group, but not for general consumption on the internet. Just because it was to small for YOU to use, does not mean someone else isn't able to enlarge it to a usable size. The right software can do some pretty amazing things.