Does Roll20 get Kickstarters taken down if they mention them?

[Waller]

"Do not promise Roll20 rewards for your campaign without our permission. Doing so is cause for us to contact the crowdfunding platform to have unauthorized use pulled from the site."

Marketplace Creator HQ

Becoming A Creator Information on becoming a Creator for the Roll20 marketplace can be found on this page. What follows is documentation meant to assist marketplace Creators on best practices for a...

help.roll20.net

Does anybody know of a Kickstarter campaign that Roll20 has had pulled for including plans to make Roll20 compatible material? As in has that ever actually happened? I would think it would have been all over the news if it had?

 

[Retreater]

"Do not promise Roll20 rewards for your campaign without our permission. Doing so is cause for us to contact the crowdfunding platform to have unauthorized use pulled from the site."

Marketplace Creator HQ

Becoming A Creator Information on becoming a Creator for the Roll20 marketplace can be found on this page. What follows is documentation meant to assist marketplace Creators on best practices for a...

help.roll20.net

Does anybody know of a Kickstarter campaign that Roll20 has had pulled for including plans to make Roll20 compatible material? As in has that ever actually happened? I would think it would have been all over the news if it had?

I know of Kickstarters that were NOT pulled after offering Roll20 rewards. Not sure if they had a special arrangement with Roll20 or not.

 

[Randomthoughts]

"Do not promise Roll20 rewards for your campaign without our permission. Doing so is cause for us to contact the crowdfunding platform to have unauthorized use pulled from the site."

Marketplace Creator HQ

Becoming A Creator Information on becoming a Creator for the Roll20 marketplace can be found on this page. What follows is documentation meant to assist marketplace Creators on best practices for a...

help.roll20.net

Does anybody know of a Kickstarter campaign that Roll20 has had pulled for including plans to make Roll20 compatible material? As in has that ever actually happened? I would think it would have been all over the news if it had?

This reads like a shot off the bow from Roll20 warning creators of what may happen if they do this going forward. Folks tend to take that better than simply going straight to KS to pull the project down.

 

[Morrus]

This reads like a shot off the bow from Roll20 warning creators of what may happen if they do this going forward. Folks tend to take that better than simply going straight to KS to pull the project down.

It’s an interesting approach. Certainly a very 1990s one! If I were more cynical I’d do it for the free publicity.

 

[thom_likes_gaming]

I'd be curious about their reasoning for this... Seems more like free advertising and traffic for them. But what do I know...

 

[Umbran]

It’s an interesting approach. Certainly a very 1990s one! If I were more cynical I’d do it for the free publicity.

If Roll20 is taking heat for projects that didn't deliver, then it makes sense.

 

[GMMichael]

They take them down if they make them look bad. Their loss.

 

[MarkB]

I'd be curious about their reasoning for this... Seems more like free advertising and traffic for them. But what do I know...

They may have had issues with content creators who didn't know what they were doing promising to build character creation or specialised game mechanical support in Roll20 without actually having any idea how to implement it, resulting in dissatisfied customers who either don't get their promised Roll20 support or get a terribly implemented version that adversely affects their playing experience.

That would be bad for Roll20's business as it makes the site look user-unfriendly.

Likewise, if a company is planning to offer products on Roll20's store, but those products turn out to contain content which Roll20 doesn't want to be seen selling, that could give Roll20 a bad name whether they allow the questionable content, or ban it and leave customers in the lurch.

Better to deal with such issues at the back end, when content creators are setting up their projects, rather than after the project goes public.

 

[Waller]

I think my point is that you don’t need need permission to indicate compatibility with a brand. That’s well established in law (you don’t need Apple’s permission to make an iPhone case).

Trademark violation is about making people confused about who or what they are dealing with. If the page is clear that the creator isn’t Roll20, they can mention Roll20 to their heart’s content. Or McDonalds. Or Facebook. Or BMW. Or IKEA (looks around nervously for IKEA goons). You can indicate compatibility with those brands freely, as long as it’s clear you are not representing that brand.

(You can do it with D&D too as long as you’re not misrepresenting yourself or using confusingly similar trade dress).

So my question is still — has this ever actually happened, to anybody’s knowledge? Has Kickstarter ever agreed to take down a project at Roll20’s request on that basis?

 

[MarkB]

I think my point is that you don’t need need permission to indicate compatibility with a brand. That’s well established in law (you don’t need Apple’s permission to make an iPhone case).

This is more like making an iPhone app, though - and if you want to do that, and have it carried on the Apple store, you so very much do need to play ball with Apple.