D&D 4E 4E Halflings unrecognizable from Tolkien hobbits

[The Ubbergeek]

They removed the Elric stuff also no? I think I have read about it. Was there a 'cease and desist' action too?

 

[Zander]

The 1st printing of Dieties & Demigods contained the Cthulhu mythos, until Arkham (? or whoever controlled the rights to HPL's works at the time) threatened legal action.

My understanding is that it was more like a negotiation than a threat of litigation (see here).

 

[Wormwood]

Chaosium owned the gaming rights to both Elric and Cthulhu, which is why subequent printings of D&Demi ommitted references to those works.

IIRC, rather than threaten lawsuits and send our C&D notices, the two companies simply worked out an agreement, whereby Chaosium would be allowed to use some TSR trademarks in their Thieves World game.

edit: aaand scooped.

 

[IanB]

And note that the first printing of D&DG actually says on the credit page that the Cthulhu and Elric stuff was used with Chaosium's permission.