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The Fonts of D&D 5th Edition
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<blockquote data-quote="kalani" data-source="post: 6793359" data-attributes="member: 88085"><p>^This was what I was trying to articulate. Using a font by itself is fine, but if you release something "designed to look like an official D&D Product" (IOWs, by copying their trade dress), you can run into legal problems (even if released for free). </p><p></p><p>Copying 5Es monster stat blocks (as mentioned by Pauper above) is a perfect example of trade-dress violation. Using a D&D font in a banner, or in a completely different style of trade-dress is perfectly legal.... Trying to make your item look the same as a D&D item, is not.</p><p></p><p>The reason I mentioned trade-dress violation earlier, is because of the fact that many people want the D&D Fonts specifically for the purpose of making their creations "look the same" as the official product(s); IOWs - their objective is to use the same trade dress (or a close approximation of). Such individuals want the fonts for the purpose of looking "more official".</p><p></p><p>I know something of this issue as it relates to the RPG industry, and while mechanics and rules cannot be copyright, trade dress, graphics, artwork, terminology, and block text can be. If rules could be copyright, the Monopoly ruleset would have a monopoly on the 2d6 mechanic.</p><p></p><p>WotC could not for example, claim copyright violation if another game used the following rule: "Roll 2d20 and take the better result" (as rules cannot be copyright), providing the other game used different phrasing than WotC used.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="kalani, post: 6793359, member: 88085"] ^This was what I was trying to articulate. Using a font by itself is fine, but if you release something "designed to look like an official D&D Product" (IOWs, by copying their trade dress), you can run into legal problems (even if released for free). Copying 5Es monster stat blocks (as mentioned by Pauper above) is a perfect example of trade-dress violation. Using a D&D font in a banner, or in a completely different style of trade-dress is perfectly legal.... Trying to make your item look the same as a D&D item, is not. The reason I mentioned trade-dress violation earlier, is because of the fact that many people want the D&D Fonts specifically for the purpose of making their creations "look the same" as the official product(s); IOWs - their objective is to use the same trade dress (or a close approximation of). Such individuals want the fonts for the purpose of looking "more official". I know something of this issue as it relates to the RPG industry, and while mechanics and rules cannot be copyright, trade dress, graphics, artwork, terminology, and block text can be. If rules could be copyright, the Monopoly ruleset would have a monopoly on the 2d6 mechanic. WotC could not for example, claim copyright violation if another game used the following rule: "Roll 2d20 and take the better result" (as rules cannot be copyright), providing the other game used different phrasing than WotC used. [/QUOTE]
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