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The Day Has Come! It's An OGL! And A Store To Buy & Sell D&D 5E Products!

The day has finally come! WotC has just announced a Dungeon Master's Guild. "There’s a new way to buy and share D&D adventures. With the Dungeon Master’s Guild, you’ll be able to self-publish material set in the Forgotten Realms using monsters, spells, characters, and locations." You can self-publish D&D materials, and buy, sell, and share it. It's a partnership between WotC and OBS (the company which runs DTRPG and RPGNow) and they take 50% of the revenue. The guild is only accepting 5E material set in the Forgotten Realms. Not only that, but there's also a new SRD (System Reference Document) for use with the Open Gaming License (OGL)!

The day has finally come! WotC has just announced a Dungeon Master's Guild. "There’s a new way to buy and share D&D adventures. With the Dungeon Master’s Guild, you’ll be able to self-publish material set in the Forgotten Realms using monsters, spells, characters, and locations." You can self-publish D&D materials, and buy, sell, and share it. It's a partnership between WotC and OBS (the company which runs DTRPG and RPGNow) and they take 50% of the revenue. The guild is only accepting 5E material set in the Forgotten Realms. Not only that, but there's also a new SRD (System Reference Document) for use with the Open Gaming License (OGL)!

So the store, called the Dungeon Master's Guild, is here. It already has some stuff in it. The System Reference Document is here. I'm sure that over the coming days, there will be plenty of in-depth analysis of what all this means. The SRD is an enormous 360-page PDF containing the rules of the game - as yet I haven't had chance to look closely art what's there and what's not. You have two options - publish under the OGL using the SRD, or publish in the Dungeon Master's Guild. The former lets you do more varied stuff, while the latter has tempting nuggets like the possibility of publication by WotC. The OGL route - as far as I can see at first glance - doesn't offer a way to indicate compatibility, or any kind of logo you can use.

There's a bunch of information on the DG (I'll call it that for the moment, because typing out the whole thing is already getting arduous - we need an acronym, and DMG is already taken!), and here are the salient points as far as I can tell:

  • You can use a bunch of WotC's IP, including brand names and other vital stuff.
  • It's affiliated with DTRPG, and if you charge money it costs you 50% of your revenue (DTRPG normally charges 40% or so).
  • There are resources - templates stock art, et. you can use.
  • Your work has to be set in the Forgotten Realms. Additional settings may open up later. [UPDATE - you can publish setting agnostic stuff, but if it's in a setting, that setting must be FR]
  • You have to agree to a Community Content Agreement (below).
  • You cannot sell your stuff elsewhere. It's an exclusive deal.
  • You keep ownership of your own IP, but others can use it.
  • Your work might be selected for use in an official D&D product or video game.
  • There's no approval process, but they reserve the right to withhold payment and pull your content if you break the content guidelines.



DMsGuild-Logo.png


[h=4]The Community Content Agreement[/h]
For those having trouble finding it, here it is:

This Community Content Agreement (this “Agreement”) is a binding agreement between you, the individual identified by your customer account on this website or the legal entity you represent, and OneBookShelf, Inc. (“OBS”) the parent company of website marketplaces including DriveThruRPG, RPGNow and more.


This Agreement covers your participation in and use of the Dungeon Masters Guild and the website, www.DMsGuild.com (the “Program”).
1. Acceptance
You accept this Agreement by clicking “I Agree” to set up and submit a new title (the “Work”) to OBS.


2. Intellectual Property Definitions
(a) Hasbro, Inc. d/b/a Wizards of the Coast LLC (collectively, the “Owner”) has granted OBS the right to use elements of Owner’s Dungeons & Dragon tabletop roleplaying game (“Owner’s IP”) and sublicense certain limited rights to you under the terms of this Agreement.
Owner’s IP includes any and all Dungeons & Dragons tabletop roleplaying materials and content made available to you through the Program including, but not limited to:
Dungeons & Dragons rule sets
Portions and elements of Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings
Artwork and other graphic templates and materials
Owner’s IP may be amended at any time and for any reason whatsoever without liability to you. However, any Work published in the Program prior to the removal of Owner’s IP will not require the removal or amendment of that Work.
(b) “Program IP” shall be defined as any User Generated Content (defined, below) distributed by the Program.
(c) “User Generated Content” shall be defined as the copyrightable elements included in your Work, such as original characters, scenes, locations and events. Per the terms of this Agreement, you expressly agree that your User Generated Content, once submitted to the Program will become Program IP and useable by other members of the Program as well as the Owner as described in this Agreement.

