Monster tokens

[Squidmaster]

I don't know if this is the right board to post this (if it's not, please point me in the right direction), but I've made tokens of everything with a picture in the monster manual. I've seen some sites with incomplete lists of these, but never all of them, so I figure this might be useful to a lot of people. I've included all the size variations and such (even the colossal dragons). Anyway, I have a couple questions that someone here may be able to help me with:

1. I don't have my own webpage, so where's a good place to post this?

2. How do I go about obtaining permission to post them? I know someone else already did this, but they never really followed through with the final product.

3. Is this something worth getting out there to people in the first place? I know I'll use them all the time, but maybe everybody else uses regular miniatures. I don't know...

All of the tokens are in a giant word document, which allows for easy copying, resizing if necessary, printing, and searching if you like. I figure I'll have to send someone a CD with the file, but one step at a time.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Maerdwyn]

Very cool!

As for whether they would be useful to me, yes. Yes they would

As for where you could post them, I'm not sure - sorry.

Disclaimer: I may be entirely wrong about everything that follows

If you made the counters using your own original illustrations, they should be fine to distribute, even using the WoTC names of the creatures, using the OGL.

If you are using scans of the MM illustrations, I think that would be a copyright violation - probably okay for personal use, but not for public posting on the net.

 

[Moon_Goddess]

How big is this file, I would LOVE it.

 

[Rayston]

Sorry, cant do it.

Sorry Cant do it.

From my understanding of the OGL License you can not redistribute anything from the Monsters Manual, Players Hand book, or any other WotC printed product

the ONLY!!!!! and I mean ONLY!!! WotC stuff you can redistribute is from the SRD! found here

http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/srd.html


the PHB, DMG, MM and all other WotC Products were NOT released under the OGL at all, only the SRD is useable, and unfortunately its pure graphics so all the pictures you copied from the MM would be copyright violation if you distributed them at all.

There are some OGL released graphics out there, but not much, theres also Public Domain pics you could figure out a way to use, but the pics in the MM and for that matter all text and graphics in all WotC products fall under normal copyright laws.


Sorry

BTW

Please read the OGL if you plan on releasing anything under it, most OGL and D20STL publishers ( and also OGL and D20STL are 2 different licenses, read them both) are getting lawyers to make sure they comply.

if you just wanna make a fan webpage then do so without the OGL and take your chances with WotC's unpublished but commonly used policy on fan pages.

Rayston

 

[Moon_Goddess]

Rayston, Where did he say anything about the OGL?

 

[Rayston]

He didnt

He didnt but one of the responders did.

Also I did mention that it would fall under normal copyrights, but your correct I should have clarified who I was responding too.

To Maerdwyn


Read my previous post in this thread regarding the OGL.

To

Squidmaster


to get permission to do what you propose you would have to talk to the copyright holders, they should be listed in the copyright notice of the book itself, but I would imagine the copyright Holders are WotC themselves.


I highly doubt they would give you permission to do what you are proposing though, although you could do something similiar using the OGL license, and the monster stats from the SRD ( not from the MM) and pictures from some other source that you have permission to use ( either art you own, OGL released art, or Public Domain art, or art the copyright holder has given you permission to use)

alternatively you could do it without permission at all, the WotC does have an unwritten policy regarding fan sites, given that its "unwritten" I cant give you the particuilars on it but basically it comes down to that if it isnt hurting them or there business then they wont stop you. now there definition of "hurting" them may be wildly different then mine or yours.

Rayston

 

[Maerdwyn]

Re: He didnt

He didnt but one of the responders did.

Also I did mention that it would fall under normal copyrights, but your correct I should have clarified who I was responding too.

To Maerdwyn


Read my previous post in this thread regarding the OGL.

I read it - but in my post I only said he could release counters under the OGL if he used his own illustrations, and specifically said he couldn't if he used illustrations from the MM. The names of the monsters in the SRD are the same as the ones in the MM, ASFAIK. If not, I still had the correct disclaimer in my post, right?

 

[The Oracle]

OGL is for publishing, i.e., for money. For free, you can do what you want, realistically, although if you try to give away pdf's of actual products, they will probably stop you.

Graphics copyright law, not the OGL, is what you need to worry about because you are not using any words, unless they are names of creatures. Names are not copyrightable. That's why companies use made up words for products, because those words are trademarkable if not common. So, fair use of monsters names not invented by WotC.

Pictures made by others, if not modified, belong to them. That's copyright. But if you modify all the pictures, you enter a grey area of derivative work, and you probably are okay. Modified is NOT cropping out details or using only the heads of pictures. That's your actual problem. There are ways around even that, such as using filters, that would make your work original enough. If you are going to sell this, you will need a copyright attorney to square it away, and it won't be worth it. If you want to e-mail it to your friends, no one will stop you. Posting it on this board, if possible, without getting the copyrights or making the artwork your own is probably not legal.

 

[Squidmaster]

quick clarification

Thanks for your advice everybody.

As far as my intentions with this token document, all I really want to do is give other people access to a miniature alternative that looks good. As I mentioned in my original post, someone's site obtained permission to do this already a few months back, but unfortunately I no longer have the link, as he never finished the tokens. Maybe I should email someone at WotC and see what they have to say. I certainly have no problem adding a few lines indicating the proper copyright information, and I'm not selling it in any case.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

For free, you can do what you want,

Wrong. Ask Dr. Midnight about his "spell cards."