TSR TSR3.5 Launches IndieGogo Campaign to "Stop" WotC

The latest in the TSR3 saga, which has gone quiet for a while, is a new IndieGoGo campaign launched to "stop Wizards of the Coast". They cite wrongful bullying of TSR, and refusal to answer requests that WotC show TSR "proof of their claims" (although the campaign page doesn't mention what those claims are).

The IndieGoGo campaign was launched yesterday and has so far raised $675 (at the time of writing).

The action TSR seeks is a "Trademark Declaratory Judgement of Ownership" which is a court declaration about the status of something in dispute.

TSR has launched a campaign to stop Wizards of the Coast

Become a Champion of TSR and Support TSR’s campaign against Wizards of the Coast!

TSR is taking a stand against Wizards of the Coast (“WOTC”) and its wrongful bullying of TSR, our trademarks, and its public libeling and slander of all those who helped create TSR based Dungeons & Dragons and products.

Wizards of the Coast has continually bullied TSR regarding TSR’s legally owned Trademarks. Wizards of the Coast has refused to answer all of TSR's repeated requests that they show any proof of their claims. Wizards of the Coast has the vast resources behind them and is implying to bring them to bear down on TSR.

The new TSR suffered widespread pushback when it launched, which they blamed on WotC, claiming that they were under a "coordinated assault across various channels being mounted.... by [WotC]" The company announced itself earlier this year, having acquired the TSR trademark after the previous holder accidentally let it lapse. It was run by Ernie Gygax, Justin LaNasa, and Stephen Dinehart. After several weeks of controversy, the company split into two -- Wonderfilled (Stephen Dinehart), and TSR (Ernie Gygax and Justin LaNasa).

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...

www.enworld.org

The page also indicates an intention to "fight to have WotC's legacy product disclaimer removed" from older products (that's the disclaimer on the older books available on DMs Guild which indicates that those books are products of their time) by claiming that the disclaimer portrays the creators of those older products as "as supporting those alleged prejudices, stereotypes and bigotry, wrongfully claimed to be part of those products".

TSR will also Fight to Have the WOTC Legacy Disclaimer Removed

TSR is suing WOTC for Trademark Declaratory Judgement of Ownership . TSR will also pursue in the near future having WOTC remove the legacy content disclaimer placed on TSR based Dungeons & Dragons and other products, and retractions of any other libel and slander which alleges that racism and other heinous beliefs are incorporated into those products.

This disclaimer attempts to make a statement of fact argument, and therefore paints all of the writers, editors, artists and consumers of those products as supporting those alleged prejudices, stereotypes and bigotry, wrongfully claimed to be part of those products. This statement by Wizards of the Coast opens the possibility for the producers and players of these "Legacy Products" to face ridicule, and face the labeling as "bigots", "racists", "misogynists", and worse Cyber & Physical Attacks!

Wizards of the Coast legacy content disclaimer.

"We (Wizards) recognize that some of the legacy content available on this website does not reflect the values of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise today. Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. This content is presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is a strength, and we strive to make our D&D products as welcoming and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end".

TSR3's Justin LaNasa spoke about the campaign in a YouTube video.

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

 

[CleverNickName]

Hey!

#notalloutoftouchcishetwhitemen

 

[jdrakeh]

I've always found these "it's not slander it's libel" replies to be a bit ... pedantic, and unproductive.

What would be really helpful is an explanation of why they see it as slanderous/libelous - articulate it.

I can't answer as to what goes on in the heads of other people. I can only tell you what it for sure is not. The disclaimer in question is not slander (not spoken) and not libel (it does not describe people or persons and does not damage the reputation of anybody involved in the filing). That said, IANAL.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I’m still befuddled at people who are literally using the IP of someone else and basing their entire business image on the work of someone else 50 years ago calling other people creatively bankrupt.
If I were to do a thesis on cognitive dissonance, I’d use those comments as reference material.

 

[see]

ON THE OTHERHAND, the question is whether WotC can continue using them as well. They MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO, depending on who holds the current rights. If WotC holds the rights, it's probably clean cut, but if they do not ( and that a company or individual was able to get the rights to TSR calls that into question in my mind) then it gets a LOT MORE MURKY.

If I understand trademark law correctly (maybe I don't, IANAL), it's not particularly murky.

Hasbro/WotC demonstrably was using the "TSR" mark in commerce (digital product and POD) continuously before, during, and since LaNasa/TSR3's first use (or USPTO filing), and therefore has priority over LaNasa/TSR3 on the mark. That the Hasbro/WotC registration lapsed doesn't change that, and neither does any older time period where Hasbro/WotC was not using the "TSR" mark in commerce.

