Congratulations to the 2015 ENnies Nominees!

Perram · Jun 30, 2015

Abulia said:
I have never made the PDF available via DriveThru so I can't speak to that rumor.

As for Product of the Year (and other categories), it feels germane to point out that the judges select those finalists, not me. I don't know specifically using what criteria, only that, upon review, the judges apparently thought well enough of the work to do so. I appreciate their doing so.

With the influx of self-publishing and rich media the lines as to what constitute a publisher are blurred more than ever before. This becomes trickier when you look at some of the other categories, such as Blog and Podcasting. Where is that line? I don't envy the ENnies personnel for having to codify it and it was not my intent to cause discord.

However, in light of the forthcoming announcement of disqualification, I will also be removing the files of my own accord. My thanks to the personnel of ENWorld and the ENnies for their assistance.

Regarding Mass Effect, I, like many others, would gladly welcome an official product. One hopes I might even get to contribute in some part.

Game On!

I hope you aren't intending on removing the files from the website? The quality of your work is not the question here, and I think a lot of people are glad it exists. It is just the ethics of it being in an Industry Award in a category against traditional and legal products.

You have to submit to these awards, and it sounds like you did so at great expense. I'm curious as to why you decided to do so?

Dahak · Jun 30, 2015

Don - While I do believe the product was/should have been ineligible due to its unlicensed nature, I do also believe it was the superior product in the two categories for which it had been nominated. It says the world about the quality of your work that some publishers were concerned about losing out to it, and issuing proxy threats because of it. I'm glad I chose to download it before the removal, even if I'm no fan of Fate.

Perram · Jun 30, 2015

The files are indeed offline.

Steve Conan Trustrum · Jun 30, 2015

Perram said:
The files are indeed offline.

Which is probably best for Don.

Although he clearly didn't think so, the legality of his work set him up for a C&D at best and a lawsuit he wouldn't win at worst.

Morrus · Jun 30, 2015

Announcement here.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?2713-Regarding-the-Mass-Effect-ENnies-Nomination

(It'll be on the ENnies site shortly, too).

Perram · Jun 30, 2015

Steve Conan Trustrum said:
Which is probably best for Don.

Although he clearly didn't think so, the legality of his work set him up for a C&D at best and a lawsuit he wouldn't win at worst.

Yeah, lets hope future fan works learn from this.

Honestly, this is what happens when you build in someone else's sandbox. No matter how wonderful the castle, you don't own it, and they can knock it down.

Jester David · Jun 30, 2015

The removal of the Mass Effect game from the nominations seems like a good idea. Sad it also resulted in the files going down.

There is an interesting discussion on the live of professional vs fan work.

Allensh said:
Now I'm really conflicted. I have known of Don and his work since the days of the LUG Star Trek game and it's Decipher successor The problem is not the work itself. The problem is it's being allowed to bump professionally made work in the awards process rather than being considered under a more appropriate category.

What differentiates a "professional made work"?
The author of the work was paid for his rules writing in the past, making him a professional. It certainly looked professional. It was free, but so are the D&D Basic Rules and Fate Accelerated. If it's using ideas other than your own, wouldn't that include most OSR games? If it's not working for a full time publisher that eliminates most 3rd Party Publishers who operate as a second job.

An unlicenced adaptation is problematic, and that alone seems like reason to omit it. But that's not quite the same as "professionally made".

Perram · Jun 30, 2015

In our industry the line between professional and fan is so blurry it might as well not exist.

The OSR and other works are different because they are LEGAL. They have to make choices and sacrifices because they follow the rule of law. They buy art, they follow licenses.

I'm sure Swords & Wizardry would LOVE to have displacer beasts, beholders, the Forgotten Realms (or Greyhawk more probably), and all the art from those classic books to make amazing products. But they can't. Not and be a legal product capable of being published and marketed.

And that is what really makes a professional in this industry. Being able to face these challenges and still produce a product that turns heads. Being able to make the budget work, the licenses work, get attention, name recognition.

Works like the ME RPG shortcut all of that by being a fan production.

Morrus · Jun 30, 2015

From the ENnies point of view, professional and fan aren't the issue. Our concern was the IP violation.

Steve Conan Trustrum · Jun 30, 2015

Jester Canuck said:
What differentiates a "professional made work"? The author of the work was paid for his rules writing in the past, making him a professional. It certainly looked professional.

Here's where I actually think Don runs into some major trouble with this particular product, putting aside future issues with "fan" original works applying for the ENnies. There is a very big difference between Average Joe Gamer putting together content on a website or in a downloadable text, Word, or PDF having never worked in the industry and someone with 20 years of professional experience doing so. The grey area Don's professional experience brings into the mix in this regard is one of the things EA/Bioware could have very easily used against him in a suit regarding the unapproved use of their IP. If people are legitimately asking "how can we not call this professional?" the (he believed) safe harbour Don was trying to operate from regarding this work is clearly not so safe as he thought.

It was free, but so are the D&D Basic Rules and Fate Accelerated.

Keep in mind these examples are loss leaders to draw an audience in to buying for-profit products. This is, again, not a comparison that would work in Don's favour if the IP owners went after him. Indeed, given Don's status as a long-standing industry professional, the argument could be made that the "product" this freebie was serving as a loss leader for was Don himself. It could be illustrated in a suit that Don's skills as an industry professional were highlighted in such a way by the work itself and by his inclusion in an awards process dominated by professional, for-profit products that he did indeed commercialize this free game by turning it into promotional material for him, as a game creator.

If it's using ideas other than your own, wouldn't that include most OSR games?

Ideas cannot be protected by copyright or trademarks, and that includes game rules. How those ideas are presented, however, is where trademarks and copyrights come in. When a work includes those copyrights and trademarks -- images, names, setting details, and the like -- without permission, that goes beyond merely using ideas.

An unlicenced adaptation is problematic, and that alone seems like reason to omit it. But that's not quite the same as "professionally made".

It's not QUITE the same, but they can very easily be tied together when one also happens to be a professional in the industry the "fan" material was made for. And, based on how Don's work was presented to the public, it would be an incredibly easy argument to make. He didn't help himself by hosting the game on a website for which he's registered a domain that includes the IP owner's trademark. It also didn't help that he entered his work into multiple awards processes dominated by for-profit peers, quite literally releasing and promoting in his work in competition with for-profit equivalents. This fact makes it pretty difficult for him to argue any case for Fair Use protection, and the fact he's included images, trademarks, and other copyrights he admits he doesn't own and are immediately recognizable and associated with the video game means any hope of claiming his work is not derivative, as defined by copyright law, is out the window.

Congratulations to the 2015 ENnies Nominees!

Perram

Explorer

Dahak

Explorer

Perram

Explorer

Steve Conan Trustrum

Explorer

Morrus

Well, that was fun

Perram

Explorer

Jester David

Hero

Perram

Explorer

Morrus

Well, that was fun

Steve Conan Trustrum

Explorer

Similar Threads

Related Articles