3. Account Information; Account Suspension.

(a) Account Information; No Multiple Accounts. You must have an active user account in order to participate in the Program. You must ensure that all information you provide in connection with establishing your account, such as your name, address and email, is accurate when you provided it, and you must keep it up to date as long as you use the Program. You may maintain only one account at a time. You will not use false identities or impersonate any other person or use a username or password you are not authorized to use. You also consent to our sending you emails related to the Program and other publishing opportunities. This consent regarding contacting you by email takes precedence over any contrary directions you may have given us, including through a Wizards website.
(b) Account Security. You are solely responsible for safeguarding and maintaining the confidentiality of your account username and password and are responsible for all activities that occur under your account, whether or not you have authorized the activities. You may not permit any third party to use the Program through your account and will not use the account of any third party. You agree to immediately notify OneBookShelf.com of any unauthorized use of your username, password or account.
(c) Account Suspension. We may suspend your account or your participation in the Dungeon Masters Guild at any time. You acknowledge that if we do so, you may be prevented from accessing communications and content on the Dungeon Masters Guild. If we suspend your account, you must stop using all Dungeon Masters Guild accounts and you will not create any new accounts.

4. Rights Granted to You.

(a) Subject to your compliance with the terms of this Agreement, OBS grants you the limited, nonexclusive, nontransferable, personal, worldwide and revocable right to use and otherwise incorporate Owner’s IP and Program IP into your Work(s) for distribution through the Program or other platforms and channels at the sole discretion of Owner.
(b) Except for short promotional excerpts used to promote your Work, you may not display, recreate, publish, distribute or sell your Work (or derivatives thereof) outside of the Program administered on OBS websites or through other platforms or channels authorized or offered by Owner.

5. Rights You Grant to OBS

(a) No Reversion. Due to our licensing arrangement with the Owner and the collaborative nature of the Program, you are granting us broad licenses in your Work and your User Generated Content included in your Work, and the rights to your Work will not be reverted once it is published in the Program. You will have the ability through online tools at OBS websites to stop public display and sale of your Work on OBS marketplaces, but not to stop the sale of works of other authors in the Program even when such works use your User Generated Content that you originally created in your Work and thereby became part of the Program IP for other authors to use.
(b) Exclusive License to your Work. Effective as of the date you setup your Work through the Program on OBS’s website, you grant us the exclusive, irrevocable license for the full term of copyright protection available (including renewals), to develop,
license, reproduce, print, publish, distribute, translate, display, publicly perform and transmit your Work, in whole and in part, in each country in the world, in all languages and formats, and by all means now known or later developed, and the right to prepare derivative works of your Work.
(c) Exclusive License to all User Generated Content in your Work. Effective as of the date we first make your Work available through the Program, you grant us the exclusive, irrevocable license for the full term of copyright protection available (including renewals), to all User Generated Content included in your Work. You agree that the User Generated Content is available for unrestricted use by us without any additional compensation, notification or attribution, including that we may allow other Program authors, the Owner and other third parties to use the User Generated Content.
6. Waiver of Claims; Waiver of Moral Rights.
In order to prevent legal claims that could be disruptive to the Program participants or impede the ability of you and other Program authors to participate in the Program, you irrevocably waive any legal claim you may have under any theory of law in any territory that your rights were infringed due to any use of your User Generated Content by us, the Owner or its affiliates, licensees and sublicensees, and/or any other Program authors, including copyright infringement. This waiver does not apply to royalty payments we may owe you under Section 7. You also irrevocably waive any moral rights in your Work and agree not to assert any moral rights in your Work against us, the Owner, and/or other Program authors. If, under any applicable law, this waiver of moral rights is not effective, you acknowledge that your Work is subject to the licenses you grant in Section 4 without any credit obligation, that you intend for your Work to be used in this way, and that this form of use will not be contrary to your moral rights.

