TSR TSR3 Blames Widespread Pushback On WotC

In an unexpected turn of events, the primary individuals behind TSR3 have claimed the pushback they've received on social media and elsewhere was orchestrated by .... D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast (a company which has thus far remained completely silent on recent events).

TSR3 is run by Justin LaNasa, Stephen Dinehart, and Ernie Gygax. The controversy has been raging for over a week, since TSR3 announced itself with a press release.

TSR - Companies & Freelancers Distance Themselves From The New TSR

The new TSR (which I refer to as TSR3 to avoid confusion) has doubled down on its stance--which has been widely condemned online--via an ongoing series of tweets and replies from its TSR Games, Giantlands, and Dungeon Hobby Museum social media accounts (possibly operated by Justin LaNasa) in an...

www.enworld.org

Stephen Dinehart and Ernie Gygax have since deactivated their Twitter accounts; Justin LaNasa doesn't appear to have one, but it is believed he is the person operating TSR3's Twitter account. A couple of days ago, Ernie Gygax posted about recent events on Facebook (note that he edited the post, but the original can be seen here).

I wish to state in the strongest terms that I never meant to hurt anyone of any race, creed or color. My video From the Bunker caused some to feel that they would not be welcome or would be looked down upon. That was never the intent, I was reacting to focus of modern role play into a more background and Role Play rather than the wargame that so made so many lives happy over 40 years ago.

As a gamer it meant that most of us were not worthy of any attention from others of our own age. We were Nerds. We were brainy-acks and others would snicker. Older classmen would ask to "borrow" something of ours to then pass back and forth a game of keep away. I used to receive some special attention from about 4 Juniors in my Freshman year. I played the Violin and often I began to wish that I had Super Powers, perhaps become a Giant.. I was far to shy and then embarrassed as attractive ladies would just lower the eyes while the jocks or other socially vibrant fellows had some fun at another geeky nerds expense. Thank goodness I grew 4 inches my junior year.

The only real comfort zone we all could share was a table in the lunch room. At least the fledgling TSR found fertile minds in those who had only those like us - gamers. Rather than have to risk embarrassing myself, since Phy Ed was going to force us to dance with those wonderful and yet scary girls. Well to get my Diploma I had to slave for a month to Mr. Gerber the head of the Phy Ed department. Fortunately I knew all about janitorial work as before D&D and TSR dad only made $5,000 as a Cobbler (five children) and we had food stamps and even free school lunches. Yes you had to go to the councilors office every week to collect your free lunch passes. Obviously you could feel all the eyes on you and the talk about....

Everyone has been welcome at my gaming table and multitudes of new friends have been created by the time spent playing the games we Love. Look at pictures of gaming on my site or anywhere I run games. Everyone is welcome, just like a Boot Hill game leave your guns at the bar until you leave town. If you come to the Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum Jeff R. Leason will show you courtesy and a smile and you will see that gaming with elder gamers is a safe and entertaining environment.

TSR - Ernie Gygax on New TSR, WotC Beefs, Trademarks, Licensees, 5E, & More

A YouTube channel, 'Live From the Bunker', interviewed Ernie Gygax about the new TSR. I've watched and decided to try to transcribe the most relevant parts of it, but the full hour-long video is below if you want to see the whole interview and full context. Ernie Gygax is one of D&D...

www.enworld.org

 

[Abstruse]

Thanks for the explanation on monetizing parodies.

The Cards Against Humanity model, I believe, right?

CAH was originally released under a Creative Commons license, which allowed for Crabs Adjust Humidity and other spin-off works. Unless you mean CAH itself, which they never really used any other copyrighted material. The closest was referencing trademarks, which isn't covered under trademark protection because they weren't using the trademark with the product and there would be no brand confusion (like CAH doing a card that says "Coca-Cola®" isn't claiming that CAH is a Coca-Cola product nor is anyone going to confuse a party card game for a soft drink).

It's the reason all this trademark stuff is coming up here - it's two different rights involved. TSR Games is blatantly violating copyright in their use of the Star Frontiers artwork and cover. They may be violating trademark by its use since Wizards of the Coast may not have the trademark registered but they do still use it commercially and have protected that trademark recently (in 2017, they prevented Evil Hat from doing exactly what TSR Games is attempting to do - register the trademark to publish a new edition...granted, Evil Hat at least did so in discussions with WotC and didn't publicly announce anything rather than filing the paperwork and not even waiting for it to finalize before making a product announcement). They may be violating copyright in their use of the 1970s and 1980s era TSR logos (even if the trademarks have lapsed, the actual logos themselves are protected under copyright, which is most likely owned by Wizards of the Coast as they were most likely work-for-hire productions for TSR...which is why Jayson Elliot's TSR Games has used its own, original TSR logo for the last decade instead of one of the old ones). They may or may not have the right to the TSR trademark at all (the paperwork isn't approved yet and both Jayson Elliot and Wizards of the Coast could make cases that they both are still actively using the TSR name in commercial trade (though Elliot's case is stronger in that regard because WotC did not defend the TSR trademark against his use for Top Secret).

