D&D 5E Can someone please explain to me why there are still no PDFs for 5e core books?

[Jester David]

I tend to play fast and loose with copyright and piracy. I'll admit to that. I pay for cable and Netflix (and HBO during the GoT window) so I don't feel too bad sneaking the occasional show or old movie.
It comes down to convenience: my PVR missed an episode and it's not streamable, or the station doesn't stream to Canada. Or the movie just aired and I missed it and I don't feel like waiting until it airs again, or the movie vanished from Netflix when I wasn't looking. Or my four-year-old wants to watch the same show again and again and I don't want it taking space on my PVR (or it vanished from Netflix).
The amount of money I'm spending remains the same and I'm not costing anyone anything because I wouldn't have paid. The difference is now versus when it's on reruns.

To me it feels like using one of those location shifting programs with Netflix. Technically against the terms of use. But one of the reasons I pay is the availability of programs, and if those options went away I might be less inclined to pay, so they make more money from me by not looking too closely at my location. And I'm happy to pay. Heck, I'm paying extra and doing the family plan option.

Downloading D&D books. Is it piracy if you own the books? As Morrus says, that depends on where you live. In many places it's only uploading that's illegal. And, again, there's the convenience factor.
I haven't stolen music in many, many years. Not since iTunes made it easier to just get the one song I really want quickly and easily for a couple bucks. But, since my CDs are in a box somewhere in my basement or garage, I haven't looked at them in years. And occasionally there's a bad copy. So is it piracy to just torrent a copy of that one song to replace one I own and legally have on my iPod that is a little choppy?

What if my CD drive goes out? And it's very easy to own CDs and a smartphone or tablet but not a computer. Is it immoral to download because the technology to copy a CD onto a tablet is as awkward as copying a cassette or vinyl album?
This situation is very similar to the PDF situation. Making a good scan of a hardcover book is hard on the book, and no everyone owns a decent scanner. And the company is not providing an alternative for people without scanners.

But, on the other hand, even if what I'm doing is not wrong, I'm still benefiting from someone committing an illegal act. It could be argued as enabling or validating their actions.

If WotC was releasing PDFs this would all be a moot conversation. There'd be no debate as the moral answer would be easy: buy the official alternative. Give money to the company making what you love. But that option doesn't currently exist.

 

[PnPgamer]

Did pdfs exist for 4th edition?

 

[delericho]

Did pdfs exist for 4th edition?

For many books, but not all. AFAIK, PDFs of the "big three" never legally existed, but I might be wrong about that.

 

[seebs]

sorry I'm still not seeing what harm any of this causes... not everything has to become public domain, but that doesn't mean nothing ever can...

heck just put a restriction that to extend it past XX years (where XX= a long time) that you have to currently be using the property... aka no sitting on properties... kind of like the wonderwoman thing at DC...

a general use it or lose it...

The harm is that derivative and transformative works are an incredibly significant part of our cultural tradition and heritage, and that not being able to make them deprives us of interesting art, and especially of art which comments on or gives new insight into other art.

There's also that in general, it tends to shift the emphasis away from "make new things" to "continue milking old properties", and that's not really good for any of us.

Basically, there are two possibilities: Either nearly the entirety of human history was devoid of artworks, or we don't need really long copyright terms.

 

[Staffan]

The thing about so-called "intellectual property" is that it really isn't. Property, that is. It's a state-granted monopoly that lets you control the copying and distribution of information. I'm mostly going to discuss copyright below, but there are quite a few problems with the other kind of information monopolies as well (patents and trademarks).

If I have a pizza, that's one pizza. If I share the pizza with a friend, we each have half a pizza (or 2/3 and 1/3, or whatever way we choose to share it with one another). But let's say I instead have a movie, and share it with a friend. Then we both have a movie, and are both the richer for it - there are even synergistic effects of sharing it, where I now can discuss my experience watching the movie with my friend. So when information is shared, everyone is richer, at least in the short term. Information is not a scarce resource the way physical property is.

But.

When a good has infinite supply, the price drops to zero. That provides very little incentive for people to make more of that kind of good, because they'll be investing time and money into it for no return. There would still be art created even without copyright (evidence: the whole frickin' Internet), but there would be little room for professionalism in the field, and particular forms of art that require big investments (e.g. large-scale movies) would probably vanish. So, in order to provide an incentive for the creation of art, the state gives the creator a monopoly on control of that art.

At the same time, a lot of art - some would say all art - is based on art that has come before. Look at all the wonderful versions of Shakespeare plays that have been produced over the years, including things like West Side Story and Ran. Or for that matter the Bard himself, who "borrowed" liberally from the tales that were popular in his day. Or look at Disney's adaptions of various fairy tales into movies. Or all the adaptions of Sherlock Holmes - both as portrayed by Robert Downey Jr, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jonny Lee Miller, or for that matter Hugh Laurie (House). Or, to use lighter fare, a myriad of videos on Youtube where people combine music from one source with video from another, and create something awesome from the combination. So, clearly, there is value in allowing people to base works of art on other works of art, without involving the original creator. What if we got to see as many takes on the character of Spider-Man as on Sherlock Holmes?

There's also the issue that copyright is a limitation on rights I naturally ought to have when I purchase a copy of a work of art. If I buy a set of carpentry tools, for example, the creator of those tools doesn't get to tell me that I can only use those tools to build things for my own personal use. If I use them to build a table, I can sell that table. If I use them to build a house, I can sell that house (or at least charge for my work in building the house). But if I buy a DVD, the creator of that DVD does get to tell me that I can't show the contents in a movie theatre. That is a clear limitation on my property rights as owner of that DVD.

So, there are numerous competing interests at work here. The best way to go would, in my opinion, be the one that gives us the most and the best art while providing the least limitation regarding property rights. So, to focus on part of the issue: how long should copyright last for? Would artists and corporations be less willing to invest in the creation of art if they only got to enjoy the economic fruits of that investment for ten years? Twenty? Personally, I think the number of books and movies that are made today but would not be made with a copyright period lasting for 10-20 years is vanishingly small.

 

[Belisarius76]

This would be handy for those that purchased the core books hardcopy wise, as it's a pain in terms of the spell list and distributing to players. We are just getting back into it, and it would be handy to have a pdf to print out specific spells being used by players with description etc

 

[Ahrimon]

Getting sick of lugging my books around LOL!!!

Bro! Do you even lift?!?

 

[TheSwartz]

Bro! Do you even lift?!?

LoL I should market a "Nerd Fitness" program, a boot camp of sorts, which has you doing calisthenics with the core books!

That 5e Shadowrun core book is huge, I could add that too for the hardcore nerd-fitness-enthusiasts!

 

[evilbob]

Have you emailed them?

Can you do this? This sounds like a good idea; is there a generic "suggestions @ WOTC" email or something or does anyone know who would be best to email? Let's get an email campaign going.

 

[Queer Venger]

Buy a book, take it apart, then scan it yourself. Voila! You have a PDF.

that is what one of my players did. He likes having everything on pdf, so he took his PHB apart, scanned it.