7. Royalties and Payments

(a) Royalties. As full consideration of the rights you grant us under this Agreement, we will pay you a 50% royalty of the price paid on digital download format sales of your Work, and a 50% royalty on the print margin of print-on-demand sales of your Work. Print Margin is the amount paid less the print cost to physically manufacture the book as listed on OBS websites.
(b) Sales taxes and freight charges are not considered part of the price paid.
(c) No royalties accrue on sales resulting in consumer refunds, charge backs, or fraud.
(d) Royalties are computed in US dollars.
(e) Royalties are paid via PayPal. You shall have access on OBS websites to a webpage that allows you to withdraw accumulated royalties to your PayPal account. OBS may deduct a fee of $2 or PayPal’s prevailing fee for its MassPay service from each payment to you.
(f) OBS or Owner may send complimentary copies of your work for reasonable promotional and administrative purposes. No royalties shall be paid to you on such copies.
(g) You shall set the sale price of your Work. OBS may include your Work in site promotional sales events at discounts up to 40% off your normal sale price.
(h) Royalties on a sale of your Work shall be eligible for your withdrawal 60 days after the sale.

8. Representations, Warranties and Indemnity.

You represent and warrant that:
(a) You are old enough to form a legally binding contract.
(b) If you are accepting this Agreement on behalf of a company or other legal entity, you represent that you have the legal authority to bind that company or legal entity.
(c) Excluding the Owner’s IP and Program IP which we license to you, you are the sole owner of all rights in your Work.
(d) Your Work does not contain material that is libelous; that violates the copyrights or trademarks of another party; that violates the law; or that the general public would classify as pornography.
You will indemnify and hold OBS and Owner harmless from any liability or cause of action arising from any breach of your representations and warranties including all reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs.

9. No Obligation to Make Available or Sell. You acknowledge that we have no obligation to market, distribute, or offer for sale your Work, or to continuing marketing, distributing or selling your Work after we have started doing so. We may remove your Work from the Program and cease further exploitation at any time in our sole discretion without notice to you.

10. Disclaimers; Limitation of Liability. THE PROGRAM IS PROVIDED "AS IS." WE AND THE OWNER WILL IN NO EVENT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF PROFITS, COST OF COVER OR OTHER SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, EXEMPLARY OR RELIANCE DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR IN RELATION TO THIS AGREEMENT, OR FOR ANY EQUITABLE REMEDY OF DISGORGEMENT OR OTHERWISE, HOWEVER CAUSED AND REGARDLESS OF THEORY OF LIABILITY. IN NO EVENT WILL OUR (OR OWNER) LIABILITY UNDER THIS AGREEMENT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (I) THE AMOUNT OF FEES DUE AND PAYABLE BY US TO YOU UNDER THIS AGREEMENT FOR THE TWELVE-MONTH PERIOD PRECEDING THE CLAIM AND (II) FIFTY DOLLARS ($50.00). WE SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM, WITH RESPECT TO ALL SERVICES, SOFTWARE, CONTENT OR PRODUCTS PROVIDED BY OR ON BEHALF OF US IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT OR THE PROGRAM, ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. YOU AGREE THAT WE CANNOT ENSURE THAT EDITIONS OF YOUR USER GENERATED CONDITIONS WILL BE PROTECTED FROM THEFT OR MISUSE OR THAT CUSTOMERS WILL COMPLY WITH ANY CONTENT USAGE RULES. ONEBOOKSHELF WILL HAVE NO LIABILITY ARISING FROM A FAILURE OF ANY SECURITY SYSTEM OR PROCEDURE OR OF ANY CUSTOMER TO COMPLY WITH ANY CONTENT USAGE RULES. WE CANNOT GUARANTEE THAT OUR SYSTEMS WILL ALWAYS BE AVAILABLE, AND WE WILL HAVE NO LIABILITY ARISING FROM SYSTEM OR PROCESS FAILURES, INTERRUPTIONS, INACCURACIES, ERRORS OR LATENCIES.
SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE DISCLAIMER OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES; AS SUCH THE FOREGOING DISCLAIMER MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU IN ITS ENTIRETY.

11. Execution of Further Agreements and Documents. Protection of rights sometimes requires formal filings of paper documents and it may be helpful for us to have physical signed versions of this Agreement or other documents. You agree to sign and deliver to us any further documents that we may reasonably request to confirm your grant of rights to us (and Owner) under this Agreement, following all instructions we provide for signature and return (“Additional Documents”). If you do not complete and return any such Additional Documents within 30 days after we request them, you agree that we can sign the Additional Documents on your behalf and, to make your agreement legally enforceable, you hereby irrevocably appoint us as your attorney-in-fact with full power to execute, acknowledge and deliver the Additional Documents as required to confirm our rights. In legal terms, your appointment is a power coupled with an interest.

