D&D General DDB/WOTC Price Increases

[500 Toads]

I’d rather have a PDF, but I’ll settle for getting a PDF along with the DDB content

As to being able to share, you can host the PDF and give them access that way, this is not really something that sets DDB apart

Explicit permissions. WOTC owning both the D&D IP plus the DDB platform makes it pretty clear when they're allowing you to share content with other players. I'm sure that other publishers are quite aware of the possibility that purchasers of their non-free content in PDF form may provide copies or substantial excerpts thereof to other players, but that's not the same as actually granting permission to do so (outside of PDF pages explicitly labeled as "player handouts", anyway).

 

[djotaku]

Explicit permissions. WOTC owning both the D&D IP plus the DDB platform makes it pretty clear when they're allowing you to share content with other players. I'm sure that other publishers are quite aware of the possibility that purchasers of their non-free content in PDF form may provide copies or substantial excerpts thereof to other players, but that's not the same as actually granting permission to do so (outside of PDF pages explicitly labeled as "player handouts", anyway).

100% True. But if you are literally sharing the PDF with your next of kin (and not the whole world) it's no different than letting them borrow a book. 1) Ethically it's the same 2) Unless you go broadcasting it on social media, no one will know, so you're not going to get in trouble. I find it amusing how (again for sharing with family - NOT posting to share with the whole world) people will be SUCH model citizens around IP, but I'm sure there's some other part of your life where you're more cavalier - going even 1 MPH above the speed limit or jaywalking or whatever.

 

[Belen]

If you're worried about DDB going away, use one of the many free utilities that convert web books to pdf. If it's not worth it to you, don't pay for it. Problem solved.

I have to wonder if that violates their terms of services, thus being considered piracy.

 

[billd91]

100% True. But if you are literally sharing the PDF with your next of kin (and not the whole world) it's no different than letting them borrow a book. 1) Ethically it's the same 2) Unless you go broadcasting it on social media, no one will know, so you're not going to get in trouble. I find it amusing how (again for sharing with family - NOT posting to share with the whole world) people will be SUCH model citizens around IP, but I'm sure there's some other part of your life where you're more cavalier - going even 1 MPH above the speed limit or jaywalking or whatever.

It's not too far off from lending a book, but that book only ever has one copy of itself since it's a physical object. Share a PDF and it replicates itself, so you have to be more trusting that people aren't going to share it forward. For most purposes, that's a minor concern, though, but not a completely negligible one.

As far as people being model citizens around IP and rights, that's pretty variable. The number of torrents out there with tons of gaming publications underscores that pretty well. But at least here on ENWorld, I think we're a bit self-selected in two ways - 1) we're more aware of what's going on in the industry and what it means for people to be employed and making these products for a living wage, and 2) advocating piracy in any way around here is grounds for being modded and I think we do get a bit socialized into IP-friendly ethics.

 

[djotaku]

I have to wonder if that violates their terms of services, thus being considered piracy.

Those are 2 different things. I can violate enworld terms of service by accessing via some non-public API without doing "piracy". Copyright infringement is completely different. That would be copying and republishing all of enworld's forums/articles/etc.

D&D (or WotC) could terminate your account for violating the terms of service. But if you copied a book you ALREADY BOUGHT to your computer you would not be convicted of copyright infringement. There are 4 tests for that and one of those is whether people are not buying the thing because of what you did. And if you bought the book and copied the book to your computer, no one is not buying it that would have bought it.

 

[djotaku]

It's not too far off from lending a book, but that book only ever has one copy of itself since it's a physical object. Share a PDF and it replicates itself, so you have to be more trusting that people aren't going to share it forward. For most purposes, that's a minor concern, though, but not a completely negligible one.

As far as people being model citizens around IP and rights, that's pretty variable. The number of torrents out there with tons of gaming publications underscores that pretty well. But at least here on ENWorld, I think we're a bit self-selected in two ways - 1) we're more aware of what's going on in the industry and what it means for people to be employed and making these products for a living wage, and 2) advocating piracy in any way around here is grounds for being modded and I think we do get a bit socialized into IP-friendly ethics.

Oh 100%, that's why I was very explicit in sharing with family. I support the industry like crazy - I spend tons of money on kickstarters and WotC books and all that. I definitely think we should support creators if we still want stuff. I just find it kind of silly to get worked up about sharing with your kids. Worst case scenario, give them read, but not download rights on the PDF and don't open it yourself and you've replicated a physical book. Realistically, other than the Player Guide/Core/Handbook what are the odds you have the same book open at the same time anyway? I think dndbeyond's allowing of sharing is pretty tacit admission that no one is buying books for the whole table. That's not how TTRPG companies make money -it's usually only ever the GM buying anyway (for the majority of the books).

 

[mamba]

Explicit permissions. WOTC owning both the D&D IP plus the DDB platform makes it pretty clear when they're allowing you to share content with other players. I'm sure that other publishers are quite aware of the possibility that purchasers of their non-free content in PDF form may provide copies or substantial excerpts thereof to other players

not copies, just the ability to view them, which is something that is generally permitted anyway and not dependent on the whims of one company

 

[Clint_L]

Those are 2 different things. I can violate enworld terms of service by accessing via some non-public API without doing "piracy". Copyright infringement is completely different. That would be copying and republishing all of enworld's forums/articles/etc.

D&D (or WotC) could terminate your account for violating the terms of service. But if you copied a book you ALREADY BOUGHT to your computer you would not be convicted of copyright infringement. There are 4 tests for that and one of those is whether people are not buying the thing because of what you did. And if you bought the book and copied the book to your computer, no one is not buying it that would have bought it.

I don't think anyone begrudges the right to make copies of your own stuff, for your personal use. Distributing those copies, for money or not, raises different issues. I just purchased a bunch of PDFs from Morrus's last KS; I'm not going to make digital copies and send them to my friends.

 

[Echohawk]

As to being able to share, you can host the PDF and give them access that way, this is not really something that sets DDB apart

I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean here by "host the PDF and give them access that way"?

I am diligent about respecting other people's intellectual property rights, so I would certainly not share copies of 140 PDFs with a bunch of enthusiastic teenagers, no matter how fond of them I might be. With DDB, being able to effortlessly share my whole library with others is expressly one of the benefits that I get for my Master Tier subscription, and I value that substantially.

A side benefit of this sharing has been that it has exposed some younger gamers to third-party material. Previously, they tended to view only WotC books as "D&D", but they love MCDM's Flee Mortals! and are now a lot more likely to consider content from non-WotC sources. I'm pretty sure their DM is already devouring Dr Dhrolin's Dictionary of Dinosaurs, which is the latest DDB release (and excellent).

 

[Belen]

I don't think anyone begrudges the right to make copies of your own stuff, for your personal use. Distributing those copies, for money or not, raises different issues. I just purchased a bunch of PDFs from Morrus's last KS; I'm not going to make digital copies and send them to my friends.

It is an express violation of many ToS agreements. For instance, Amazon ebook licenses do not allow you to make copies for personal use or convert your books to other formats for personal use. This is why I stopped buying ebooks on amazon when they ended the option to download and transfer my purchased content via my PC.

In fact, according to the WOTC ToS, digitally scraping their site is expressly forbidden even for personal use. The DDB content is a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferrable license. You can legally access it on DDB for as long as they allow it.

Further, you cannot transfer or will your account to anyone else. If you die, the account cannot be used by your kids etc.