Missing maps: Saltmarsh and Reptile God.

[Piratecat]

Dungeon Master's Guide II Map Gallery

XP for you!

 

[Bumbles]

I'm not sure if low-rez scans of just the maps constitute fair use or not. Anyone know?

I'm not prepared to cite any legal cases, but I believe one could have a fair chance at making the argument successfully if it were a one person to one person transfer.

The Fair Use provisions of the US Copyright law, for example:

In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include —

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Given that 1 would be generally non-commercial (assuming the guy isn't a "professional" DM, that the maps are expected to be used for the game, that they're a small portion of the work, and that it's unlikely putting the maps out would effect the value of the work which is out of print anyway, a lawyer would be at least able to pass some muster in making the argument.

Obviously, you may have other rights in other jurisdictions, some may even grant you the explicit right to recover the damaged or missing portions of the material, but you'd have to consult a local legal authority to know.

 

[frankthedm]

We're talking about this down in the Meta forum, by the way. Our policy? We don't get particularly fussed about requests like this. We don't condone pirating out of print products, and we ask that people not request scans, but we're not going to overreact and suspend a member if someone posts to ask for a missing page.

it's a bumpy area where laws probably have been upheld & overruled back and forth and new laws are bought as we type. Saying what is and isn't permissible is not going to be easy, since this involves al least two countries, US & UK.

Still, directly asking for scans is a little gauche on enworld. Those who were willing to help knew what the op was asking for in the first post and probably already lent a hand through less public channels.

I'm not 100% certain but I believe that if the OP legally purchased the products that the maps belong to, then having a scanned copy to complete the product should be fair use. Unfortunatly, missing pages are a pitfall of the secondhand market.

I'm somewhat confident that was the case for software in the late 80's and early 90's, but i got no clue if that situation stuck around.

 

[QuaziquestGM]

As for the original request, I withdraw it, as I have now located the missing maps.

While searching for a 3ed conversion of N1 for use as a reference while running my copy of the module, I stumbled upon a Fantasy Hero conversion that had the original maps attached, as well as a similar conversion for U1. I shall not link to it, to prevent moderation issues....

As for the follow-up request, I shall restate it: If anyone is able and interested,
I would like to see any possible screen shots of fan produced maps used in Never Winter Nights conversions of the discussed modules. I'm curious to see how they were converted. (of course I have no idea how maps look or are used in NWN, as I do not play it.)

Finally, and this may lead to further Fair Use discussion, If anyone is able, I would like to see an image of the map for N1, with the often reported error (no exit in the trog maze) in the map highlighted or otherwise pointed out, as I can't seem to find it.

Thank you all for your assistance in these matters (and I still have a chair open in Woodstock GA.)