Numenera's Limited License

[Morrus]

Monte Cook Games has published its limited, royalty-free license for third-party publishers (not to be confused with its community/fan policy published last week). I figured some publishers round here might be interested.

Monte Cook Games offers a limited, royalty-free license for publishers interested in producing game material supporting Numenera. Here are some features of the license:


**There is a $50 fee.
**That fee licenses a single print or PDF product supporting Numenera (you can obtain multiple licenses for multiple products).
**You may sell the product commercially (or release it for free, if you desire).
**You may not crowdfund the product.
**You do not need to pay royalties and are not required to report sales unless we request a report.
**However, this license limits your total sales to $2000.

The Monte Cook Games limited license is intended for small-press support products. If you’re interested in pursuing a publication under our limited license, contact Charles Ryan at charles@montecookgames.com.


If you have a project in mind that exceeds the limits of this license, you must submit a full proposal detailing both the creative and financial aspects of your plan to charles@montecookgames.com in order to be considered for a full licensing partnership.

 

[Wicht]

Perhaps some might help me out here, because I do not understand the feasibility of limiting sales to $2000 nor exactly what this implies for the user. Does it mean that once you have made $2000 worth of sales you must withdraw your product from the market? Or that at the $2000 mark you must pay for a new license? Also, as the $2000 worth of sales is Gross, not net, that limits a $20 book to a 100 copy print run, which is fairly small (or a a $10 PDF to 200 copies, which is still pretty small).

Overall, I am underwhelmed by the license. It seems mostly aimed at fan publishing than true commercial publishers, which I guess is further suggested by the last line asking for proposals for anything more.

 

[Morrus]

Perhaps some might help me out here, because I do not understand the feasibility of limiting sales to $2000 nor exactly what this implies for the user. Does it mean that once you have made $2000 worth of sales you must withdraw your product from the market? Or that at the $2000 mark you must pay for a new license? Also, as the $2000 worth of sales is Gross, not net, that limits a $20 book to a 100 copy print run, which is fairly small (or a a $10 PDF to 200 copies, which is still pretty small).

I guess you withdraw your book. Or contact them and ask for a new license. 200 copies of a $10 PDF isn't many. As for why? I guess they want to keep it to very small outfits only. Thus no Kickstarters (as that could go mega), and limited sales runs.

Overall, I am underwhelmed by the license. It seems mostly aimed at fan publishing than true commercial publishers, which I guess is further suggested by the last line asking for proposals for anything more.

Yeah; it's not designed for major publishing efforts. Those have to be negotiated individually.

 

[tomBitonti]

Is the $2000 limit presented as a "if you pass $2000 you have X amount of time to obtain a full license", or are you immediately in violation of the license and must immediately cease to make your product available (if you exceed the $2000 limit)?

If there is a "you have X amount of time" type statement, what is effect after the $2000 limit is exceeded until a full license is obtained (or declined)?

(Actually, if you are immediately in violation, what then? If you sell $3000 before you are able to disable your sales software, where does that leave you?)

Seems that any "for sale" product which has a likelyhood of exceeding $2000 should obtain the full license as a matter of prudence.

Also, what does the $2000 include? For a print-on-demand product, the final print cost, or something else? If a product is made available through a third party, which price is used?

Thx!

TomB

 

[delericho]

Yeah. Were I a publisher considering supporting Numenera, I would be having major second thoughts at this point. While it is, of course, the owner's right to license their IP any way they see fit (including not at all), I would consider at least three clauses problematic:

**There is a $50 fee.
**You may not crowdfund the product.
**However, this license limits your total sales to $2000.

Basically, faced with that, I'd be applying my efforts elsewhere.

 

[Wicht]

I looked yesterday when this was posted by Monte and Co. to facebook but did not find the actual license.

 

[Morrus]

Is the $2000 limit presented as a "if you pass $2000 you have X amount of time to obtain a full license", or are you immediately in violation of the license and must immediately cease to make your product available (if you exceed the $2000 limit)?

If there is a "you have X amount of time" type statement, what is effect after the $2000 limit is exceeded until a full license is obtained (or declined)?

It's pasted verbatim up above. That's the license, I believe.

 

[Wicht]

It's pasted verbatim up above. That's the license, I believe.

I am not sure. The text reads, "Here are some features of the license," implying there is more to it. But its not on site, that I can find.

 

[Morrus]

I am not sure. The text reads, "Here are some features of the license," implying there is more to it. But its not on site, that I can find.

Ah, it says (near the bottom) to email Charles Ryan for the actual license.

 

[tomBitonti]

I am not sure. The text reads, "Here are some features of the license," implying there is more to it. But its not on site, that I can find.

Ditto what Morris said. The text seems to be a summary. The text is verbatim of what is available through the link.

Thinking more about the $2000 limit, that would imply a pre-sales inventory control. With a price (say) of $10 per unit, the first 200 units must be strictly tracked (say, numbered), with the sales channel structured to allow only those 200 units to be sold.

Thx!

TomB