Ema's RPG Sheet Website down...

[Mark]

*feeling dirty for agreeing with corporate decisions*

I hear alcohol can wash that away, if applied internally.

 

[jaerdaph]

I think you mean "he".

Thanks - I never knew that . Sorry 'bout that, Ema.

 

[morgul97]

If it was Ema's decision to shut down *the entire site*, well that's a shame. Ongoing costs, I suppose.

This was likely settle amicably, with Ema getting a few bucks and having to sign a non-compete / non disclosure agreement.

 

[Sammael]

I must admit I was not aware of Ema's latest site features (4E power card generator and character storage), which are obviously stepping on WotC's toes entirely too much.

The 3.x part of the site did contain some WotC IP (names of spells from non-OGL books and brief spell descriptions, for example), but that should be allowed for a fan site/under the fair use clause - after all, a reviewer would be entitled to include as much in a review.

I apologize for my yesterday's comment which was made without full possession of the facts. I'm still not sure this was handled in the best possible manner, but WotC was within its rights to send a C&D.

 

[Jack of Shadows]

OK,

There's a lot of chatter with out a lot of facts. So here are some facts:

- Ema is short for Emanuele. Ema's a guy
- The Character Manager had a one-time payment for lifetime access.
- This payment was to help Ema cover the extra expense of the increased server cost.
- Ema was most certainly running at a loss so calling it a business is absurd as it certainly wasn't for profit.
- The Character Manager was just form-fillable PDF's not a character generator. It was nowhere near what the DDI Character Creator does for you.
- The Character Manager did allow you to print off Power Cards for your 4E character but the descriptions weren't copied wholesale from the core books. They were contractions rewritten for brevity. You usually had to refer to the core rules to understand exactly how they functioned.

Some speculation:

- It's not the DDI Character Creator that pushed WotC to send the C&D but their upcoming release of Power Card packs. No one's going to buy this product if some one is letting you print them off for a small one time fee.
- Personally I think WotC could have avoided a lot bad blood if they'd just offered Ema a contract to design sheets for the DDI Character Creator in exchange for closing down his site. The one critical failure on the Creator for me is the butt-ugly, dysfunctional sheet it generates at the end.

JoS.

 

[Xyxox]

OK,

There's a lot of chatter with out a lot of facts. So here are some facts:

- Ema is short for Emanuele. Ema's a guy
- The Character Manager had a one-time payment for lifetime access.
- This payment was to help Ema cover the extra expense of the increased server cost.
- Ema was most certainly running at a loss so calling it a business is absurd as it certainly wasn't for profit.
- The Character Manager was just form-fillable PDF's not a character generator. It was nowhere near what the DDI Character Creator does for you.
- The Character Manager did allow you to print off Power Cards for your 4E character but the descriptions weren't copied wholesale from the core books. They were contractions rewritten for brevity. You usually had to refer to the core rules to understand exactly how they functioned.

Did it say "Dungeons and Dragons" anywhere on what Ema put up?

Some speculation:

There's a lot of that going around...

 

[Mournblade94]

Are we going to pretend at this point that pre-4e WotC didn't protect their closed content in a similar way?

I mean, infringement was much rarer since the STL and OGL gave people an easy safe haven. But I seem to remember a big brouhahah over use of mind flayers and beholders in some third-party products, too.

Somehow, I also doubt that WotC would have been fine and dandy with full PDFs of their books on pirate sites.

-O

No.

Ema's problem goes back to TSR. It does not enrage me at all, I understand it.

With the merger with Hasbro came D&D having more importance as a BRAND rather than a GAME. Dungeons and Dragons will sell well regardless of what rules system is placed between its covers, or what CD is placed in a box.

 

[Sammael]

Did it say "Dungeons and Dragons" anywhere on what Ema put up?

Yes, it did. But the whole "must protect trademark at all costs" is blatantly false. Wait until one of the resident IP lawyers (there are at least two here) shows up, they'll be able to explain it much better than I would.

 

[Xyxox]

Yes, it did. But the whole "must protect trademark at all costs" is blatantly false. Wait until one of the resident IP lawyers (there are at least two here) shows up, they'll be able to explain it much better than I would.

IT still depends. If he embedded an actual logo, the trademark must be defended. IF it said "compatible for use with Dungeons and DragonsⓇ", then there's no need to defend that trademark. Please note, this only states two potential permutations and in no way is a listing of all possibilities.

My guess is, the issue involved trademarks.

 

[Scott_Rouse]

I just thought I cross post here what I said over on the WotC boards

I know some of you are upset of about Ema's web site. I wish that I could explain it for you, but I can't talk about the details as this is a legal issue.

What I will say is that what happened with Ema's should not be interpreted as a war against fan sites. We value fan sites like ENWorld, RPGnet, Athas.org, Dragonlance Nexus, Candle Keep and the others that add to the D&D community while respecting our IP and business.

Also, we are still working on our fan site policy which will provide guidelines for the use of Wizards’ IPs moving forward.

Regards,