Given those facts, at worst for Hasbro/WotC, since there was a period where two unconnected entities simultaneously used the "TSR" mark for game product (during the registered-by-TSR2 era), neither enforcing any claims against the other, the "TSR" mark has been genericized, and nobody can stop anyone from using it. Hasbro/WotC is free to keep using the "TSR" mark, TSR3 can use the "TSR" mark, and any other random person who wants to use the "TSR" mark can use the "TSR" mark. However, specific artwork renditions of the "TSR" mark remain under copyright, and given the registrations, are (in the absence of documentary evidence that the copyright registration was in error) definitively and exclusively owned by Hasbro/WotC, and Hasbro/WotC can stop people (including LaNasa/TSR3) from using those.

Under the same facts, at best for Hasbro/WotC, the direct corporate heirs of the original TSR (and the buyers of various rights from other people at the same time that WotC bought TSR), the lapse in registration and the period of use of the "TSR" mark by TSR2 didn't undermine their common-law trademark rights, and they can invoke them to prohibit LaNasa/TSR3 from using the "TSR" mark at all (over and above the copyright giving Hasbro/WotC exclusive control of the artistic renditions of TSR as a logo).

 

[183231bcb]

Note, I was wrong, their discord is open.

\begin{sarcasm}
Oh, you say you said something WRONG in the past, that was wrong when you said it? That means you are slandering anyone who read your post in the past. I'm going to launch a crowd funder to get you to retract your claim that anything you previously said was wrong!
\end{sarcasm}

 

[Sacrosanct]

Well, apparently they have their first product.

https://tsrmuseum.com/online-store/ols/products/dungeon-crawl-the-board-game-pre-order-here

Well, a product by recently founded Wizard Tower Games that sold the rights to TSR anyway. They desperately need an editor. Badly. I’m not the best writer out there, but some of the writing is awful, like random capitalizations. They will also need to change the cards and rules with the updated copyright (some of the images show the old WTG copyright) and I bet they haven’t even bothered with that.

 

[Umbran]

Another possibility: that his "knighthood" came from some sort of involvement in the SCA.

You don't get an SCA knighthood for "some kind of involvement". It isn't a general thing that gets handed out. It is very specifically the Society's top award for achievement in armored combat (and related service, like teaching fighting, running tournaments, and such). It takes years of dedication, and a whole lot of fighting, to earn.

 

[LordEntrails]

You don't get an SCA knighthood for "some kind of involvement". It isn't a general thing that gets handed out. It is very specifically the Society's top award for achievement in armored combat (and related service, like teaching fighting, running tournaments, and such). It takes years of dedication, and a whole lot of fighting, to earn.

For your helpfulness to the community, knowledge and willing to help others, I dub thee Sir Umbran, Knight of One Corner of the Internet.

 

[Mistwell]

Unfortunately it doesn't work like that; these groups only fester more in darkness, and the internet has only exacerbated the problem.

The best disinfectant is sunlight.

Did "the moon landing was faked" gain traction? No. People mostly ignored it and it mostly went away. If that conspiracy theory had started today, it would have snowballed in growth.

The internet has unfortunately caused people to hyper-focus on any crazy idea. Something stupid is proposed, it gets put out there in shares with escalating outrage, thousands then hyper-focus on it and freak out about it and start ranting about it online, it gets perceived as important to society to those fringe elements who otherwise yearn for attention by being anti-establishment, so they look into that stupid thing and it grows.

And the more it grows, the more that feeds the perception of anti-establishment machine, which feeds the outrage about it, and it becomes a cycle of growth.

Bad ideas used to be mostly laughed at and then ignored. Oh, your barber believes in some crazy nonsense a few other people told him about? You shrug. He'll be talking some totally different new nonsense next month.

But now? It's posted online, massive freak out and attention for weeks on end.

Only the truly self-gaining traction ones which developed for years ever really "made the news" and got more attention. That whole "sunlight is the best disinfectant" was reserved for maybe one idea a year. Most just disappeared due to inattention.

But this cycle cannot be stopped now. Too many people will freak out and hyper-focus on any bad idea, and the Internet then feeds the cycle within hours of it being put out there.

 

[tenkar]

Almost every trademark TSR3 is fighting for they have either abandoned, surrendered, or are 2 weeks from throwing in the towel.

Why is TSR3 Filing Suit over Trademarks it has Already Abandoned or Surrendered?

Is there a Trademark Counsel in the house that can explain why you would ask for a summary judgement on trademarks you've already let go of?