KotS Pregen Copyright.

[Family]

Edited due to helpful WotC staffers doing what they can.

 

[Scribble]

You can certainly make copies for your own personal use if you have a legal copy to begin with. That's just basic "fair use". Don't let anyone tell you different!

Well... technically is it your own personal use? Granted, you are running the game so ina sense you are using them... But aren't you basically allowing your players to use them, and therefore it's no longer "personal use?"

Shrug...

 

[Cadfan]

*pedant warning*
Copying something for personal use isn't automatically fair use. In fact, fair use isn't really related to personal use at all.

Furthermore, you should take anything you hear on the internet about copyright with a grain of salt. Or perhaps a massive, tablespoon of salt. People on the internet are essentially a constituency with particular demographic traits and personal interests which mean that they mostly interact with copyright from the perspective of someone who wishes to do something, but is stymied by the law. The combination of this perspective with the ease of copyright infringement on the internet and the very human desire to believe that the things you do aren't actually wrong or against the law, generates a particular outlook on copyright issues that is not necessarily correct.

In a very real way, asking internet dwellers about the nature of your rights to other people's stuff under copyright law is a lot like asking a convention of landlords about the rights of tenants. Except worse, because landlords who overstep are more likely to get their hands smacked than one of us when we download MP3s or PDFs.

The "take with a grain of salt" thing includes what have to say. You don't know me, I might be an imbecile.
*end pedant warning*

 

[Family]

In this case I didn't ask the community any advice, I called the company and escalated my concern. I then put a plea out to the company's employees to access their legal department and informed the online community of my experience told them of my thoughts and asked them/us/you to start a grass roots movement to aid change or to seek awnsers directly from the horses mouth.

That said, you are wise in this matter and I agree.

 

[Korgoth]

I'd like to hear the Rouse's take on this. This sounds really lame.

 

[Voss]

I assume that upper-cased sentence ends with "and post on a public forum such as ENWorld"? Photocopying for personal use is Fair Use.

Yeah, its pretty much the basic concept of fair use.

To the OP: what, exactly, did you originally ask?
Because there is a big difference between scanning and making it available to the world on the internets and making photocopies of the character sheets for your players.

Also... the thread title needs to change. This isn't a topic about the game's alignment system... and I wouldn't have clicked on it had I known that.

 

[Mouseferatu]

The character sheet in the PHB has "Permission granted to photocopy for personal use only" in small type at the bottom. Whoever you spoke to has no idea what they're talking about.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Whether it is fair use or not, somehow I expect that if you copy the sheets for your own personal use, WotC's legal department won't be willing to spend a lot of time tracking you down and sending you a C&D letter, but they won't come out and say that because it weakens their legal position.

 

[Oldtimer]

*pedant warning*
Copying something for personal use isn't automatically fair use. In fact, fair use isn't really related to personal use at all.

True, but non-commercial use is certainly part of "purpose and character".

Furthermore, you should take anything you hear on the internet about copyright with a grain of salt. Or perhaps a massive, tablespoon of salt. People on the internet are essentially a constituency with particular demographic traits and personal interests which mean that they mostly interact with copyright from the perspective of someone who wishes to do something, but is stymied by the law. The combination of this perspective with the ease of copyright infringement on the internet and the very human desire to believe that the things you do aren't actually wrong or against the law, generates a particular outlook on copyright issues that is not necessarily correct.

In a very real way, asking internet dwellers about the nature of your rights to other people's stuff under copyright law is a lot like asking a convention of landlords about the rights of tenants. Except worse, because landlords who overstep are more likely to get their hands smacked than one of us when we download MP3s or PDFs.

The "take with a grain of salt" thing includes what have to say. You don't know me, I might be an imbecile.
*end pedant warning*

Rather dismissive today, are we not?

 

[EricNoah]

The character sheet in the PHB has "Permission granted to photocopy for personal use" in small type at the bottom. Whoever you spoke to has no idea what they're talking about.

Blank forms are even less protected -- you can't protect a blank form by copyright, as I understand it. Though there may be elements (artwork, logos) on the form that could be protected.