KotS Pregen Copyright.

[Blackeagle]

Oh, aye. Just pointing out why it might be an issue to some.

Just pointing out how to get around such issues.

In any case, if WotC will go ahead and get the pdf sheets online, all we'll have to do is hit print.

 

[Bagpuss]

Of course it's copyrighted. It's a published work, so it's copyrighted. Nevertheless, copyright law has a thing called Fair Use which allows you to photocopy for personal use. Whether WotC customer service likes it or not.

Unfortunately Fair Use is USA only, some parts of the world have a similar exclusion called Fair Dealing, but it generally is more restricted, for example you can make a single copy of a "reasonable proportion" of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works for "research and private study" and "criticism, review and news reporting".

I'm not sure if use for gaming counts as "private study" so technically you can't legally copy the sheets in the UK, if they don't give permission.

 

[the Jester]

The problem here will come about if someone goes to a copy shop like Kinkos who will refuse to copy anything without the consent of the copyright holder. It is not that Wotc will hunt you down but that the store will refuse to allow the copy from happening in the first place.

As a manager at FedEx Kinkos, let me point out first that we have a self-serve area where we really shouldn't be policing what you do.

I'm not sure if use for gaming counts as "private study" so technically you can't legally copy the sheets in the UK, if they don't give permission.

No, but it might be for purposes of "review"- I'd say that you could make a very strong argument that reviewing a module without playing it is a lot like reviewing a car without driving it.

 

[Cirex]

Unfortunately Fair Use is USA only, some parts of the world have a similar exclusion called Fair Dealing, but it generally is more restricted, for example you can make a single copy of a "reasonable proportion" of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works for "research and private study" and "criticism, review and news reporting".

I'm not sure if use for gaming counts as "private study" so technically you can't legally copy the sheets in the UK, if they don't give permission.

In Spain we got something called "Private copy". I can copy *anything*, a movie, a book, a song, whatever and it's legal.
There are certain conditions:
1) It must be a work made available to public, as in, a released movie or a published book.
2) The copy must be, exclusively, for own use. It's ok to watch movie in family or use character sheet with friends.
3) There is no plurality at the audience, like, play a movie in front of 50 people or give free copies of a handbook to 200 people.
4) There is no profit possible. You can't, by any means, earn money from that private copy.

So, if I buy KotS I can make a private copy of the entire adventure and character sheet if I just plan to use it at home and I don't plan to make any profit of it.
I repeat, this is here, in Spain. Now, I have no clue if KotS will be released here (probably not) but I wonder what happens if I import the module (still considering it).

 

[Mort_Q]

Excellent! Will this include the "how to set it in Eberron and FR" articles? I'm planning to run KotS for my Eberron gaming group, and it'd go over even better with the extra setting info. Not to mention the extra pregen -- dare I hope that it's a Warforged (insert class here)?

I'm also hoping to get my hands on the Eberron pregens!

 

[Andur]

As a manager at FedEx Kinkos, let me point out first that we have a self-serve area where we really shouldn't be policing what you do.

Careful, might get George Michaels in your shop...

 

[Drowmage]

Hey guys,

We'll have a PDF version of the characters sheets available shortly. And yes, it will be completely legal to print and copy those PDFs.

Sorry!

Excellent! thank you very much, for the help!

 

[JVisgaitis]

Many such locations won't allow you to make copies of material without written permission of the copyright holder.

You ain't kidding. I couldn't get copies made of some artwork and modules for a convention a year ago at Staples. Not only that, it was a product that I created and I even had a statement in there that said permission to copy for personal use only.

I even showed them my driver's license and business card with our company logo on it and my name was in the credits as the Product Manager and Writer. I ended up talking to the manager and he told me that if I really am the copyright holder, I'd appreciate what they are doing. Needless to say, I haven't gone in there since.

 

[Henry]

I'm kinda with Eric on this one -- the fact we would even have to worry about it is a bit silly (the idea of copying parts of a book for personal use). It's freakin' pre-gen characters, pieces of rules or not!

 

[Wolfspider]

Drat. I missed a chance to be outraged at WotC.

Sigh.