Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Ema's RPG Sheet Website down...
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="arscott" data-source="post: 4662167" data-attributes="member: 17969"><p>That's kinda beside the point, though. Sure, WotC could be sending C&D letters when they have no legal standing, but that's clearly not the case in this instance. The details we <em>do</em> know are that Ema committed a number of copyright and trademark violations in ways not protected by fair use--primarily using WotC Logos and Artwork, and using great quantities of verbatim text from WotC materials when he could have written his own summaries and descriptions.</p><p></p><p>To the best of my knowledge, none of those names are a registered trademark. Not that important, though, because you can use trademarked names (but not logos) as long as you do so in ways that don't potentially confuse customers into thinking that you own the trademark or are affiliated with the trademark holder.</p><p></p><p>Of course, if you enter into the OGL or the GSL, then you're forbidden from using those names as a condition of the License.</p><p></p><p>If you <em>have not</em> entered into an OGL, GSL, or STL contract in a manner that prevents you from creating such a project, then yeah, it's perfectly legal. Look at all the companies that are creating adventures for 4e without using the GSL--You're doing much the same thing, only with a computer program. Individual words or phrases such as "Dexterity" and "Armor Class" are not protected by copyright. GSL, OGL, and STL contractual obligations might limit your ability to use certain terms or even create certain products. If you're actually creating a commercial product, get legal advice from somewhere besides an internet forum</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="arscott, post: 4662167, member: 17969"] That's kinda beside the point, though. Sure, WotC could be sending C&D letters when they have no legal standing, but that's clearly not the case in this instance. The details we [I]do[/I] know are that Ema committed a number of copyright and trademark violations in ways not protected by fair use--primarily using WotC Logos and Artwork, and using great quantities of verbatim text from WotC materials when he could have written his own summaries and descriptions. To the best of my knowledge, none of those names are a registered trademark. Not that important, though, because you can use trademarked names (but not logos) as long as you do so in ways that don't potentially confuse customers into thinking that you own the trademark or are affiliated with the trademark holder. Of course, if you enter into the OGL or the GSL, then you're forbidden from using those names as a condition of the License. If you [I]have not[/I] entered into an OGL, GSL, or STL contract in a manner that prevents you from creating such a project, then yeah, it's perfectly legal. Look at all the companies that are creating adventures for 4e without using the GSL--You're doing much the same thing, only with a computer program. Individual words or phrases such as "Dexterity" and "Armor Class" are not protected by copyright. GSL, OGL, and STL contractual obligations might limit your ability to use certain terms or even create certain products. If you're actually creating a commercial product, get legal advice from somewhere besides an internet forum [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Ema's RPG Sheet Website down...
Top