Ema's RPG Sheet Website down...

[Oldtimer]

Also, let's be fair here. From what I understand, Ema pretty clearly had copyright infringement on the site. You might disagree about the remedies, but you probably have to give into that (if there indeed was complete verbatim text of non-open feats, spells, etdc. on the site).

I also understand that he put some text from PH on his site. Whether that was within Fair Use under italian law I don't know. In my book it seems to be a rather minor infringement made by a dedicated fan who put a lot of effort into that site.

So, do you consider such a fan your enemy or your ally? Leniency or all out war?

 

[Xyxox]

I also understand that he put some text from PH on his site. Whether that was within Fair Use under italian law I don't know. In my book it seems to be a rather minor infringement made by a dedicated fan who put a lot of effort into that site.

So, do you consider such a fan your enemy or your ally? Leniency or all out war?

Ema charged money for a service. Like it or not, the moment Ema did that, Ema's site was no longer a fan site. It was a business. Any business that steals (yes STEALS) intellectual property gets what it deserves.

 

[Oldtimer]

Ema charged money for a service. Like it or not, the moment Ema did that, Ema's site was no longer a fan site. It was a business. Any business that steals (yes STEALS) intellectual property gets what it deserves.

I feel like I'm repeating myself...

You are talking nonsense. Ema offered storage space on his server. What has that got to do with being a fan site or not? That's a completly different issue from his use of WotC materials. Like it or not, Ema's site was a fan site.

And yelling "STEALS" doesn't make you look more intelligent... or right.

 

[xechnao]

I feel like I'm repeating myself...

You are talking nonsense. Ema offered storage space on his server. What has that got to do with being a fan site or not? That's a completly different issue from his use of WotC materials. Like it or not, Ema's site was a fan site.

And yelling "STEALS" doesn't make you look more intelligent... or right.

From what I have been reading here it is about storage space that was connected to a specific service which was the actual attraction of the exchange. Perhaps Ema could have granted access to such storage space without charging and provided as an option the possibility to donate money for his work for who ever wished to do so. I want to believe he would not have had any problems this way.

 

[Xyxox]

I feel like I'm repeating myself...

You are talking nonsense. Ema offered storage space on his server. What has that got to do with being a fan site or not? That's a completly different issue from his use of WotC materials. Like it or not, Ema's site was a fan site.

And yelling "STEALS" doesn't make you look more intelligent... or right.

Ema charged money for storage space on his server.

That's a business.

Using WotC's intellectual property in that endeavor was theft.

There's no way around it.

 

[Oldtimer]

Ema charged money for storage space on his server.

That's a business.

I am of a different opinion here.

Using WotC's intellectual property in that endeavor was theft.

That is simply wrong. If you can't even understand what the word "theft" means, I'll have to give up discussing with you. That whole sentence is just nonsense.

 

[Xyxox]

I am of a different opinion here.

That is simply wrong. If you can't even understand what the word "theft" means, I'll have to give up discussing with you. That whole sentence is just nonsense.

If you don't understand that stealing intellectual property is stealing, there's no point in having a discussion.

 

[The Little Raven]

I am of a different opinion here.

So, what do you call a venture in which you offer a service in exchange for payment? Most people call that a business. And when that services provides another company's intellectual property to your customers without a license from that company, you run into legal trouble. You may disagree, but the person involved, Ema, obviously agrees as he has consistently said over and over again that WotC has done the right thing.

 

[catsclaw227]

You are talking nonsense. Ema offered storage space on his server. What has that got to do with being a fan site or not? That's a completly different issue from his use of WotC materials. Like it or not, Ema's site was a fan site.

And yelling "STEALS" doesn't make you look more intelligent... or right.

First, no one is trying to make Ema out to be some super-pirate.

It has been clearly stated by Ema that they did the right thing. It has also been shown that Ema's site charged for use of services and that these services included non-OGL 3.x information, as well as protected 4e IP, all without permission. This is illegal, anyway you slice it.

So, do you consider such a fan your enemy or your ally? Leniency or all out war?

I don't think that it's about "all out war". That is stretching it a bit. But strict adherence to a policy? This is important.

If WOTC knowingly allows Ema's site to provide protected content (while charging money), they set a precedence for other sites and companies to create a for-profit venture riding on that same IP.

They are following a standard process of protecting IP. How is this problematic for you?

 

[Xyxox]

if wotc knowingly allows ema's site to provide protected content (while charging money), they set a precedence for other sites and companies to create a for-profit venture riding on that same ip.

qft