12. No Rescission or Injunctive Relief. All rights granted to us (and Owner) under this Agreement are irrevocably vested. No breach by us (or Owner) of this Agreement will entitle you to equitable relief, whether injunctive or otherwise, against or with respect to your User Generated Content or any other works produced pursuant to the rights granted under this Agreement or their exploitation. If the rights granted to OBS (or Owner) under this Agreement should revert to you under any copyright law or similar law, and if you are at any time thereafter prepared to enter an agreement with a third party for the license, exercise or other disposition of all or any of those rights, you will, before entering into the agreement, give OBS and Owner notice of the proposed terms (and all modifications of the terms) and the party involved. In each case, both OBS and Owner will then have 10 business days in which to elect to acquire the rights involved on the terms you offered to that third party.

13. General Provisions.
(a) This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties with respect to its subject matter. If any provision of this Agreement is held invalid by a court or other tribunal with jurisdiction over the parties to this Agreement, that provision will be deemed to be restated to reflect as nearly as possible the original intentions of the parties in accordance with applicable law, and the remainder of this Agreement will remain in full force and effect. The failure of either party to enforce any provision of this Agreement does not waive the party's rights to subsequently enforce the provision.
(b) The parties are independent contractors with respect to each other. This Agreement does not constitute and shall not be construed as constituting a partnership or joint venture among the parties hereto, or an employee/employer relationship.
(c) This Agreement will be binding upon, inure to the benefit of and be enforceable by the parties and their respective successors and assigns.
(d) You agree that all matters relating to your access to or use of the Program, including all disputes, will be governed by the laws of the United States and by the laws of the State of Washington without regard to its conflicts of laws provisions. You agree to the personal jurisdiction by and venue in the state and federal courts in King County, Washington, and waive any objection to such jurisdiction or venue. The preceding provision regarding venue does not apply if you are a consumer based in the European Union. If you are a consumer based in the European Union, you may make a claim in the courts of the country where you reside. Any claim under this Agreement must be brought within one (1) year after the cause of action arises, or such claim or cause of action is barred. You expressly acknowledge and agree that no recovery may be sought or received for damages other than out-of-pocket expenses, except that the prevailing party will be entitled to costs and attorneys’ fees. In the event of any controversy or dispute between us and you arising out of or in connection with your use of the Program, the parties shall attempt, promptly and in good faith, to resolve any such dispute. If we are unable to resolve any such dispute within a reasonable time (not to exceed thirty (30) days), then either party may submit such controversy or dispute to mediation. If the dispute cannot be resolved through mediation, then the parties shall be free to pursue any right or remedy available to them under applicable law.
Changelog


We will update this section if/when we make updates to this Agreement.
 

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Ramicus

Villager
D's OBS/WoTC $$ Take...and a crystal ball reading

I think OBS takes 40% in general - at least that's what I gather from a tweet from Fred "Evil Hat" Hicks where he mentioned that Evil Hat had sold $87k via OneBookShelf and OBS's cut of that was $34k. 34/87 is about 40%.

So basically you're paying 10 percentiles extra for the DM's Guild stuff.

OBS takes 40% when you do not sell exclusively on OBS (which is basically DTRP and RPGNow).
OBS takes 35% if you sell a product exclusively through OBS.
Last I knew, these were the general terms, barring any recent changes to their agreements.

That means since there is a right to exclusivity (cannot sell anywhere else) that this contract is charging te author/publisher 15% more than the typical exclusive marketplace contract for OBS (35%), all of which goes to WotC. Additionally, WotC is charging OBS 10% for the exclusive marketplace itself, leaving them each with 25% of the net sales margin on the User Created content.

From OBS perspective, they are paying WotC a 10% premium on their standard "exclusive market contract" which normally carries a 35% net sales margin in exchange for an exclusive WotC marketplace for 5e User-Created Content with a license for FR IP under explicit contractual conditions.

From the Creative User perspective, each author is paying WotC a 15% Premium on the normal exclusive market net sales margin of 65% in order to be able to utilize the WotC FR IP under explicit contractual conditions. That results in a 50% net sales margin for the author/publisher.

To summarize, WotC is getting 25% of the product's net sales margin: 15% comes from you, the author, and 10% comes from OBS. That's the cost of the FR IP to both the author and the marketplace combined.

They way they've explained it works and is far more publisher-centric. In business terms, WotC has all the cards - and licensing is never free.

Normal exclusive market net sales margin charge: 35% to OBS, 65% to author/publisher.
DG net sales margin charge: 25% (-10%) to OBS, 25% to WotC, 50%(-15%) to author/publisher.

