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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Marius Delphus" data-source="post: 4709257" data-attributes="member: 447">That's all WOTC has done. It's just that WOTC has (it would seem) employed an attorney to do this.But what triggered the C&D letters must be noted: to all appearances, the C&D letters showed up where "fans" were giving away most of the 4E Player's Handbook for free over the Internet. The 3.5 SRD is free to copy and redistribute; the 4E PHB is not. This is an important distinction that "fans" need to understand and live with. There also appears to have been a trademark issue over the use of the official logo in third-party tools, IIRC.So far, it would seem "the law" has not been "dragged" into anything. All that seems to have happened is that a couple of "fans" have been put on notice that copying and redistributing most of the 4E Player's Handbook without permission (whether through a character-building tool or by some other means) is not legal, nor is stamping the D&D logo on stuff that WOTC didn't make in a way that WOTC hasn't expressly allowed.It would be important to WOTC to employ an attorney for at least three reasons. One, if 4E PHB content is given away for free, this affects sales of the 4E PHB itself: possibly the #1 selling role-playing book of all, and an "evergreen" product for WOTC -- one they expect to sell throughout the life cycle of Fourth Edition. Two, if a character-building tool with full PHB functionality is given away for free, this affects sales of the DDI, with its character builder application. Three, registered trademarks in the U.S. must be actively defended to maintain their "strength."As players, we might prefer a free solution, but as the owner of the intellectual property and the steward of the D&D brand, WOTC has the right to dictate how, when, and where it's used. I don't find it disgusting when they employ attorneys to remind "fans" that cross the line of their rights; I don't feel a lack of respect from WOTC; most of all, I disagree that a C&D letter represents anything like "brute force" in the cases I know of.</blockquote>

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