And all of this is just a basic explanation. There are quite a few lawyers who have noticed all this going on and I'd expect a few videos and podcasts coming out in the next few days/weeks from actual lawyers explaining all the legal issues and giving their professional opinions on what's going on.

 

[Bacon Bits]

Either way, TSR Games used the original artwork and cover from the 1982 version of Star Frontiers, which they do not have the right to use and is not covered under Fair Use and used it for marketing purposes for their company. It's pretty much an open and shut case should Wizards or Hasbro decide to pursue it.

It's entirely possible that TSR3 has licensed the artwork. While WotC/Hasbro owns it, I don't know that there's much value in them. Certainly less so now. Jayson made it quite clear that the name "TSR" isn't even worth $10 at the moment (though he was explicitly unclear if he was no longer interested in the name, or if he was instead seeking legal remedy to the trademark situation).

Then again, to paraphrase Wayne's World, "TSR3 doesn't appear to have a duck, let alone many ducks that would necessitate an entire row."

 

[imagineGod]

Back to that pseudo-apology.

Ernie Gygax:

"I wish to state in the strongest terms that I never meant to hurt anyone of any race, creed or color."

[But I did mean to hurt them because of their sex, gender, or orientation.]

There is no evidence for the last sentence you seem to attribute to Ernie Gygax.

Valid criticism is well and good, but if we stoop to dirty insinuation. what moral alignment makes this okay?

 

[Dyson Logos]

I think it is important to post the original text of the apology instead of the "super powers" version.

The original version nails home the "incel school shooter" apology mode.

(Without going into Ernie being called out for transphobia and his reaction being to block all his old trans friends and apologize to everyone else)

 

[imagineGod]

I think it is important to post the original text of the apology instead of the "super powers" version.

The original version nails home the "incel school shooter" apology mode.

(Without going into Ernie being called out for transphobia and his reaction being to block all his old trans friends and apologize to everyone else)

That wannabe school shooter confession is a scary thought. Also tells us that mental health wellness in school is very important.

 

[EthanSental]

Wow, we have a QAnon conspiracy push in the TTRPG community…great ;(.
Not everything is a conspiracy, jeez…what a mess but people have the - let’s dig in and keep fighting like it’s us against “them” mind set.

 

[Yaarel]

There is no evidence for the last sentence you seem to attribute to Ernie Gygax.

Valid criticism is well and good, but if we stoop to dirty insinuation. what moral alignment makes this okay?

I disagree. The complaints were specifically about Ernie seeking to "enforce gender" and (probably) LaNasa saying "you are disgusting" to someone supporting trans.

To then apologize to "race, creed, or color", looks intentionally hostile against trans.



Edit (thanks to @Gradine ironing out details):

The complaints were specifically about Ernie seeking to "enforce gender" and Dinehart saying "you are disgusting" to a trans woman.

To then apologize to "race, creed, or color", looks intentionally hostile against trans.

 

[Abstruse]

It's entirely possible that TSR3 has licensed the artwork. While WotC/Hasbro owns it, I don't know that there's much value in them. Certainly less so now. Jayson made it quite clear that the name "TSR" isn't even worth $10 at the moment (though he was explicitly unclear if he was no longer interested in the name, or if he was instead seeking legal remedy to the trademark situation).

Then again, to paraphrase Wayne's World, "TSR3 doesn't appear to have a duck, let alone many ducks that would necessitate an entire row."

It's possible. But that would require a lot of stretching credulity. It would mean that LaNasa actually approached Wizards of the Coast about licensing the logos, that Wizards of the Coast agreed, and that LaNasa paid whatever fees are involved and there's paperwork backing it up. Considering LaNasa filed trademark registrations attempting to claim several of the 70s/80s era logos for themselves, I have serious doubts that's what happened.

 

[imagineGod]

I disagree. The complaints were specifically about Ernie seeking to "enforce gender" and (probably) LaNasa saying "you are disgusting" to someone supporting trans.

To then apologize to "race, creed, or color", looks intentionally hostile against trans.

And your criticism here is very valid.

Creating a fake paraphrased sentence is not.

 

[mythago]

Common misconception. You can legally monetize and sell works protected under parody/satire, for criticism, or any other use covered under fair use except the education exemption. It's how Weird Al and the Scary Movie people exist along with film and music critics. And being non-commercial isn't a protection under fair use either, as pirating content through file-sharing that isn't monetized is not covered either. The non-commercial test only applies for uses that are educational, and that is mostly to prevent the textbook industry from wholesale printing full texts without permission to sell them. Commercial usage typically only comes into play otherwise if it goes to trial because it shows actual damages - the person infringing profited off of the material used without permission. If you don't make money off of your infringement, the only damages they can go after are possible lost sales.

Weird Al spends a great deal of effort on getting permission from the people whose music and videos he parodies precisely because "It's parody/satire!" is not a magic defense against intellectual property lawsuits, and the test for whether something is fair use involves weighing of factors - in other words, you could end up being right but you'd have to go through getting sued first to find out. Better to ask permission than forgiveness.