-
The VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Harry Potter d20
- Thread starter Imbasel
- Start date
jonesy
A Wicked Kendragon
Oh look, it's deja vu, my dear old friend. How've you been?
Oh fine, fine. A bit of a cough, but I had that last time too.
That's nice.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/288887-harry-potter-d20.html
So, Imbasel, did you get anyone to playtest the Quidditch?
Oh fine, fine. A bit of a cough, but I had that last time too.
That's nice.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/288887-harry-potter-d20.html
So, Imbasel, did you get anyone to playtest the Quidditch?
jasper
Rotten DM
Yes she has okayed fan fiction on web sites which got her approval to post fan fiction. I don't remember if the sites ask first. Or once it was brought to her attention she gave it her okay. But if I remember correctly the sites were not for profit. Basically a fan boy paying for the site out of his pocket and no money being made off the site.
The mods and owners of ENworld can correct me if I wrong.
This is commerical site. Or lawyers may thing so. Since subscriptions and products are be sold directly from this site. And go to maintaining and paying employees of the site.
I am very senstive to this since, I have to deal with my wife's grumbling any time she finds her works in another print or electronic magazine. Especially on works which she was paid for, still holds the copyright to the work, and we had travel expensives to go to live reading.
SOP is an email/snail mail to the place and a copy to her files. Telling the person/magazine they been naughty, please don't do again, and please the standard price (which she knows but I don't) for her work.
Now most the time it was an honest or lazy mistake. And occasionaly I have seen a check to her for $2.67. But most of the time no money.
Now $2 is not a lot but by having a document trail. WHEN she gets famous this will prevent the Dirty Dog Publishing from claimng her poem "jasper is idiot on Enworld" is open source (not the right words). Just because they only found a copy buried on Xbox Live forums under Gamer Parents folder. When she only published in E-Book, under the title of "My Husband the Idiot".
I am also slightly senstive to my works on line. Years ago I think I posted a thread here on the Criminal Santa Clause which listed a list of crimes to charge him with. Due upgrading pcs, and bad disk lost my copy. Found on a web site in England dated 4 years after I posted. Good thing I got a copy. But the bad thing could have been if Enworld had paid me $10 with split 50/50 copyright and then Dirty Dog Publishing created a kiddy book out of it. And that book became a best seller like Polar Express. Then was turn into an Oscar winning movie which replaced Avatar as all time grossing blockbuster. Both Enworld and I would be out hundreds of millions in royalties.
The mods and owners of ENworld can correct me if I wrong.
This is commerical site. Or lawyers may thing so. Since subscriptions and products are be sold directly from this site. And go to maintaining and paying employees of the site.
I am very senstive to this since, I have to deal with my wife's grumbling any time she finds her works in another print or electronic magazine. Especially on works which she was paid for, still holds the copyright to the work, and we had travel expensives to go to live reading.
SOP is an email/snail mail to the place and a copy to her files. Telling the person/magazine they been naughty, please don't do again, and please the standard price (which she knows but I don't) for her work.
Now most the time it was an honest or lazy mistake. And occasionaly I have seen a check to her for $2.67. But most of the time no money.
Now $2 is not a lot but by having a document trail. WHEN she gets famous this will prevent the Dirty Dog Publishing from claimng her poem "jasper is idiot on Enworld" is open source (not the right words). Just because they only found a copy buried on Xbox Live forums under Gamer Parents folder. When she only published in E-Book, under the title of "My Husband the Idiot".
I am also slightly senstive to my works on line. Years ago I think I posted a thread here on the Criminal Santa Clause which listed a list of crimes to charge him with. Due upgrading pcs, and bad disk lost my copy. Found on a web site in England dated 4 years after I posted. Good thing I got a copy. But the bad thing could have been if Enworld had paid me $10 with split 50/50 copyright and then Dirty Dog Publishing created a kiddy book out of it. And that book became a best seller like Polar Express. Then was turn into an Oscar winning movie which replaced Avatar as all time grossing blockbuster. Both Enworld and I would be out hundreds of millions in royalties.
jonesy
A Wicked Kendragon
What _are_ you talking about, jasper? Did you even look at it? It's D&D rules, not fan fiction, it's not a paysite, and it doesn't link to EN World, it links to Harry Potter D20 Heavy 3.5 Varient Help Needed PEACH - Giant in the Playground Forums where he's been discussing it.
Jasper, until you have some clue how copyright actually works it would probably be best to stop spreading misinformation about it.
With that being said: Imbasel, you have created a derivative work. If you were just using that derivative work to play Harry Potter games with your friends, that would fall under the purview of personal use (which is often confused with fair use) and be perfectly fine.
You, however, are distributing it publicly. (The fact that you're not charging any money for it is irrelevant.) So, yes, it's a derivative work. And, yes, J.K. Rowling's lawyers could send you a perfectly legitimate C&D.
But, as you point out, Rowling has publicly stated that she's OK with not-for-profit material made by fans. While she hasn't said anything about games in particular, I think her support of similar endeavors pretty much clears even the possibility of ethical question until some new information comes out.
Re: "Rowling hates RPGs." This is a bizarre urban legend that has sprung up around the fact that Rowling has rejected the idea of licensing the property for a commercial roleplaying game. The most reliable reports are that: (1) She wants to keep a relatively tight limit on the number of officially-licensed Harry Potter books. (2) She doesn't want third-party publishers expanding the Harry Potter universe. Both make traditionally-published RPGs incredibly problematic.
But there are several non-commercial roleplaying sites for Harry Potter, including some associated with websites that Rowling has interacted with in the past. (MuggleNet, for example.) So the idea that she "HATEZZORZ THE RPGERS!!!" is doubtful.
