D&D General Do creators receive royalties for DriveThruRPG/DMG sales?

[Velderan]

Wasn't sure if this belongs in the Older Editions section or not, so D&D General it is!

Do creators who were employed by TSR at the time receive royalties for digital sales of products they worked on that are sold on DriveThruRPG/DMG? This would obviously be if their deal when they created the product allowed for them to receive one to begin with. In case an example helps, if Laura and Tracy Hickman were due royalties for sales of I6 Ravenloft do they receive them for digital sales still to this day? Does anyone know?

 

[Morrus]

Unlikely. I'm pretty sure all that work was work-for-hire by employees.

 

[Velderan]

Unlikely. I'm pretty sure all that work was work-for-hire by employees.

I thought I had read somewhere that some of the deals included royalties and that was one of the issues Lorraine Williams had when she took over.

 

[Morrus]

I thought I had read somewhere that some of the deals included royalties and that was one of the issues Lorraine Williams had when she took over.

Sounds like you know more than me then.

 

[Velderan]

Sounds like you know more than me then.

I may be mixing up details a bit, but I'm 99% sure Ben Riggs mentioned it in his book but it's entirely possible that may have been a deal for the authors of novels and not game designers.

 

[Nikosandros]

I think that when WotC acquired TSR they liquidated any leftover obligations towards Gygax and Arneson.

 

[Velderan]

I think that when WotC acquired TSR they liquidated any leftover obligations towards Gygax and Arneson.

That part sounds correct with what I remember reading, wasn't that one of the first things Peter Adkison did when he took over to try to mend fences with both of them?

 

[Nikosandros]

That part sounds correct with what I remember reading, wasn't that one of the first things Peter Adkison did when he took over to try to mend fences with both of them?

That's my recollection as well.

 

[Bacon Bits]

I thought I had read somewhere that some of the deals included royalties and that was one of the issues Lorraine Williams had when she took over.

Yes, TSR used to work like that in the 1970s. It's something Ben Riggs talked about in "Slaying the Dragon: A Secret History of Dungeons & Dragons." I think it was book royalties that stuck around the longest, but supposedly they also used to let artists keep original paintings that they wanted as well.

There's also some examples of the contracts here, though most of them are with people you'd expect to have contracts.

 

[Zardnaar]

There were issues around Dragon and Dungeon but I assume anything they created while employeref there is wotc property.