In all, the concept is win-win for user-created content. I also suspect this means that the WotC focus will NOT be on official FR materials - at first. Something like this model would certainly gauge how much market saturation there is for FR, and provide WotC insight into how well new products might sell based on continued interest. It will also dilute the WotC profitability of new FR material at first.....as the marketplace gets established.

My crystal ball says that going forward, WotC continues to focus on other settings, as they have already been dabbling at, and let's the fan base provide its own FR-fix while they grow some other IP to profitability. This isn't necessarily bad because they do have some cool IP besides FR, and it creates good will with the customer base by meeting their needs in new, creative ways while still making money on the FR IP.

Just my take.
 
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77IM

Explorer!!!
Supporter
Now I'm wondering if there comes a point at which Hasbro just buys OneBookShelf and makes it a division of Wizards of the Coast.
 

Mark CMG

Creative Mountain Games
Now I'm wondering if there comes a point at which Hasbro just buys OneBookShelf and makes it a division of Wizards of the Coast.


They'd have to staff it. So, I find it unlikely. They seem to want to keep their actual employee numbers very, very low under the current business model.
 

Jeremy E Grenemyer

Feisty
Supporter
I have to give it to WotC: they finally figured out how to publish Forgotten Realms content en masse, without having to worry about keeping everything lined up with Canon Realmslore.

That's quite the problem solved right there.
 

unnatural 20

Explorer
So, how would Forgotten Realms cannon proceed? Author A writes "A Guide to The Spellplague 2: More Troubled Times" and Author B keeps the timeline but pens a sourcebook killing Elminster. Am I understanding right or is that protected IP?
 

CapnZapp

Legend
anything sold next to D&D products will far outsell anything not sold that way, all other things being equal (art, production values, quality, etc.).
This.

People saying "don't fall for WotC's offer, better to keep your ideas to yourself" don't seem to get that there are basically two alternatives:

1a) Self-publish. Sell next to nothing.
1b) Gain no recognition. Erect a temple to yourself in your basement. Not even demons will bother manifesting.

2a) Write a popular product. Give it more or less away (possibly for free, if you're hell-bent on not giving any money to DM's Guild).
2b) Gain world-wide recognition. Get job offers. Freelance opportunities. Quit your day job. Buy Hefner's Mansion, and sell tickets for others to worship at your temple if lawful, or build a monster-infested dungeon below it if chaotic.

The point is that as a nobody, don't expect to make any money. Yet. First, you need recognition.

Then, when you're the next Eberron creator or Monte Cook, and only then, we can talk about making money.

(Not that I recommend you to expect becoming rich in the rpg business. Much better to just expect the joy of giving, and treating your writing as a not-for-profit hobby. But since I direct this towards people thinking their ideas are directly worth money, this is what I ended up with)

TL;DR: Don't hold on to your rights for your first few products, since they don't represent wealth. They represent a foot in the door.
 

Jeremy E Grenemyer

Feisty
Supporter
So, how would Forgotten Realms cannon proceed?
From what I understand (so far), users can create adventure content for the marketplace, but it's not official Realmslore (i.e., canon).

WotC has the option to contact a user and purchase their content, then utilize it in official Realms products, at which point it becomes part of the Realms.

EDIT: Realms adventures are already on the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to canon, which is a good thing. Plenty of room for people to write "Elminster: I Slay Thee" adventures that way. ;)

EDIT #2: It looksl like WotC will consider user-generated content for their digital partners, not necessarily for print publication. (...The best work will also be eligible to be selected by the Dungeons & Dragons team at Wizards, to provide our digital partners with salable, downloadable content (DLC) for games such as the Neverwinter MMO and Sword Coast Legends. ...)
 
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Jeremy E Grenemyer

Feisty
Supporter
Looking at how royalties are paid out, I saw this:

You can withdraw your accumulated royalties via PayPal by going to the My Money section of the Account page. There is a $2 fee taken from each withdrawal, but you will pay no other PayPal fees to receive the money. To prevent certain types of fraud, we have to hold your royalties for 60 days after the date of a sale before the royalties from that sale are eligible for withdrawal by PayPal.

Seems like a 60 day interest free loan to me, and then they charge you $2 for the privilege of handing over your money.
 

spectacle

First Post
The fraud concerns are real though, without the waiting period it would be easy to scam money by buying thousands of copies of your own work and then demanding a refund from paypal after the money has been paid out.
 

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