You're almost certainly fine.
Recommendation: Offer some way for me to download the whole thing at one link.
With that being said: Imbasel, you have created a derivative work. If you were just using that derivative work to play Harry Potter games with your friends, that would fall under the purview of personal use (which is often confused with fair use) and be perfectly fine.
You, however, are distributing it publicly. (The fact that you're not charging any money for it is irrelevant.) So, yes, it's a derivative work. And, yes, J.K. Rowling's lawyers could send you a perfectly legitimate C&D.
But, as you point out, Rowling has publicly stated that she's OK with not-for-profit material made by fans. While she hasn't said anything about games in particular, I think her support of similar endeavors pretty much clears even the possibility of ethical question until some new information comes out.
Re: "Rowling hates RPGs." This is a bizarre urban legend that has sprung up around the fact that Rowling has rejected the idea of licensing the property for a commercial roleplaying game. The most reliable reports are that: (1) She wants to keep a relatively tight limit on the number of officially-licensed Harry Potter books. (2) She doesn't want third-party publishers expanding the Harry Potter universe. Both make traditionally-published RPGs incredibly problematic.
But there are several non-commercial roleplaying sites for Harry Potter, including some associated with websites that Rowling has interacted with in the past. (MuggleNet, for example.) So the idea that she "HATEZZORZ THE RPGERS!!!" is doubtful.
You're almost certainly fine.
Recommendation: Offer some way for me to download the whole thing at one link.
I just wanted to say thank you very much for the advice. You provided a clear and concise response and I want to thank you for that. Thank you for confirming for what I believed as I knew what her stance was on fan fiction. I plan on limiting my game to just things that are within the books, movies, as well as trading cards so I think I will be safe. I really appreciate your time.
What do you think of the actual site and are you interested in helping possibly? Also, I will work on making a pdf file and then putting it on a mediafire or something.
What do you think of the actual site and are you interested in helping possibly? Also, I will work on making a pdf file and then putting it on a mediafire or something.
I would love a PDF of this to test. It seems to have a solid Harry Potter basis. The class seems to work well. I can test it over the next week or so.
And, I would consider getting some help in splitting the mechanics apart from the fan material. If you make the mechanics specifically OGL and isolate the IP as fan material, it might go a long way towards soothing any potential lawyers.
For example...
It clearly has IP in it. The names of the houses could be an issue. If you move the text to a fan tribute section, you could use...
"Class Features
House Chosen- At first level the wizard/witch enters the school of magic. When they enter the school they must choose one of the houses. Upon joining the house the receive certain benefits the benefits are as follows"
You can list the IP in the section, but you must clearly show it is not open gaming content. If you were to add...
{Clever Fanmade Material}Gryffindor- Gryffindor's are supposed to be brave, and courageous people. They are true to their friends and can often go into situations that are beyond their abilities. As such Gryffindor's gain a +2 morale bonus to will save against fear effects. They also gain Diplomacy as a class skill.
Hufflepuff- Hufflepuff's are people who value loyalty, hard work, and honesty. As such they gain a +2 bonus to Sense Motive checks. They also gain Sense Motive as a class skill.
Ravenclaw- Ravenclaw's value ingenuity, creativity, intelligence, and curiosity. They are often called bookworms and often spend time studying. As such, they gain an additional 4 skill points at character creation. They also, gain +2 bonus to all intelligence checks for solving questions and the like.
Slytherin- Slytherin's value cunning, ambition, sneakiness, and cleverness. They are often loathed by the peers for the things they do. As such they gain a +2 bonus to Bluff checks. They also gain Bluff as a class skill.{/Clever Fan Made Material}
...and follow the general fan fiction standards. Heck, you might even get a fan site award.
The Lexicon case was over a printed book, and the big problem with fan fiction stems from the adult fiction. So, you stand a pretty good chance of avoiding legal footwork if you avoid either printing a book or putting up pornographic stories (IMO).
And, I would consider getting some help in splitting the mechanics apart from the fan material. If you make the mechanics specifically OGL and isolate the IP as fan material, it might go a long way towards soothing any potential lawyers.
For example...
It clearly has IP in it. The names of the houses could be an issue. If you move the text to a fan tribute section, you could use...
"Class Features
House Chosen- At first level the wizard/witch enters the school of magic. When they enter the school they must choose one of the houses. Upon joining the house the receive certain benefits the benefits are as follows"
You can list the IP in the section, but you must clearly show it is not open gaming content. If you were to add...
{Clever Fanmade Material}Gryffindor- Gryffindor's are supposed to be brave, and courageous people. They are true to their friends and can often go into situations that are beyond their abilities. As such Gryffindor's gain a +2 morale bonus to will save against fear effects. They also gain Diplomacy as a class skill.
Hufflepuff- Hufflepuff's are people who value loyalty, hard work, and honesty. As such they gain a +2 bonus to Sense Motive checks. They also gain Sense Motive as a class skill.
Ravenclaw- Ravenclaw's value ingenuity, creativity, intelligence, and curiosity. They are often called bookworms and often spend time studying. As such, they gain an additional 4 skill points at character creation. They also, gain +2 bonus to all intelligence checks for solving questions and the like.
Slytherin- Slytherin's value cunning, ambition, sneakiness, and cleverness. They are often loathed by the peers for the things they do. As such they gain a +2 bonus to Bluff checks. They also gain Bluff as a class skill.{/Clever Fan Made Material}
...and follow the general fan fiction standards. Heck, you might even get a fan site award.
The Lexicon case was over a printed book, and the big problem with fan fiction stems from the adult fiction. So, you stand a pretty good chance of avoiding legal footwork if you avoid either printing a book or putting up pornographic stories (IMO).
Similar Threads
