TSR NuTSR Sells Rebound 1E Core Rulebooks For $650 Each

Despite being embroiled in ongoing legal disputes with WotC regarding use of the TSR trademark (amongst other things), NuTSR has posted images of leather-bound compilations of AD&D 1E books they say are rebindings of old material, complete with the disputed logo. They're selling these books for $650 each.

The Deities & Demigods book (middle top in the image) has a typo on the front cover.

TSR - The Full & Glorious History of NuTSR

Because the Saga of TSR3 has been ongoing for a while, with many landmarks, I thought I'd do a quick timeline for those who haven't had the time (or, frankly, inclination) to keep up with the whole palaver. As multiple entities refer to themselves as TSR, I will use the nomenclature (1), (2)...

www.enworld.org

About these books, NuTSR says "Look what just came in. Sorry, we didn't have these in for TSR CON. (in the beginning, WotC said similar to what people below are saying. We said they are rebound of old material. Long story short, WotC said ok no problem, we have it in writing)"

As rebindings, these would be existing books simply being resold. However, the covers with the disputed logo are new.

In early March WotC launched a lawsuit -- (PDF attachment of filing) -- naming TSR, TSR CEO Justin LaNasa personally, and the Dungeon Hobby Shop museum. WotC seeks a judgement that TSR hand over all domains, take down all websites, pay treble damages and costs, hand over all stock and proceeds related to the trademarks, and more.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

There's a far bigger error here than just the relatively-trivial typo on Deities and Demigods.

The book of Monster Manuals claims to be "An Illustrated compendium of monsters -- by -- Gary Gygax".

Except it's not. MM 1 and MM 2 were his, certainly; but Fiend Folio is a compilation of (mostly) fan submissions to a British magazine and is edited by Don Turnbull. Gygax had nothing to do with it other than to give support and advice, as is noted in the editor's introduction.

Giving Gygax credit for a book he did not write counts, I think, as a fairly big mistake.

What, a Gygax taking credit for something they didn’t do. Where else have I seen that recently?

 

[Abstruse]

With regards to question #2, I have to wonder: does it matter? Not in a legal sense, but in a business sense.

NuTSR is already in legal proceedings with WotC. Legal costs are piling up. If these books become part of the lawsuits, there will inevitably be motions filed and court time spent deciding whether this use of the trademark is legal or not. Even if these specific books are ruled to be acceptable, I suspect the court costs on NuTSRs side end up being more than the profit they make on the books. Even if NuTSR wins, they still lose.

This is pure speculation on my part, but I think it's "in for a penny, in for a pound". If they lose the countersuit, the company's going to go bankrupt. The judgment will likely include all profits made from use of the disputed trademarks (which is literally everything TSR LLC sells and includes the IndieGoGo) plus Wizards of the Coast's legal fees (which their law firm is not cheap). So they'll likely owe more money than the company has. At this point, might as well just go all-in on the infringement because the punishment can't get any worse. Of course the snag in that particular plan is that Justin LaNasa has been named as a defendant in the countersuit personally. Which means they can go after any personal assets he has - bank accounts, stocks, vehicles, real estate - to pay the court judgment against him. Normally an LLC shields you from that sort of liability (that's why it's called an LLC - "limited liability"), but being named personally in the suit ruins that.

 

[Fifth Element]

There's a far bigger error here than just the relatively-trivial typo on Deities and Demigods.

The book of Monster Manuals claims to be "An Illustrated compendium of monsters -- by -- Gary Gygax".

Except it's not. MM 1 and MM 2 were his, certainly; but Fiend Folio is a compilation of (mostly) fan submissions to a British magazine and is edited by Don Turnbull. Gygax had nothing to do with it other than to give support and advice, as is noted in the editor's introduction.

Giving Gygax credit for a book he did not write counts, I think, as a fairly big mistake.

To be precise, he did contribute 10 monters to Fiend Folio. And putting his name on AD&D books he didn't write has precedent, of course (see Oriental Adventures).

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

As a lover of AD&D, if the books were actually organized/grouped better as others have said, I might be tempted--but really the price is much too high regardless.

I would be curious to see the interiors... Updated formatting and artwork, etc. might look nice for a contrast to the originals.

That would be illegal. This is literally a rebinding of another book. You could do the same thing to your own copy if you want.

 

[Abstruse]

Wasn't the Cthulhu-containing version of Deities and Demigods the one that got TSR sued? Didn't they have to pull it from the shelves upon losing that suit?

Technically, they didn't get sued. I don't think. It depends on whose version of events retold decades after the fact you believe. I actually did a video on it a couple of years ago. There's some dispute about whether there was a lawsuit, or a threat of a lawsuit, or if it was just a letter or phone call that sorted it out without the need for lawyers. TSR might have gotten all appropriate permissions and it was just a lot of confusion on the part of the rights holders or they might not have gotten permission, and if they did have permission they didn't have the appropriate documentation to prove it.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Wasn't the Cthulhu-containing version of Deities and Demigods the one that got TSR sued? Didn't they have to pull it from the shelves upon losing that suit?

Chaosium and TSR came to an agreement that lasted 2 years or so. TSR didn’t have to pull & reprint the Deities & Demigods book and could continue selling it. Meanwhile, Chaosium got to include AD&D stat blocks in one of its major ”multi system“ RPG products.

Then they got into a kerfuffle about Nehwon, and the agreement died.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

At the time, yes, but most if not all Lovecraft stuff has since become public domain because he's been dead so long.

But there are OTHER contributors to the Mythos whose stuff ISN’T in the public domain. Some are even still alive.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

At this point, might as well just go all-in on the infringement because the punishment can't get any worse.

Ohhh, it can still get worse. Beyond the monetary damages per violations and things like attorneys fees and treble damages that have already been discussed, criminal infringement is a thing and can result in 1-5 years of jail time.

Now, I do not think they’ve gone that far, yet. That’s usually reserved for things like counterfeiting. However, it can also be used in cases where someone is a repeat and willful violator. Given their pattern of doubling down, I could see them getting there very quickly.

Normally, repeat violations would refer to instances that occurred post judgement. But when you have continuous and repetitive violations- and possibly, new violations being added- while the case is before the court? All it would take is a young prosecutor looking to make his or her reputation by making new law for this to get a criminal case started. (Again, unlikely, but still possible.)

 

[Umbran]

Next step- fracking.

Oh, I expect they will be well and truly fracked in the lawsuits.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

That would be illegal. This is literally a rebinding of another book. You could do the same thing to your own copy if you want.

Make sure to charge yourself $650 for it though!